أفغانستان
Bangladeshi IT sector building business links in Europe
Women in IT in Bangladesh are empowered and connected
Book review: Making of a Nation: Bangladesh: An Economist’s Tale
Exchange rate policy of Bangladesh: Not floating does not mean sinking
The question of operating a primarily fixed or primarily floating exchange rate regime has long concerned academics and policy makers alike. This paper draws upon the literature on the subject and the experiences of some of the countries in the Asian and Pacific region that undertook major changes in their exchange rate regimes, from the perspective of the current policy choices facing Bangladesh. The paper concludes that Bangladesh’s experience with an adjustable basket peg policy has been broadly positive and moving to a floating rate regime is not called for.
Contraception among adolescents in Bangladesh
The authors of this article are M. Mazharul Islam, Associate Professor, and Mamun Mahmud, research student, both in the Department of Statistics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The influence of socio-biological factors on perinatal mortality in a rural area of Bangladesh
Reduction of perinatal mortality in developing countries is highly dependent on the management of pregnancy and delivery. The identification of important risk factors could help to direct attention to mothers who need special care, thereby leading to a more efficient health programme to improve their survival. Several previous studies (James, 1968; Saksena, 1980; Zimmer, 1984; Bakketeig and Hoffman, 1979; Misra and others, 1973; Forbes, 1985; Serour, 1981; Stanley, 1981; and Fortney, 1982) of perinatal mortality that have been carried out in different countries suffer from a number of difficulties. Most of the studies have been limited to univariate or bivariate analysis and thus have provided little scope for assessing the net effect of a particular risk factor on perinatal mortality when the effects of other factors are taken into account. Those studies that utilized multivariate techniques considered only a few of the possible risk factors. The studies suggest, however, that survival of the perinatal period is influenced by a number of characteristics of the woman and her reproductive history. Infants born to women in the mid-range of the reproductive years were found to have better perinatal survival chances than those of either younger or older mothers (Srivastava and others, 1969; Misra and others, 1973; Saksena, 1980; Forbes, 1985; Bakketeig, 1979; Stanley and others, 1983; Kiely and others, 1986). In contrast, Baird (1962) found that age did not influence perinatal mortality after controlling for social class in a developed country. Other studies have found that survival chances improved with socio-economic status as measured by such indicators as parental education and parental occupation (Saksena and others, 1980; Forbes and others, 1985; Stanley, 1980; Erhardt and others, 1973; Ross, 1964; Serour and others, 1981; Adelstein and others, 1980). Nulliparity also has been found to increase risk significantly (Kiely and others, 1986) as has both short (e.g. less than two years) and long (more than five years) intervals between pregnancy outcomes (Fedrick and others, 1973; Zimmer, 1979). Similarly previous fetal wastage has been strongly associated with perinatal mortality.
Public health, urban governance and the poor in Bangladesh: Policy and practice
The role of fiscal sustainability in enhancing sustainable economic growth in South Asia: The case of Bangladesh
Influences of selected socio-economic and demographic variables on fertility in Bangladesh
Fertility in Bangladesh is high even by the standards of developing countries. Recent evidence suggests that fertility has started to decline in Bangladesh (Amin and others, 1993). The total fertility rate has declined from nearly seven births per woman in 1975 to about five births per women in 1989 and by 1990 this rate was well below five births (Cleland and others, 1994; Caldwell and Caldwell, 1992). A number of demographers have argued that the mechanism of this steep fertility decline was the consequence of a recent increase in contraceptive prevalence within marriage (Amin and others, 1990; Cleland and others, 1994; Cleland, 1993). In Indonesia, research suggests that fertility decline resulted mainly from a high rate of increased use of contraception which was induced primarily through economic development and an increasing rate of female education as well as greater work force participation (Gertler and Molyneaux, 1994). It is of great concern to policy makers to know the reasons why other socio-economic, demographic and cultural variables do not seem to contribute to a decline in fertility in Bangladesh. Such variables are important for a study of fertility; investigations are needed in order to produce findings. Reliable information about the factors influencing fertility is indispensable in the process of planning for the overall socioeconomic development of a developing country such as Bangladesh. Human fertility is the outcome of the function of a number of variables within a complex process. The mechanism of factors affecting fertility is that intermediate variables influence fertility directly, while socio-economic and environmental variables affect fertility indirectly through intermediate variables (see, for example, Davis and Blake, 1956; Bongaarts, 1978; Bongaarts and others, 1984). This study is an initial framework for the classification of variables to be analysed using the path analytical approach. In the context of Bangladesh, only a few studies, not all of them nationally representative, have been carried out to examine the effects of various factors on fertility (Ahmed, 1981; Rob and Kabir, 1988; Islam and Khan, 1991). These studies provide very useful information. Ahmed’s study was based on national data of the 1975 Bangladesh Fertility Survey and two other studies based on a micro-level study.
