Garment Export Research Articles

Green Manufacturing and Performances in Apparel Export Industry: Mediating Role of Green Innovation

Implementing green manufacturing in the production process of garment export-oriented enterprises not only contributes to environmental well-being but also enhances competitiveness in the global market and boosts overall company performance. Furthermore, it is critical to take immediate action to improve sustainable production levels via green innovation. This study aims to investigate the impact of green manufacturing on operational performance, environmental performance, and economic performance in the apparel manufacturing export industry. The study also investigates the mediating role of green innovation as a mediator between the green manufacturing and types of performances. A survey method is used to collect data from 123 garment export units, and structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to analyze the results. This study delivers empirical evidence of the impact of the implementation of green manufacturing on green innovation and economic performance. Moreover, green innovation has a significant impact on economic performance and environmental performance. The results signify that green innovation partially mediates green manufacturing and economic performance. Green innovation fully mediates green manufacturing and environmental performance, and also green manufacturing and operational performance. This study is unique in its focus on the use of green manufacturing and green innovation in garment export production units. It provides insights into how these green practices might improve firm performance and the environment.

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

Successful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Implementation in Readymade Garments factories in Bangladesh: Case Studies of SQUARE Fashions PLC and Nothern Toshrifa Group Limited, Bangladesh

Bangladesh's transformation into an agricultural nation has resulted in significant foreign exchange earnings from the export of ready-made garments (RMG) since the 1970s. Any RMG firm's main business operations are strongly associated with information and communication technology (ICT). The ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh has been facing various challenges to secure a competitive position in the global market, including the improvement of industrial operational excellence. Among the various issues, implementation of ICT is felt to be a common and effective way to enhance operational excellence. A PhD thesis was made on the topic “Application of Information and Communication Technology in the Readymade Garments Industry: A Study on the Bangladesh Market” by the author. To validate the hypotheses and results of the thesis, two RMG firms are chosen to compare their gross sales and net profit before and after the implementation of ICT in their industry. The main objective of the case study is to increase information and communication technology (ICT) usage, resulting in improved operational excellence and increased profit.

Effects of Wage Differentials, MFA, and GSP on Exports in the Bangladesh Textile and Garment Industry

ABSTRACT In this paper, we investigate the effect of inter-country wage differentials on textile and garment (T&G) exports of Bangladesh and present an account of the important issue of why textile and garment exports are directed from developing countries to developed countries. Our empirical results imply that the wage differentials between developed and developing countries constitute one of the main drivers of T&G exports. In addition, we checked other factors such as the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) by including dummy variables representing the MFA quota withdrawal and the GSP. We found that removal of the MFA had a significant negative effect, as expected. Our study confirms the positive correlation between GSP and exports. After phasing out the MFA and its quota system, the wage differentials not only boost the T&G exports from Bangladesh, but also increase the effectiveness of GSP. Given such findings, we discuss relevant policy implications.

Exchange Rate Pass - through in Export Value-chain of Bangladesh

Determining the extent and rate of the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) to inflation has been of utmost importance to policy-makers in developed and emerging nations. This study uses mixed techniques to examine the exchange rate pass-through in Bangladesh using a data sample that spans the years 1990 to 2020. Comparison with India and Bhutan has been made in some aspects. The results show that the ERPT is significant, asymmetric, and rapid, with prices reflecting significant amount of changes in exchange rates in short run. Policy-makers should continue aiming for low and stable inflation and establish a strong track record of prudent macroeconomic policies in order for the ERPT to drop. This study uses a panel of data to investigate the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) connection, which is the link between the exchange rate and the prices of traded products. The results of this analysis indicate that while there is evidence of a one-to-one connection between changes in the exchange rate and export prices for primary exports, this link is not present for ready-made garment (RMG) exports. Market-specific econometric estimates show that exporters' pass-through behaviour is influenced by their perception of the demand pattern in destination markets. As a result, pricing-to-market (PTM) emerges as the dominant strategy, defying the "law of one price" hypothesis' prediction. The Multi-fiber Arrangement (MFA) system, which limited the competitive activity of several providers in many restricted commodities that are of export importance to Bangladesh, is to be made responsible for the startling results that RMG exports are insensitive to fluctuations in the currency rate.

