Exposure to benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) in indoor and outdoor environments poses significant health risks in rapidly urbanising cities. This study quantified BTEX concentrations and assessed the associated risks of cancer and non-cancer effects in urban (Mirpur) and industrial (Tejgaon) areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Six locations—three in each area—representing residential indoor (Mukti Housing, Mirpur), residential outdoor roadside (Mirpur 10 Fire Service Station), residential outdoor park (National Botanical Garden), industrial residential (Tejkunipara, Tejgaon), industrial roadside (Farmgate), and industrial ambient (BITAC, Tejgaon) microenvironments — were selected for sampling campaigns conducted from 30 August to 11 September, 2013. Air samples were collected during daytime hours (09:00–17:00) using active sampling with Tenax TA sorbent tubes and analysed by thermal desorption gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). A total of 44 VOCs were quantified, with BTEX compounds prioritised for detailed health risk assessment. Mean ∑BTEX concentrations ranged from 13.95 µg/m³ at the urban park site to 48.74 µg/m³ at the industrial roadside site. Benzene posed the highest cancer risk, with excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) values ranging from 2.5 × 10⁻⁵ to 9.0 × 10⁻⁵, exceeding the U.S. EPA benchmark of 1 × 10⁻⁶. Hazard quotients (HQs) for individual BTEX compounds remained below 1; however, cumulative non-cancer risks (ΣHQ) slightly exceeded unity in industrial sites, indicating potential adverse effects from combined exposures to these compounds. Key limitations include short-term monitoring, daytime-only sampling, and limited temporal coverage (six samples per site), which may result in an underestimate of seasonal or long-term variability. Nevertheless, the findings reveal elevated BTEX levels and associated health risks in densely populated and industrialised areas of Dhaka, underscoring the need for long-term monitoring, emission control, and targeted public health interventions.
This study examines the association between economic growth and selected welfare-related macroeconomic indicators in Bangladesh using annual data from 1995 to 2024. Household consumption expenditure growth, employment-to-population ratios, and remittance inflows are considered as indicators reflecting aggregate household economic conditions. The analysis employs descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, Granger causality tests, and a Chow breakpoint test to explore short-run predictive relationships and the stability of welfare–growth linkages over time. The results indicate a strong association and predictive linkage between household consumption growth and GDP per capita growth, while employment and remittance inflows exhibit weaker or statistically insignificant relationships. The Chow breakpoint test identifies a significant structural change around 2020, suggesting instability in established welfare–growth associations during the COVID-19 shock. The findings are exploratory and diagnostic in nature and should be interpreted as indicative macro-level patterns rather than causal effects. Overall, the study provides updated evidence on consumption-growth dynamics and welfare–growth linkages in Bangladesh.
Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey 2007, we examine intergenerational interactions between income and parental choice of madrassas for their children’s education. We first estimate the effects of household income on children’s madrassa enrollment using rainfall variation as an instrument for household income to correct for biases due to unobserved ability and preference heterogeneity and measurement error. Other things being equal, doubling household expenditure reduces children’s probability of madrassa enrollment by about 34 percentage points. The estimated negative income effect is robust to various specifications. We then estimate whether returns to education vary between madrassa and general schools. OLS estimates of returns to education show that the average earnings of junior general school graduates are about 26.5 per cent higher than those of junior madrassa graduates. We exploit selection on observables as a guide to selection on unobservables (Oster, 2016) to estimate the returns to education. The relatively low returns to Madrassa education remain intact even when selection on unobservables is twice as large as the selection on observables. Estimates based on the heteroskedasticity-based identification approach of Klein and Vella (2009b) also suggest a similar pattern. Results from the school choice model in conjunction with the market returns to education indicate that madrassa education generates a low-income trap for households. That is, households with lower income send children to madrassas, and those children are expected to earn less than the general school graduates. In turn, because children of madrassa-educated parents have lower income, they send their offspring to madrassas. This intergenerational persistence in madrassa education can be described as a “madrassa trap”.