The effect of female family planning workers on the use of modern contraception in Bangladesh
More attention should be paid to the quality of care offered by family welfare assistants instead of focusing on quantitative targets
Women empowerment, supply chain linkages and FDI: Evidence from Bangladesh
This paper studies foreign direct investment spillovers on the gender-related labour market practice of domestic firms, based on a unique firm-to-firm data set of Bangladesh’s textiles and garment sectors. The paper looks at the female employment of domestic firms that are directly and indirectly related to foreign- owned firms through supply chain linkages. These domestic firms are either the local suppliers or customers of foreign-owned firms, or they share local suppliers and customers with foreign-owned firms. The estimates show that domestic firms related to foreign-owned firms have significantly more female administrative workers, but not necessarily more female non-administrative workers, owing to the former participating in more firm-to-firm interactions.
Early career researchers: Factors affecting consumer behaviour in mobile financial services in Bangladesh
The aim of the present paper is to identify the determinants of consumer behaviour of mobile financial services (MFS) in Bangladesh. Data used in the study were collected through an online survey. A total of 1,460 users of MFS in Bangladesh participated in the survey during 2021. The findings of the study show that perceived usefulness has the strongest impact on customer satisfaction, followed by perceived safety and perceived ease of use. Customer satisfaction, however, has the strongest impact on both continuance intention and recommendation intention, followed by perceived usefulness and personal innovativeness. The findings have important policy implications for financial inclusion.
What to focus on in order to accelerate access to modern energy services and energy use efficiency in Bangladesh
How can a rapidly growing country, such as Bangladesh, overcome the barriers to realizing Sustainable Development Goal 7? The present study includes an analysis of the barriers to achieving 24x7 access to modern energy and the required improvements to make energy more efficient to overcome them in Bangladesh. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is applied to identify the interactions among the barriers as laid out in context-relevant scientific literature. The Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) is applied to classify the barriers. The results indicate that the barriers can be addressed through a systematic packaging and prioritization approach.
Evaluating farmers insights into environmental impacts of chemical fertilizers and their overdose: Evidence from Bangladesh
This study evaluates farmers’ insights into the environmental impacts of chemical fertilizers and the overdose practice in north-western Bangladesh. According to the farmers, the impacts of chemical fertilizers are mostly on the crop health and farm ecology. In the study area, 87 per cent of the farmers apply excess chemical fertilizers that is 2.44 times higher than the recommended dose. When a higher level of adverse environmental impacts on the farm is perceived, excess chemical fertilizers are applied. The findings suggest that a robust financial-technical support framework is required for farmers to use digital platforms for chemical input management.
Data availability and challenges to achieve sustainable development goals in Bangladesh
This paper assesses progress pertaining to data availability and challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Bangladesh by reviewing the Government’s SDG Tracker and relevant national policy documents. The results show that 36.9 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals indicators are updated, 31.7 per cent are being updated and for 32.1 per cent, updates are unavailable, whereas 84.6 per cent of data are unavailable for Goal 12 and 60 per cent for Goal 14. Accordingly, urgent efforts are required to make quality data available for all indicators through effective multisectoral partnerships, coordination and integration among stakeholders.
Investment Policy Review - Bangladesh
The Investment Policy Review of Bangladesh, prepared by UNCTAD at the request of the Government, identifies the issues that should be addressed if foreign direct investment (FDI) is to play a larger role in the country's development. The IPR concentrates on the analysis of the regulatory and legal framework that should be considered to reach this objective. The IPR also analyses the contribution of FDI to improving infrastructure.
Dynamics of Remittance Utilization in Bangladesh
More than 1 million Bangladeshis live permanently outside the country and some 200,000 or more leave the country every year to work elsewhere. Most of these migrants send part of their earnings home on a regular or irregular basis. This report takes Bangladesh as a case study and looks at the importance of remittances for the economic development of the origin countries of migrant communities.
Enabling Environment for the Successful Integration of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Global Value Chains
Country Studies of Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka
Assessment of Development Results - Bangladesh
This report presents an independent evaluation managed by the Evaluation Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangladesh in 2010. It assesses UNDP’s overall contribution to the development of the country over the most recent programming cycles, as well as the strategy and performance of UNDP-Bangladesh during the last programme cycles and their action plans.
Regional Integration as a Strategic Avenue for Bangladesh LDC Graduation with Momentum
The report outlines the state of Bangladesh’s economy in the wake of COVID-19, and the likely impacts of the phasing out of LDC-specific international support measures upon LDC graduation. The study then analyzes the strategic rationale for strengthening Bangladesh’s regional integration as a way to (i) mitigate the adverse impacts of the phasing out of LDC-specific preferential market access; and (ii) foster the diversification of the economy and a more conducive participation in regional value chains.