Economy Of Bangladesh Research Articles

Effect of internet penetration on ICT export, economy, and employment in Bangladesh: Evidence from vector error correction and local projection

The advent of Industry 4.0 is imminent, with the internet emerging as a pivotal catalyst for this impending revolution as general-purpose technology (GPT). This study examines the transformative impact of internet penetration on economic development and employment dynamics in Bangladesh. Leveraging time series data from 1996 to 2022, and employing Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and Linear Projections (LP) methodologies, the research reveals significant insights into the relationship between internet penetration, ICT exports, GDP growth, and employment trends. Findings indicate that a 10% increase in internet penetration led to a notable 4.7% rise in ICT exports and a marginal 0.8% increase in GDP, albeit with a concerning 1.1% decline in formal sector employment. While highlighting the positive influence of internet connectivity on trade and economic activities, the study underscores the challenges of job displacement and the need for inclusive and equitable growth strategies in the face of technological big push.

Transforming agri-food value chains in Bangladesh: A practical application of blockchain for traceability and fair pricing

The agricultural sector is a vital component of Bangladesh's economy, but its agri-food supply chain faces signifi-cant inefficiencies primarily due to the involvement of numerous intermediaries. This complexity not only reduces the profits for farmers but also affects the overall transparency and efficiency of the supply chain. This study aims to em-ploy blockchain technology to transform the traditional agri-food supply chain in Bangladesh, focusing on increasing transparency, enhancing efficiency, and improving profitability for farmers, thus potentially bolstering the entire agri-food ecosystem in the country. The research involves setting up a blockchain-based smart contract on the Ethereum Blockchain network. This approach guarantees that all transactions within the agri-food supply chain are transparent, traceable, and accountable. Additionally, the study develops a web application to facilitate user interaction with the smart contract, enhancing accessibility and usability. Performance analysis and testing of the implemented smart con-tract demonstrate its capability to handle a significant volume of transactions without compromising on performance. The solution effectively reduces the dependency on intermediaries, thereby increasing the profit margins for the farm-ers involved. The integration of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain has shown promising results in enhancing transparency and efficiency. It lays a solid foundation for future improvements and suggests a scalable model that could be applied to other sectors within the country to further enhance agricultural practices and economic growth.

Financial Development and Income Inequality in Bangladesh: Empirical Evidence from Vector Auto-Regression (VAR) Model

This study investigates the effect of financial development on inequality in Bangladesh. We run a vector autoregressive (VAR) model for the economy of Bangladesh from 1980 to 2020. Using the impulse response functions (IRFs), we find that the disposable income and market income Gini coefficients respond positively to private credit. It suggests that financial development contributes to raising inequality in Bangladesh. We also find that growth has an adverse impact on inequality whereas income inequality has a positive effect on economic growth. However, economic growth has a greater and more pronounced negative effect on inequality than inequality itself, even though these two variables exhibit opposite interaction responses. It indicates that growth lowers inequality in Bangladesh.The forecast error variance decomposition function shows that private credit can explain the variations of disposable income Gini by 8.65 percent; on the other hand, disposable income Gini can explain the variation of private credit by 8.90 percent.

Morpho-molecular characterization of fungi associated with seeds of hybrid rice varieties in bangladesh

Rice, as the dominant crop in Bangladesh, is vulnerable to various fungal pathogens. Many of these pathogens infect the seeds, which can later transmit diseases and serve as an efficient means for spreading seed-borne pathogens over long distances. In this study, seven hybrid rice varieties, specifically BRRI Hybrid Dhan 101 through BRRI Hybrid Dhan 107, were collected from the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) to detect and identify seed-borne fungi using both morphological and molecular techniques. Fourteen fungal species were isolated from the selected rice varieties using “Tissue planting method” and “Blotter method”, of which 4 fungal isolates were identified by molecular techniques. Molecular characterization of the isolates was conducted based on the sequence information of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The sequences obtained using the ITS1 and ITS4 primers were compared with those in the NCBI GenBank using BLAST analysis. Hybrid rice is comparatively more advantageous than inbreed rice because of its high yield, shorter plant life, and higher assimilation translocation. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and manage the pathogenic fungi associated with the seeds to ensure good seed quality, which can contribute to improving the economy of Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Bot. 53(3): 511-518, 2024 (September)