This study examines the poverty rate among manufacturing workers in Bangladesh using a unique primary dataset of 3005 workers. It estimates a poverty line for manufacturing workers by applying the Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) method. The paper uncovers two stylised facts. First, the estimated upper and lower poverty rates of these workers are 27.89 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, both of which are significantly higher than the official rural-urban and national poverty rates. It indicates that poverty is much more intense among these workers. Second, the study identifies significant intra-industry variation in poverty incidence. Workers in export-oriented RMG industries have been found to have a lower poverty rate, followed by workers in domestic industries and export-oriented non-RMG industries. This study finds that intra-industry variation is mainly driven by three dimensions of labour market segmentation: industry size, human capital, and gender-specific employment. The large size of the RMG industry enables firms to offer higher minimum wages, bonuses, and overtime pay than other industries. In addition, the RMG sector employs more women, making it more likely that both husbands and wives are employed and thereby increasing household income. Higher levels of education among RMG workers also contribute to higher wages. Regression results further confirm that human capital, gender-specific employment, and industry-level segmentation are significant determinants of poverty and largely explain the observed variation in poverty across manufacturing industries.
This empirical study examines whether trade unionisation among manufacturing workers in Bangladesh has a significant impact on their gross wages compared to non-unionised workers. A survey of 3,005 manufacturing workers’ households across 20 types of manufacturing industries in three districts around Dhaka (including Dhaka) has been conducted. Apart from using OLS estimation methods, the paper employs the Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) IV estimation method to address the issue of endogeneity in the wage determination model associated with the unionisation variable. The study finds that unionised workers receive higher wages than non-unionised workers, but part of this differentiation is explained by their greater “on-the-job” experience. Additionally, workers in the readymade garments (RMG) sector receive higher wages than those in non-RMG industries, and the wage premium is especially large for unionised RMG workers. Results from this study offer important insights into the impact of trade unionisation on the wages of manufacturing workers and its policy implications for the sector’s wage structure, while also highlighting the need for further investigation into other dimensions, such as non-wage benefits for workers.
Given that energy demand in South Asia is forecast to surge substantially in the near future, it would be difficult to meet this demand unless these countries undergo a sustainable renewable energy transition. Accordingly, this study evaluates the political economy of sustainable renewable energy transition in the South Asian context using data for the period 2000-2022, while controlling for other major macroeconomic factors, as well. Overall, using a panel data estimation technique robust to cross-sectional dependency, slope heterogeneity, and heteroskedasticity concerns, political stability establishment is found not only to directly stimulate the renewable energy transition process but also to indirectly facilitate it by moderating the nexus between intra-South Asian trade openness and renewable energy transition. Thus, stabilising politically risky situations is deemed a pre-condition for South Asian countries to sustainably undergo the energy transition procedure. Contrarily, financial development is found to hinder renewable energy transition, while incoming foreign direct investment does not influence this energy transition procedure. Moreover, the above results remain robust upon using alternative political stability proxies and different regression techniques. Furthermore, causality analysis verifies unidirectional causal influences of political stabilisation, intra-South Asian trade openness, and financial development on South Asia’s renewable energy transition processes. Therefore, South Asian governments should take note of these findings to strategise their future renewable energy transition plans.
Bangladesh is a village-dominated country. For hundreds of years, the village community has remained unchanged. For many years, there was little to no change in the economy, occupations, family structure, or lifestyle. However, the transformation began in the early 19th century and gained momentum in the 1950s. With advances in education, technology, and rapid urbanisation, rural society in Bangladesh underwent profound changes from the 1980s onward. Bangladesh has undertaken numerous initiatives to achieve various Sustainable Development Goals. As a result, the livelihoods of rural inhabitants have undergone significant changes. The primary aim of this study was to determine the transformation of livelihoods in a remote village community of Bangladesh over the past two decades. For this study, a questionnaire survey of 153 families and four FGDs with villagers were conducted in July and August of 2023. The researcher conducted a study in the same community in 2001. Then, 116 households were interviewed, and five case studies were conducted. Comparing the two studies reveals changes in the community's livelihoods. The results demonstrated that notable transformations have occurred in the community. Occupations, income, expenditures, savings, and quality of housing, among other factors, have undergone substantial changes. Poverty has been reduced significantly. 54 per cent of households reported that their economic condition has improved over the last two decades.