Forecasting Monthly Export of Readymade Garments by Removing Seasonal Impact

Various Bangladeshi authorities release time series data that takes seasonal effects into account. However, no adjusted series is offered. The developed world has completely different conditions since they broadcast seasonally adjusted series. Many seasonal adjustment techniques, such as classical and X-based techniques, are available; however they cannot be used in practice in accordance with Bangladesh's seasonal time series. So here we have executed X-11 and X-12-ARIMA which are known as X-based seasonal adjustment methods and some classical methods like SARIMA and MA to seasonal time series data collected from secondary source as economic trend revealed by Bangladesh Bank. We will use export of readymade garments which are monthly data and have seasonal impacts. The entire data collection must first be divided into training and test data. Next, the data was de-seasonalized, and future values were predicted using training and test data sets, respectively, to compute various forecasting errors such as MAPE, PMAD, MAD, and RMSE. We utilize several X-based approaches and traditional methods to compare the errors. We conclude that the seasonal adjustment strategy performs better and has fewer forecasting mistakes. In conclusion, we suggest the optimal seasonal adjustment technique for ready-to-wear exports and project certain future values based on that technique.

Effect of Neo-Liberal Globalisation on Women in Garment Industries: AThird World Perspective

The garment industry has significantly contributed to the economic growth of many developing countries,with women constituting a large percentage of the labour force. However, gender inequality persists in thissector, manifesting in inadequate safety standards, wage disparities, and lack of maternity benefits andproper compensation packages. Despite efforts by international organizations to promote decent workingconditions, the effectiveness of these initiatives has been limited due to a lack of understanding of thegendered aspects of these issues. This research aims to shed light on the consequences of patriarchalstructures within organizations in comprehending the challenges faced by women in the garment sector andthe development of appropriate policies. The study assumes that women's voices and concerns areinsufficiently represented in policy-making processes, necessitating a gendered perspective on thedevelopment, implementation, and monitoring of policies related to the garment industry. Thisunderstanding will enhance awareness of the working conditions of women in the garment industry andhighlight the impact of global policies on the female labour force. The study examines the historical aspectsthat contribute to globalisation, subsequent policies, and their impact on women, particularly in the contextof export-oriented garment industries.

Trade and employment in the formal and informal sectors: A natural experiment from Cambodia

How does trade affect formal and informal jobs in developing economies? This paper estimates the impact of exports on employment in the formal and informal sectors by exploiting the European Union (EU)’s reform in rules of origin for duty-free market access, which produced a large positive shock to Cambodia’s garment exports to the EU. We use nationally representative datasets on formally registered and unregistered establishments in Cambodia for 2009, 2011, and 2014. The results show that the export shock caused large employment growth in formal garment establishments, but had little effect on employment in informal garment establishments. While the positive effect is pronounced for incumbent establishments and female workers, our estimates are not magnified by transitions between formal and informal status in the garment industry. Thus, trade promotes employment disproportionately in the formal sector.

The impact of personal remittance and RMG export income on income inequality in Bangladesh: evidence from an ARDL approach

PurposePersonal remittance and ready-made garments (RMG) export incomes have emerged as the largest source of foreign income for Bangladesh's economy. The study investigates their impact on income inequality and gross domestic product (GDP) as a control variable, using time-series yearly data from 1983 to 2018.Design/methodology/approachIt employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation and the Toda-Yamamoto (T-Y) causality approach. The ARDL estimation outcomes confirm a long-run association among the above variables and validate the autoregressive characteristic of the model.FindingsPersonal remittances positively contribute to reducing the income gap among the people of the society and declining income inequality. In contrast, RMG export income and economic growth contribute to further income inequality. The T-Y causality analysis follows the ARDL estimation outcomes and authenticates their robustness. It reveals a feedback relationship between remittance inflow and the Gini coefficient, unidirectional causalities from RMG export income to income inequality and economic growth to income inequality.Research limitations/implicationsThe finding has important policy implications to limit the income gaps between low and high-income groups by channeling incremental income to the lower-income group people. The policymakers may facilitate further international migration to attract further remittances and may upgrade the minimum wage of the RMG workers.Originality/valueThe study is original. As far as the authors' knowledge goes, this is a maiden attempt to investigate the impact of personal remittances and RMG export income on income disparity in the case of Bangladesh.

The Effect of the Pandemic on the RMG Export of Bangladesh: Exploring the Economic Channels of Transmission

This study aims to empirically analyse the potential long-run and short-run effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ready-made garments (RMG) export growth of Bangladesh. We distinguish two transmission channels: credit growth and degree of openness to trade, through which the pandemic could affect the RMG export, using monthly time series data from June 2009 to August 2020. We employ a bounds test approach to the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration method. The bounds test specifies long-run and short-run relationships between credit growth, openness, and RMG exports. We found that the pandemic has a significant negative effect in the short run but a positive impact on export through these transmission channels in the long run. Thus, more credit support to this sector and opening up the economy for international trade is essential for the total recovery of the RMG export.