SHIPBREAKING AND RECYCLING INDUSTRY POLICY: AN ADVOCACY COALITION FRAMEWORK (A C F) APPROACH

Shipbreaking and recycling industry generates huge employment opportunities for workers and contribute a lot to the economy of Bangladesh. However, the profit motive driving the industry, has, however, been controversial in Bangladesh because of the severe violation of environmental and human rights that shipbreaking often involves. Since 1998, Greenpeace has published reports highlighting the poor conditions in shipbreaking yards and Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) has been at the forefront of legal actions against shipyard owners and government agencies. After sustained dialogues with the government and various stakeholders, Bangladesh adopted the Ship Breaking and Recycling Rules, 2011 and the Hazardous Wastes and Shipbreaking Waste Management Rules, 2011. In 2018, the Bangladesh Ship Reprocessing Act was passed in Parliament, introducing new provisions that address the issues of Shipbreaking and recycling industry. The application of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to the shipbreaking and recycling industry of Bangladesh has provided valuable insights into the intricate policymaking landscape of this critical sector. It provides a structured way to understand how different actors and their beliefs shaped the development and evolution of the Ship Breaking and Recycling policy in Bangladesh. KEY WORDS: Shipbreaking, Recycling Policy, ACF

Adoption of cashless economy in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has seen significant strides in technological developments that have positively affected its GDP. Different modes of financial transactions, such as mobile banking, and credit and debit cards, have proven beneficial for the economy. bKash, Nagad, and other online transaction platforms are widely used by the population of Bangladesh. People, starting from Dhaka to many other rural areas of Bangladesh, are gradually becoming habituated to the digital mode of payment. The case thoroughly analyzed and highlighted the concept of a cashless society and showed how technological advancements in financial services can contribute to broader sustainability goals, including carbon-reduction. Moreover, the case presented three different scenarios on Bangladesh’s devotion towards going cashless. Additionally, the case utilized the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, to identify the different categories of innovation adopters, and elucidated their traits in the context of adopting a cashless economy.

Work related Stress of Garment Workers in Bangladesh

The export-oriented Garment sector has made crucial contribution to the transformation of the Bangladesh economy. The number of garment industry is now about 5560 and provides employment to as many as 5.0 million workers. Job stress is one of the common problems that employees confront with increasing frequency. Recently job stress is becoming an epidemic in the work environment. This cross sectional study was carried out on a sample of 418 garment workers selected by non-probability sampling technique from two garment factories. The study was done from 1st July 2021 to 30th June 2022 with an objective to assess the level of job stress and related factors in garment workers. Job stress was estimated by using Occupational stress index (OSI) questionnaire; while socio-demographic, behavioral and work related information were obtained using semi structured questionnaire. Among 418 respondents, 71% were female and 21% were male, their mean age was 29.35±6.185 & they were mostly married (72%). 45.2% had no formal education The mean family income and individual income were Tk.13181.07±4826.598 & Tk.6812.10±1029.504 respectively. Among the respondents, 64.4% belong to cutting/sewing section, 79.2% of them were employed for 1 to 5 years & mean duration of employment was 3.78±3.083 years. Among respondents, 69.9% had moderate stress followed by 17% having low stress and 13.2 % with high stress. Among 12 subscale the mean scores of under participation (mean score = 4.33) and responsibility for person (mean score =4.22) was higher. It was found that monthly income and compulsory work over time produce odds ratio 0.401, 11.963 respectively. This indicates every additional unit of monthly income, respondents were 0.401 times less likely to develop job stress (OR=.401) and every additional unit of compulsory overtime, respondents were 11.963 times more likely to develop job stress (OR=11.963). There was a significant association of job stress and gender, smoking habit, monthly income and work overtime. Measures to be taken to alleviate these stressors which can promote the worker in greater contribution in their profession. J. of Sci. and Tech. Res. 5(1): 163-168, 2023

Optimized Crop Disease Identification in Bangladesh: A Deep Learning and SVM Hybrid Model for Rice, Potato, and Corn.

Agriculture plays a vital role in Bangladesh's economy. It is essential to ensure the proper growth and health of crops for the development of the agricultural sector. In the context of Bangladesh, crop diseases pose a significant threat to agricultural output and, consequently, food security. This necessitates the timely and precise identification of such diseases to ensure the sustainability of food production. This study focuses on building a hybrid deep learning model for the identification of three specific diseases affecting three major crops: late blight in potatoes, brown spot in rice, and common rust in corn. The proposed model leverages EfficientNetB0's feature extraction capabilities, known for achieving rapid high learning rates, coupled with the classification proficiency of SVMs, a well-established machine learning algorithm. This unified approach streamlines data processing and feature extraction, potentially improving model generalizability across diverse crops and diseases. It also aims to address the challenges of computational efficiency and accuracy that are often encountered in precision agriculture applications. The proposed hybrid model achieved 97.29% accuracy. A comparative analysis with other models, CNN, VGG16, ResNet50, Xception, Mobilenet V2, Autoencoders, Inception v3, and EfficientNetB0 each achieving an accuracy of 86.57%, 83.29%, 68.79%, 94.07%, 90.71%, 87.90%, 94.14%, and 96.14% respectively, demonstrated the superior performance of our proposed model.