This paper explores the historical phases and multidimensional nature of globalisation, drawing on the works of key scholars such as Richard Baldwin, Thomas L. Friedman, Klaus Schwab, and others. It critically traces globalisation’s evolution — from early trade routes to contemporary digital integration — and examines five major dimensions: economic, social, cultural, political, and environmental. The paper also highlights the implications of these transformations for developing economies, with a focus on Bangladesh. Drawing on both academic literature and presentation materials, it offers a comprehensive overview relevant to current development discourse.
This paper examines the impact of unionisation on women’s empowerment within the manufacturing sector of Bangladesh, focusing on sectoral differences due to the intra-household dynamics and workplace conditions. Here, the three key sectors examined are Ready-Made Garments (RMG), non-RMG export-oriented industries, and domestic industries. Using data from a survey of 719 production-related, daily or temporary female workers and female workers engaged in elementary occupations, the study examines how unionisation influences women’s decision-making autonomy and empowerment. Empowerment is defined here using the indicators such as household decision-making power, including managing finances, family planning and the education of the children. To control for the potential endogeneity in the analysis, Instrumental Variable (IV) techniques are applied alongside the Poisson estimation. The findings show that unionisation significantly increases the empowerment of female workers by 14 per cent to 18 per cent. In particular, women in the domestic sector are more empowered than those in the export-oriented non-RMG sector, a finding attributed partially to the predominance of older and experienced workers in those domestic industries. The findings further suggest that through unionisation, women gain the confidence and capability to advocate for themselves at work, which translates to greater decision-making power at home. To harness this potential and capability, institutional reform is urgently required, mandating that factory management systems establish and sustain secure platforms that actively raise the proportional representation and leadership of female workers in collective bargaining. In addition, stronger regulatory oversight is needed to prevent and penalise retaliation against workers involved in collective actions.
Based on the 2022 Labour Force Survey (LFS), this paper investigates how employment has responded to economic growth since the 2016 survey round. There has been a modest rebound in overall employment elasticity between the 2016 and 2022 LFS rounds. Growth-accounting analysis shows that labour productivity growth is driven primarily by capital deepening (2.2-2.9 per cent annually) rather than total factor productivity (1.1-1.8 per cent). Service sectors exhibit a “two waves” pattern, with traditional services (trade, construction) providing stable employment while modern services (finance, public administration) grow rapidly but absorb few workers. Remittance-driven spending continues to create jobs in non-tradable sectors, while manufacturing has shifted toward more labour-saving production methods.
COVID-19 has dramatically interrupted lives across the globe, and for young people, the closure of schools has been particularly disruptive. In Bangladesh, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undermine many of the recent gains in education, particularly for girls, and to stunt further progress. This article examines the effects of COVID-19 and subsequent economic and educational disruptions on adolescent well-being in Bangladesh. The analysis uses data from 2,095 in-school adolescents (Grade 7 and 8) collected pre-COVID-19 (February–March 2020) through a field survey and a follow-up virtual survey and in-depth qualitative interviews undertaken early in the pandemic (May–June 2020). Findings show that households have suffered large economic shocks, putting a financial strain on households, and impacting the mental and physical health of young people. Moreover, school closures have decreased adolescents’ access to learning, increased time spent on household chores, and affected future job aspirations. The impacts are particularly large for girls and for adolescents from more vulnerable households. Policymakers need to consider policies that facilitate school return, targeting girls and the most vulnerable. They also need creative school-based programming to address the likely long-run health effects of COVID-19 on young people.
