Collaboration between universities and industry is currently seen as a vehicle to improve innovation throughout the economy by means of knowledge and technology transfer. This paper examines the contributions of university staff to the promotion of knowledge exchange between universities and industry in Sri Lanka. In this quantitative explanatory study the authors apply a deductive research method and develop a conceptual framework that incorporates demographic and institutional factors as moderators. Academics of state universities constituted the survey population and 178 responses were received. SPSS and AMOS statistical packages assisted in the data analysis and a structural equation model was employed to explore the moderating effects. The findings revealed that the engagement of academic staff in joint research, contract research, human resource mobility and training was very low, and that the participation of males was greater than that of females. The impact of age on knowledge exchange was not linear in Sri Lanka. Further, the study ascertained that only joint research and training were important in knowledge exchange and that the university–industry relationship was significantly moderated by institutional factors. Other than the quality of academic work, other individual factors did not significantly moderate the relationship. The authors provide policy recommendations based on the findings.

Purpose of the study: The study is focused to investigate the impact of board diversity on firm performance through board meetings based on listed manufacturing companies listed at the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. Methodology: Bio-demographic diversity of Board measured by gender, age and race, and job-related diversity measured on functional, education and organizational tenure. Firm performance measured through Tobin Q and Return on Sales. The number of board meetings conducted per year was taken as a mediating variable. Listed manufacturing companies at Colombo Stock Exchange from 1985 to 2019 were the population from which twenty-eight firms that have been operating from 2013 to 2017 were filtered as the sample. Required data was collected by annual reports, published financial documents, and on which gender index, age index, race index, functional index, education index, and organization tenure index were calculated separately. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure the direct and indirect impact of board diversities on firm performance. Main findings: The regression result indicated a significant positive impact of gender diversity on firm performance; however age and race diversities had an insignificant impact. Further, the impacts of functional, education and organizational tenure diversities to firm performance were negative. Finally, the study found a significant indirect impact of bio-demographic and job-related diversities on firm performance through board meetings confirming the mediating effect of the board meeting. Implications: Policymakers and authorizes listed manufacturing firms should identify the escalating trend of women participation, educational improvement in the director board and ought to take necessary actions to maintain appropriate diversity levels in terms of bio demographic and job-related to enhance the firm performance. The novelty of the study: There is a lack of research literature discussing the impact of board diversity on firm performance with the mediating effect of the board meeting.

With the ending of thirty years civil war, Sri Lankan Colombo Stock Exchange recorded its highest market capitalization and trading volume ever since (Fernando , 2012). Colombo stock market applied new advanced technology for its day to day operation in last decade (www.cse.lk). Resulting, both level of performance and level of investment in Share Market were increased, however the process was further accelerated after post war period (Kenangasl Research Company, 2011). With that improvement, the number of investors who were willing to invest in Colombo Stock Exchange was increased and tried to reap maximum from the market. That cold competition beckon an efficiency problem in share market. Hence the study focused to investigate weak form efficiency of the Colombo Stock Exchange. The study is a quantitative type time cerise study. The data were collected on All Share Price Index from January 2010 to December 2014. Finally through all the analysis it was found that stock price do not follow random walk, which supports to the conclusion that Colombo Stock Exchange is weak form inefficient.

Purpose: The study explored the impact of institutional factors have on the university-industry knowledge exchange based on the Sri Lankan university system. Methodology: The study is quantitative and explanatory by nature and it applied the deductive method and questionnaire survey strategy. The study conducted with minimum interference of researcher and individual academics is the unit of analysis. The types of knowledge interaction, university-industry knowledge exchange, and institutional factors were the independent, dependent and moderating variables respectively. A Structural Equation Model is deployed on collected data to explore the moderating impact of the institutional factor on the university-industry knowledge exchange. Implications: It implies that the level of joint, contract research activities, human resource mobility, and training of academic staff are largely wider on the conducive environment and sophisticated facilities of the university. Main Findings: First, study evidence that there are statistically significant impacts of type of interactions and institutional factors on university-industry knowledge exchange.  Further, the study confirmed the moderating power of institutional factors over the knowledge exchange process. Novelty: There is a lack of research literature discussing the moderating effect of institutional factors on the university-industry knowledge exchange process.

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