Enhancing textile wastewater sustainability through calcium hypochlorite oxidation and subsequent filtration with assistance from waste blast furnace iron slag

AbstractThe textile industry is vital to Bangladesh's economy, employing over three million women and being the top foreign exchange earner. However, it severely impacts the environment because of untreated wastewater discharge. High treatment costs, reliant on expensive imported chemicals, worsen the issue. The Environmental Conservation Rules (ECR) 2023 of Bangladesh requires textile wastewater discharge to have a colour of less than 150 Pt‐Co, which current systems struggle to meet affordably. A pilot project tested a sustainable solution using chemical oxidation with calcium hypochlorite and sand filtration with blast furnace iron slag. This method effectively removed colour, and the treated water showed total dissolved solids (TDS) levels of 157 ± 4 mg/L, total suspended solids (TSS) levels of 8 ± 2 mg/L and chemical oxygen demand (COD) levels of 9 ± 3 mg/L, with reductions of 92%, 87% and 94%, respectively, making it a viable solution for resource‐limited economies.

Labor welfare policy, practices, and deficiencies with the ILO: evidence from the garment industry of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Labor welfare, aligned with the standards set by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and effectively practiced, plays a vital role in ensuring the optimal functioning and protection of the labor force within an industry. The garment supply chain is a significant contributor to the national economy in Bangladesh. However, labor welfare in this sector falls short of expectations due to inadequate access to facilities and benefits such as transportation, recreation, housing, and education. As such, it is of interest to see whether the labor welfare policies in Bangladesh’s garment factories align with ILO guidelines, how these policies impact workers’ overall well-being, and the extent to which the garment industry adheres to the prescribed labor welfare standards in the country. Using a mixed-method research design, the study reveals that nine welfare factors significantly correlate with worker well-being. Nevertheless, the study underscores the disparity between current labor welfare policies under labor law and those recommended by the ILO, revealing substandard labor welfare provisions and practices. The study’s outcomes can guide policymakers, business leaders, and stakeholders in enhancing labor welfare practices, ultimately aiming to improve worker well-being and work efficiency.

A Study on the Impact of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge on the Economy of Bangladesh

The Padma Bridge, a monumental infrastructure project in Bangladesh, stands out for its promise of significant economic benefits. This comprehensive study delves into its unique impact on both local and national economies. Employing a case study methodology, we provide in-depth insights into how the Padma Bridge, with its distinct features such as [unique feature 1] and [unique feature 2], influences Bangladesh's economic landscape. Drawing upon an analysis of 33 prior studies, we identify critical information regarding the bridge's economic impact, examining its role in reducing travel times, enhancing trade, and stimulating new investment opportunities in the previously isolated southwestern region. Our analysis underscores the bridge's pivotal role as a driver of economic growth and development, estimating potential increases in GDP and job creation. Furthermore, our findings align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to Trans-Asian Networks, reassuring researchers about the project's sustainability and long-term benefits for Bangladesh. This study sheds light on the Padma Bridge's economic significance and offers valuable insights for infrastructure development projects worldwide.

Estimating The Financial Repression Index for The Economy of Bangladesh: A Principal Component Analysis

Financial repression was a common practice in the past, but it became less common during the liberalization era of the 1980s and 1990s. With the rise in financial sector vulnerability following the Asian financial crisis, the Global Financial Crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, repressive policies have once again become popular. Bangladesh, for instance, has imposed administrative interest rate ceilings. This study aims to assess the extent of financial repression on the economy of Bangladesh, using annual time series data spanning from 1973 to 2022. An aggregate financial repression index was calculated using the principal component analytical method, including the major policy variables such as real deposit rates, interest rate restrictions, capital account restrictions, the share of state-owned commercial banks in total loans, and statutory liquidity ratio. The reliability and validity of the results were tested by comparing them with the index calculated using different policy variables. The index of financial repression indicates that Bangladesh’s financial sector has undergone considerable liberalization, yet it remains subject to some degree of repression. In recent times, financial repression has intensified, particularly following the imposition of lending rate ceilings in the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers are in a position to take proper measures to liberalize the financial sector and ensure financial stability.

An Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Approach to Understanding the Impact of Agriculture, Industry, and the Service Sector on GDP in Bangladesh

The agriculture, industry, and service sectors are the three main sectors of Bangladesh's economy. Using the ARDL model, this study experimentally investigated the short-term and long-term effects of these three sectors on Bangladesh's GDP from 2005 to 2022. This study based on secondary data collected from World Development Indicator, World Bank. The intended results have been determined by applying a variety of econometric time series analysis techniques, such as the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound test and the Granger Causality test. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test has assured that neither series is integrated at level two. The outcome of the F-bounds test confirmed that the existence of a long-run relationship among the examined variables. The short-run and long-run coefficient revealed that there exists a positive impact of the agriculture, industry and service sector on GDP in Bangladesh. The long-run result shows that a 1% increase in agriculture sector increases the GDP by about of 0.173%, a 1% increase in industry sector increases the GDP by about 0.294%, and a 1% increase in service sector increases the GDP by about 0.533%. The short-run result shows that a 1% increase in agriculture sector increases the GDP by about 0.204248%, a 1% increase in industry sector increases the GDP by about 0.348179% and a 1% increase in service sector increases the GDP by about 0.631402%. The result of Granger Causality test shows that service sector and GDP Granger cause bi-directionally. All the outcomes are theoretically consistent and the policy recommendation are made based on our findings.

Impact of Financial Repression on the Economy of Bangladesh

Impact of Financial Repression on the Economy of Bangladesh

Impacts of technological innovation: a systematic review for smart Bangladesh

Economic stability is the lifeline of a nation as it is the vital condition for the standard of living of the citizens. Economic growth and stability are prerequisites for an emerging country to upgrade to the status of a middle-income country. The potential dimensions of the digital economy in Bangladesh are intrinsically linked with the fostering of economic development and prosperity by the year 2041. Technological innovation is one of the major forces of economic growth and digital Bangladesh. It is expected to impact directly and indirectly the economic development since the Industrial Revolution. Accordingly, this research seeks to provide an overview of the present impacts of technological innovation, focusing on evolving trends that have direct and indirect impacts on the economy. The methodology of the study engages a qualitative approach using a systematic review of the research objectives, applying secondary data. The findings of the study reflect on the potential of technological innovation on individual, organizational, and environmental impacts on Bangladesh. Considering the nascent impacts of technological innovation the study suggests that policymakers should take prompt action to ensure an efficient labor force through research and development and this may follow organizational excellence and environmental sustainability. The study suggests that these three dimensions will cascade in the economic improvement of Bangladesh shortly.

Assessing the impact of rural electrification on economic growth: a comprehensive analysis considering informal economy and income inequality in Bangladesh

Assessing the impact of rural electrification on economic growth: a comprehensive analysis considering informal economy and income inequality in Bangladesh

Evaluating Supply Chain Performance through Financial Metrics: A Study in a Manufacturing Industry

This empirical study is based on primary data emphasizing the importance of evaluating supply chain performance through financial metrics, each activity within the supply chain directly impacts both the top line and bottom line of a business. In today's challenging business environment, organizations must prioritize monitoring their financial performance to ensure enduring resilience. The economy of Bangladesh has encountered turbulence due to disruptions such as the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing global political unrest. These occurrences have significantly impacted the business landscape, resulting in uncertainties in both demand and supply, shifts in consumer purchasing patterns, and notable increases in the prices of essential commodities and raw materials, therefore, the overall cost of business has risen. This study investigates the consequences of various disruptions, both internal and external, on the economy, adversely affecting organizations. The ability of an organization to withstand such challenges depends on maintaining robust financial and operational performance. Given the persistent global upheaval, there is a compelling need for an innovative approach to enhance supply chain optimizations, overall operational efficiency, and meticulous budget control and variance analysis aligned with financial planning. This is crucial at a substantial level to ensure positive entries in the profit and loss account and maintain a healthy cash flow statement. This study is done based on twenty-four (24) manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh. To address these challenges, the study advocates an Integrated Supply Chain Performance Measurement (ISCPM) model. This model contributes to academia through a novel approach, demonstrating its effectiveness by employing ten attributes to evaluate supply chain performance, with a specific focus on the financial performance termed Financial Health (FH), an attribute to measure supply chain performance in an organization. The study further elaborates Financial Health attributes into five key Performance Measurement Index (PMI) which are Economic Performance, Cost, Budget Variance, Inventory, and Planning Variance —within the context of manufacturing operations, providing insights into various facets of their impact. The study significantly contributes to the industry for practitioners by bringing synergy into the framework and performance measurement attributes, ultimately adding value to the manufacturing industry.

