Bangladesh, a labour-abundant country, benefits from foreign direct investment (FDI), as it is considered to be a supplement to domestic investment for this capital-scarce economy. This paper measures the impacts of an FDI increase in the RMG sector on the macroeconomy in Bangladesh and on the welfare of households, which are heterogeneous, especially in income sources, using a general equilibrium framework. Simulation results show that an increase in FDI promotes both output and exports in the RMG sector. However, because of the competition between MNEs and domestic firms, the output of domestic firms would fall slightly. Scrutinizing the welfare effects among household groups, we find that the benefits of FDI-induced growth would affect all household groups unevenly. We also demonstrate that the benefits could be shared equitably among household groups with skill development programmes targeted at the adversely affected household groups.DOI: https://doi.org/10.57138/MCXJ3052Date of PublicationAugust 2021KeywordsBangladesh, Readymade Garment, Foreign Direct Investment, Computable General Equilibrium Analysis, Distributional ImpactJEL Classification CodeC68, F21, F23, O1Recommended CitationHossain, M. S., & Hosoe, N. (2021). Foreign direct investment in the readymade garment sector of Bangladesh: Macro and distributional implications. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 43(1&2), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.57138/MCXJ3052

This paper argues that the study of wage gaps between public and private sector employees is sensitive to the selection of the sample. In the context of Bangladesh, Labour Force Surveys is a dominant source of employment-related data, which is disproportionately inflated with large pool of informal sector employees. Since government jobs are highly formal, the studies on wage differentials should select the groups that are as much comparable as possible on the question of formality. However, employing Oaxaca-Blinder mean decomposition method and Melly quantile counterfactual decomposition method, we find a decreasing trend in public sector wage premium as we impose more restrictions to make the sectors fitting formal. The wage differential even disappears in the entire restriction sample, and it is slightly biased towards private in the top quantile only. Therefore, we can conclude that the superiority of the public sector job does not come from wage compensation but non-monetary issues, with a strong implication for labour markets in Bangladesh.DOI: https://doi.org/10.57138/LUQL3836Date of PublicationAugust 2021KeywordsPublic Sector, Private Sector, Wage Premium, Wage Differential, Decomposition of Wage Differentials, Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition, Quantile Decomposition MethodJEL Classification CodeJ08, J31, J38, J45Recommended CitationIslam, S., & Hasan, E. (2020). Is the public sector wage premium real? Findings from Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 43(1&2), 35-62. https://doi.org/10.57138/LUQL3836

We use Indian livestock census data to show that states with more stringent slaughter laws perform better in terms of cattle population growth than states where slaughter acts are more enabling.  We also show that the growth in cattle population is caused by an increase in female crossbred cattle and more so in the states where slaughter rules are very restrictive. Despite a complete ban on cow slaughter in some states, they do not show any balance between male and female cows. These results are non-intuitive and have strong political and policy implications but require further investigation.DOI: https://doi.org/10.57138/SHZE1475Date of PublicationAugust 2021KeywordsCattle Population, Institutions, IndiaJEL Classification CodeE02, O13, O43Recommended CitationIqbal, K., Toufique, K. A., & Ibon, M. W. F. (2020). Cattle population in India. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 43(1&2), 63-78. https://doi.org/10.57138/SHZE1475

The paper focuses on the relative achievement of five major Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for India and Bangladesh. This is done by constructing indices with the help of the UNDP goal-post method and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique.  From the analysis, it is revealed that these two countries have more or less successfully performed to bring about positive reforms in the case of hunger alleviation, the progress of primary education, improvement in child and maternal health, establishing better environment against sex discrepancy, etc. It also identifies the policies and programmes set by the two countries for the attainment of the respective goals. The paper shows that though these two developing nations performed quite satisfactorily to deal with deprivation afflicted issues and address the prevailing status of socio-economic malaises, the achievements were sometimes not continuous and marked by undulations. DOI: https://doi.org/10.57138/DHOQ5398Date of PublicationAugust 2021KeywordsHealth, Analysis of Education, Nutrition, Mortality, Child Care, Gender EqualityJEL Classification Code112, 121, J13Recommended CitationRoy, D., & Datta, S. K. (2020). Analysis of achievement of selected MDGs. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 43(1&2), 79-108. https://doi.org/10.57138/DHOQ5398

The massive involvement of SMEs in economic development is considered one of the important prerequisites for inclusive growth in developing countries. This paper aims to assess the performance of SMEs towards economic development in Bangladesh based on the research question of whether SMEs have a significant influence on economic growth and the alleviation of poverty. Annual time-series data from 1996 to 2017 have been used to carry out the empirical analysis. The econometric analysis has been performed employing OLS and 2SLS techniques to investigate the impact of SMEs on economic growth and poverty alleviation. The results of the empirical analyses show that there is an economic linkage between SME development, economic growth, and the incidence of poverty. Even though such empirical relationships are not found to be statistically well justified, an increase in the percentage share of SMEs expansion has a positive effect on economic growth, which in turn, can alleviate poverty in Bangladesh. The findings of the study suggest that in light of economic theory, SME development is implicitly essential for ensuring inclusive growth and consequent poverty alleviation.DOI: https://doi.org/10.57138/YETO6791Date of PublicationAugust 2021KeywordsSME, Poverty Alleviation, Inclusive Growth, BangladeshJEL Classification CodeC26, O47Recommended CitationIslam, M. M. (2020). SME development, inclusive growth, and poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 43(1&2), 109-126. https://doi.org/10.57138/YETO6791

Property in Igbo traditional land and culture refers to wealth in the forms of houses, lands, money/cash, fruit trees and animals. These are transferred from the father to his children at the man's death. Property inherited from the family usually forms part of a person's wealth in Nigeria. However, in Anambra, Igbo, women are not allowed to inherit property either from their father or their husbands. Under this arrangement, a woman is seen as an inheritable property and, therefore, not expected to own properties. The paper examines the practice of women as inheritable property of the Anambra, Igbo; analyses how these practices have impacted women's health; and ascertains whether there have been changes in these practices. The paper concludes that women as inheritable property impoverishes women and constitutes a barrier to women attaining their full potentials in Igboland, which has serious implications for their health.DOI: https://doi.org/10.57138/WCPP4509Date of PublicationAugust 2021KeywordsWomen, Inheritable Property, Health, Traditional Society, FeminismJEL Classification CodeRecommended CitationMuoghalu, C. O., & Abrifor, C. A. (2020). Traditional society in South-Eastern Nigeria. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 43(1&2), 127-146. https://doi.org/10.57138/WCPP4509