Ex-Ante Evaluation of the Vietnam – UAE CEPA Impact on Vietnam’s Exports of Garments to the UAE

Using the SMART model, this paper aims at examining the ex-ante impact of the Vietnam – United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Vietnam – UAE CEPA), on Vietnam’s garment exports, which is still under negotiation. Two scenarios are developed in accordance with the UAE’s trade liberalization whose focus is on Asian countries including Vietnam. A positive effect of the assumed Vietnam – UAE CEPA on Vietnam’s exports are found in two scenarios. However, the UAE’s deeper engagement with other countries would cause a remarkable decrease in the export turnover of Vietnam’s commodities, leading to some short-term and long-term recommendations of the author to promote Vietnam’s export of garments to the UAE.

Do Working-Class Women in the Arab Region Benefit from Trade Liberalisation?

Abstract Over the last decades, trade liberalisation has been extensively promoted by international agencies and actors around the world, including the Arab region, based on the assumption that it would contribute to promoting growth, jobs, development, democracy and even gender equality. The aim of this article is to rebalance such over-optimistic narratives about trade, taking as a starting point its concrete effects on the working conditions and lives of women workers in the export-oriented garment industry in Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Drawing on feminist political economy research and labour studies, the first part of the paper sets out the context in which to understand the impact of trade liberalisation on working-class women by problematising the dominant narrative and presenting the analytical framework that will be used. The second section reviews the empirical evidence documenting how the expansion of garment exports in the three countries has relied entirely on the recruitment of the most powerless women, under precarious and indecent working conditions. The third section examines the trajectories through which trade liberalisation has led to the observed pattern of female exploitation. Using the analytical framework discussed in the first section, it will look at the interplay between the specific structure of the Global Supply Chain in which the three countries are integrated, state policies and existing gendered social relations.

Buyers’ Sourcing Strategies and Suppliers’ Markups in Bangladeshi Garments

AbstractWe study differences in markups earned by Bangladeshi garment exporters across buyers with different sourcing strategies and make three contributions. First, we distinguish buyers with a relational versus a spot sourcing strategy and show that a buyer’s sourcing strategy is correlated across products and origins. Buyer fixed effects explain most of the variation in sourcing strategies, suggesting that these depend on organizational capabilities. Second, we use novel data that match quantities and prices of the two main variable inputs in the production of garments (fabric and labor on sewing lines) to specific export orders. We derive conditions under which these data allow measurement of within exporter-product-time differences in markups across orders produced for different buyers. Third, we show that exporters earn higher markups on otherwise identical orders produced for relational, as opposed to spot, buyers. A sourcing model with imperfect contract enforcement, idiosyncratic shocks to exporters, and buyers that adopt different sourcing strategies trading off higher prices and reliable supply rationalizes this and other observed facts in the industry. We discuss alternative explanations and policy implications.

PHÂN TÍCH TÌNH HÌNH TÀI CHÍNH CỦA CÁC DOANH NGHIỆP DỆT MAY VIỆT NAM TRÊN THỊ TRƯỜNG CHỨNG KHOÁN THE FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF VIETNAM TEXTILE AND GARMENT ENTERPRISES FROM THE STOCK MARKET

The textile and garment industry is one of the main manufacturing industries of the economy, textile and garment exports bring a large source of foreign currency revenue to buy machinery, and equipment, and modernize production, as the basis for the economy to take off. In recent years, the export of textiles and garments in our country has always accounted for a high proportion of the total export turnover of the country, about 12-16%. Therefore, understanding the financial situation of textile and garment enterprises is of necessary things for managers to see the strengths, weaknesses, potepotentialwell as advantages and difficulties and make appropriate business decisions in the coming period for the textile and garment industry, From there, affirm the position of the industry in the region and thorld. The article focuses on analyzing the financial situation of 13 textile and garment enterprises in the period from 2019-202to 1 and based on which orients a nuseveraliness strategic solutions for textile and garment enterprises in the near future. Keywords: textile and garment enterprises, JEL Classification: I22, M10, E50

The effects of international scrutiny on manufacturing workers: Evidence from the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh

After the tragic factory collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013, both the direct reforms and indirect responses of retailers have plausibly affected workers in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh. These responses included a minimum wage increase, high profile but voluntary audits, and an increased reluctance to subcontract to smaller factories. This paper estimates the net impact of these responses using six rounds of the Labor Force Survey and a triple difference approach that compares garment workers to non-garment workers, in districts containing the vast majority of export garment factories versus other districts, pre versus post Rana Plaza. As intended by the reforms, we find that increased international scrutiny improved working conditions by 0.80 standard deviations. In contrast with what the theory of compensating differentials would suggest, we do not find that workers’ wages were negatively impacted: instead, the post-Rana Plaza responses increased wages by about 10%.