The Impact of Russia-Ukraine War on Bangladesh’s Economy: A Supply Chain Perspective and Way Forward

Bangladesh’s economy is facing significant challenges restricting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, intensified by its status as an oil-importing nation vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations. This study addresses the current perspectives and challenges which include inflationary pressures, trade imbalances, and disruptions in the supply chain, leading to increased expenditures for essential commodities. This research was developed through a systematic literature review based on secondary data, including online databases, journals, and review papers, etc. This exploratory study reveals that policymakers need to diversify energy sources, forge new trade partnerships, and implement measures to bolster economic resilience. The economic fallout from the conflict, surpassing the actual war in cost, has depleted the central bank's reserves, prompting austerity measures. The forex market experiences volatility, contributing to high trade deficits and the highest inflation rate in recent years. Bangladesh must address forex management challenges and formulate prudent policies for economic recovery. The conflict has disrupted global commodity markets, leading to inflationary pressures and increased costs for businesses in Bangladesh, especially larger organizations handling rising raw material costs and weak consumer demand. The rationale of this paper is to evaluate the literature on this aspect and apprehend the global demand, and supply of food and commodities, economic impacts in Bangladesh, challenges in global trade, trade relations, currency fluctuations, inflation, emergency price, and its consequences, recognize gaps and advocate future research itineraries. The paper offers a synopsis and appraisal of the overall economy of Bangladesh and finally navigates a way forward to the policymakers which would unlock further research to develop this sector.

China’s Duty-Free Trade Policy to Bangladeshi Products: A Potential Trade and Economic Effects Analysis Using Partial and Computable General Equilibrium Model

China is one of the critical and strategic trading partners of Bangladesh. The Chinese government has declared a zero-tariff facility for 97% of products imported from Bangladesh. The objective of the study is to analyze the effects of the facilitating trade policy on the trade performance of different sectors of Bangladesh. The study applies partial equilibrium SMART simulations, which are accessible in WITS, and the general equilibrium CGE model with GTAP as the methodological tools to quantify the impact of China’s preferential trade policy on trade and the overall economy of Bangladesh. The results of partial equilibrium analysis show that the preferential trade policy substantially positively impacts Bangladesh’s exports to the Chinese market. The results also suggest that the change in total trade under China’s new preferential trade policy is around $58.99 million, with a trade creation of $ 52.16 million and a trade diversion effect of US$ 6.83 million. The CGE analysis results show that China’s new trade policy will have little impact on Bangladesh’s real GDP, and the effects of the policy on exports vary across different sectors. However, the overall effects suggest that Bangladesh will earn a net welfare gain due to China’s new duty-free trade policy in Bangladesh. The findings of the study provide crucial policy suggestions on whether China’s latest tariff facilities will substantially impact the trade and economy of Bangladesh as well as provide foundations for analyzing the effects of future bilateral trade agreements.

Contribution and Prospect of Marine Fisheries in the Economy of Bangladesh and Sustainable Blue Economy Challenges: A Review

Marine resources of Bangladesh are abundant, both in terms of huge sea area and its biological richness. The marine water area supports a large number of commercially important fin fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and seaweeds, offering significant economic potential due to their diversified use and high demand in the international market. Therefore, the current review comprehensively examines both the contribution and potentials of marine fisheries resources to the economy, as well as the challenges involved in marine fisheries sectors in attaining a sustainable blue economy in Bangladesh. The study revealed that, the marine fisheries plays an important role in national economy and has huge prospect in employment generation and ensuring food security of Bangladesh. The expansion of mariculture and effective utilization of marine resources will open a new window for the economic development of Bangladesh. Marine fisheries production of Bangladesh has increased over the last two decades, but its relative share in total fisheries production has declined. Despite being rich in marine living resources, commercial mariculture has been developed only for shrimp, prawn, and mud crab. Challenges hindering mariculture expansion includes limited research, technological deficiencies, inadequate skilled workforce, underdeveloped domestic seafood markets, and financial constraints. Concerted efforts including exploring new fishing grounds, conducting stock assessments, implementing scientific management strategies, enacting a national marine fisheries policy, enforcing legislation, and establishing robust surveillance and monitoring mechanisms are required to foster a sustainable blue economy in Bangladesh.