Dhaka Winter Conference in Economics 2023

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) hosted the first ‘Dhaka Winter Conference in Economics 2023’ on 23 December in the BIDS conference room. The event was co-hosted by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Bangladesh Economics Research Network (BERN), and the Association for Economic and Development Studies on Bangladesh (AEDSB) 

The inaugural session started at 9:30 am with introductory speeches from Dr Atonu Rabbani, Professor, University of Dhaka, and President, Association for Economic and Development Studies on Bangladesh (AEDSB), Dr Shyamal Chowdhury, Professor, University of Sydney, and Founding member, Bangladesh Economics Research Network (BERN), and Dr Kazi Iqbal, Research Director, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). 

The keynote speech of the conference, “Corruption and Incentives” was delivered by Dr Fahad Khalil, Professor, University of Washington. In his remarks, Dr Khalil mentioned that economic growth and a rise in productivity can play a critical role in the fight against corruption. Dr Binayak Sen, Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), chaired the Q&A session after the keynote speech. 

The winter conference comprised three sessions. In the initial session, focusing on "Poverty, Inequality, Growth”, three papers titled “Does local government fragmentation reduce poverty? Evidence from Bangladesh”, “Government intervention and inequality creation: A Natural experiment”, and “Measuring economic growth with a fully identified Three-Signal Model” were showcased by Amin Masud Ali, Professor, Jahangirnagar University, Md. Al-Hasan, Research Analyst, IFPRI, and Ahmed Sadek Yousuf, Assistant Professor, North South University, respectively. This session was chaired by AK Enamul Haque, Professor, East West University

The second session focused on Health and Fertility, where, Dr Kazi Iqbal, Research Director, BIDS, and Kazi Zubair Hossain, Research Officer, BIDS, presented their paper titled "Fertility and Female Employment in Bangladesh". The study concentrated on married mothers aged between 15 and 49 and showed that during the 1993–2018 period, for each child under six, the percentage of a married mother having a job dropped by six per cent. This impact was particularly notable among urban women, who are predominantly engaged in non-farming activities or employment outside the home, and jobs that are more challenging to carry out alongside childcare activities. The study recommends both public and private sector investment in paid maternity leave, workplace childcare facilities, and daycare centres to enhance female employment, especially in urban settings. In the same session, Dr Abdur Razzaque Sarker, Research Fellow, BIDS and Sheikh Touhidul Haque, Assistant Professor and Research Fellow, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) presented their papers on “Socio-economic inequalities and out-of-pocket (OOP) cost of diabetes in Bangladesh” and “Arsenic mitigation campaign during 1999-2003 in Bangladesh and its effects on mortality in different age groups”, respectively. This session was chaired by Dr Munshi Sulaiman, Research Director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD). 

In the third session focusing on COVID-19: Impacts and Recovery, three papers titled “Delivering remote learning using a low-tech solution: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Bangladesh”, “Economic Recovery of the New Poor Created by COVID-19: Evidence from Bangladesh”, and “The Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on remittances in Bangladesh” were delivered by Hashibul Hassan, Associate Professor, Jagannath University, Nabila Tahsin, Research Associate, BIGD, Khawaja Mamun, Associate Professor, Sacred Heart University, respectively. Dr Asad Karim Khan Priyo, Associate Professor, North South University, chaired this session. 

Finally, the organizers of the Dhaka Winter Conference in Economics 2023 expressed their gratitude to all attendees, particularly acknowledging the pivotal roles of Dr. Binayak Sen, Director General of BIDS, and Dr Kazi Iqbal, Research Director of BIDS, for their invaluable guidance and efforts in shaping a successful conference in economics.