Impact of Hiring Contractual Workers on Sustainable Supply Chain in Exporting Textile of Pakistan

Textile industry is one of the major sources of revenue generation for Pakistan. For the last two decade this has been the key source of the inflow of foreign exchange through export of garments and textiles goods. Many global retailers and brands like Tesco, JC Penny, Wal-Mart, and Next etc. are sourcing their goods from Pakistan. These Retailers purchase garments and textile on some specific conditions such as cheap merchandising, quality standards and social and environmental compliance. In order to comply with social standards these multinational buyers enforce their vendors to follow the land law and their own code of conduct. The severity of issues varies from violation to violation. For example, nonpayment of overtime violations is taken as serious issues. In contrast, failure to pay legal benefits to labors as EOBI, group insurance and leaves are less threatening. Hiring contractual employment especially on piece rate is one of the core factors that lead to these non-compliances (NCs). A total of 60 unpublished social compliance onsite audit reports of textile and garment factories working with foreign buyers in Pakistan were analyzed. Chai-Square test applied to test the hypothesis. The result reflects that there is an association exists between hiring contractual piece rate workers, employment old age benefit, and group insurance and leaves violation. Current study may be helpful in exploring the major factors that may lead to overtime, employment old age benefit, group insurance and leaves violation. The findings may also help NGOs, government and global buyers to develop policies that provide better control over workers’ rights in developing countries like Pakistan for sustainable business growth.

Ograničen uticaj produktivnosti na izvoz gotove konfekcije i ekonomski rast u Bangladešu

This study investigates the moderating role of labour productivity on the relationship between readymade exports and economic growth in Bangladesh using annual time series data from 1983 to 2019 using the ARDL method. This study examines the moderating impact of labour productivity on the link between readymade garment (RMG) exports and economic growth in Bangladesh taking time series data from the year 1983 to 2019 using the ARDL model. The most important factor that is impacting the competitiveness of Bangladesh's RMG industry is poor labour productivity trends. A long-run positive relationship between RMG exports, labour productivity, and economic growth is observed. The RMG export earnings are significantly improving the economic growth of the country both in the long and short run. The policy implication is improving labour skills, providing training, and the use of information technology in the RMG sector will promote economic growth.

A Study and Analysis on the Major Health Problems of Females Working in Garment Export House in Jaipur

A Study and Analysis on the Major Health Problems of Females Working in Garment Export House in Jaipur

Impact of COVID-19 (2020–2022) on Cotton and Garments Market of Bangladesh: A Small Country Case

Abstract Bangladesh imports roughly 98% of cotton from abroad to produce fabric or yarn (USDA 2020. Cotton and Products Update. Bangladesh. Also available at https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Cotton%20and%20Products%20Update_Dhaka_Bangladesh_11-30-2020). The production of textiles in Bangladesh depends on the price of raw material, the demand for garment products in the importing countries, smooth supply chain management, and the domestic supply of cheap garment laborers. The global pandemic of COVID-19 disrupted the supply chain of almost all physical goods and services, including textiles. It caused the price of textiles to fall due to a drop in worldwide demand, and increased the marginal cost of textile production due to supply chain interruptions. This paper shows how the decline in the demand for garments, coupled with an increase in cost, shrinks the producer welfare of textile manufacturing and garment exports of the small producing country, Bangladesh.

Analytical Study of Sources of Textile Waste for Its Upcycling

In recent years, there have been increasing concerns in the disposal of textile waste around the globe. The growth of textile markets not only depends on population growth but also depends on economic and fashion cycles. The fast fashion cycle in the textile industry has led to a high level of consumption and waste generation. Textile waste is a material that's supposedly unworkable for its original purpose by the proprietor. Textile waste is produced in every phase of the cloth manufacturing process like spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing, garment manufacturing and indeed at the consumer end.The textile industry has two sections, the study has been conducted one is the textile industry and second is the apparel industry. This paper consists of information about the textile industry, textile waste, garments waste. Also, the reason behind this problem has been discussed in this paper and how it can be resolved for the least harm to the environment. Various methods to reduce textile waste are also discussed such as Prolonging the life of your clothes, preventing textile waste starts with buying less, Repair, Upcycle, Swap, Donate, Recycle and Buy less and make it last. Data was collected from the study that has been conducted through the secondary sources by studying the research paper related to textile waste titles. 5 Garments Export Houses were interviewed for this research paper. A brief understanding of upcycling of textile waste and discarded garments is discussed in this paper.