This paper summarises findings from a relatively large rapid phone survey to understand socio-economic dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic on safety-net beneficiaries in Bangladesh. We surveyed 7,338 beneficiaries of two government safety-net transfer programs – Old Age Allowance and Widow Allowance – supported under the Department of Social Services. Our analysis suggests that beneficiaries of these programs suffered significantly during the COVID-19 induced mobility restrictions, with 51 per cent of our respondents forced to reduce medication consumption and 22 per cent forced to reduce food consumption (based on a one-week recall period of the rapid phone survey). The median household reported having earned zero income in the two weeks prior to the survey. While the timely payment of benefits is crucial during crises of such scale, 41 per cent of beneficiaries reported not being paid the full benefit amount, despite such payments being due before the COVID lockdown. Our estimates also demonstrate that those who had access to digital safety-net payments were more likely to receive transfers in a timely manner and suffered lower consumption and income vulnerability. These findings highlight the importance of regular and timely disbursement of safety-net payments, which ensure food security and serve as a basic consumption smoothing tool for vulnerable populations. Widespread adoption of digital financial services, such as mobile money, could work as a viable platform to ensure that payments are transferred on time to safety-net beneficiaries.
This study is based on data generated online, which covered all socioeconomic groups and all districts of the country. It can be considered representative of the vast online population, and it is believed that the patterns exposed would find strong resonance in the wider population as well. The survey was conducted during the period of the ‘general holiday’ in Bangladesh, which is euphemistically a reference to lockdown. It estimates that 10 per cent of the population displayed COVID-19-type symptoms, and 1 per cent had co-morbidities. We also noted that urban residents, divorcees, and members belonging to large households faced greater risk, while higher incomes usually corresponded with reduced risk. Shocks to income were substantial, with nearly 50 per cent reporting income flows halted for younger age groups, while this was about a third for older groups. In terms of coping ability, this was seen to be weak. We also noted that there was considerable awareness of good practices like handwashing and social distancing. While ordinary people tried hard to fight back, their means were limited, indicating that for a poor country, a longer-term lockdown would be untenable.
In the initial stage of the COVID-19-induced pandemic, most governments in the world, particularly in developing countries, are faced with the challenges of informed policymaking because the evidence is short in supply. Early evidence on the pandemic helps inform policymakers to set priorities and respond quickly and efficiently. To this end, we generate early micro-evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs and their workers, given the importance of the SME sector in Bangladesh. Using a pre-COVID survey of BIDS as a benchmark, we interviewed 375 enterprises and 360 workers during the lockdown in April-May 2020. Our results show that the owners predicted a two-third reduction in revenue in 2020 compared to 2019. This predicted reduction is lower for the larger sectors. The immediate loss of the SMEs stemmed from a number of sources: i) loss of sales due to shutdown of production, ii) unsold products in inventory, iii) unpaid payments, iv) running operating costs (wages, utilities, etc.), and v) perishable and un-storable raw materials. Due to disruptions in the supply chain, owners worry that they will not be able to resume full production even a month after the shutdown is lifted. Almost 90 per cent of owners fear that if the shutdown continues for three months at a stretch, they might have to either wind up their business or survive with huge losses. About 98 per cent of the workers got paid in March 2020, either partially or fully. A large proportion of workers – about two-thirds – do not think they will be paid in May 2020. About three-fourths of the SMEs were aware of the incentive package announced by the government. The survival of this sector critically hinges on how effectively the government's incentive packages reach the most affected SMEs.
COVID-19 has dramatically interrupted lives across the globe, and for young people, the closure of schools has been particularly disruptive. In Bangladesh, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undermine many of the recent gains in education, particularly for girls, and to stunt further progress. This article examines the effects of COVID-19 and subsequent economic and educational disruptions on adolescent well-being in Bangladesh. The analysis uses data from 2,095 in-school adolescents (Grade 7 and 8) collected pre-COVID-19 (February–March 2020) through a field survey and a follow-up virtual survey and in-depth qualitative interviews undertaken early in the pandemic (May–June 2020). Findings show that households have suffered large economic shocks, putting a financial strain on households, and impacting the mental and physical health of young people. Moreover, school closures have decreased adolescents’ access to learning, increased time spent on household chores, and affected future job aspirations. The impacts are particularly large for girls and for adolescents from more vulnerable households. Policymakers need to consider policies that facilitate school return, targeting girls and the most vulnerable. They also need creative school-based programming to address the likely long-run health effects of COVID-19 on young people.
This paper provides early insights into the labour market impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in Bangladesh, with a special focus on three especially vulnerable areas: poor areas in Dhaka and Chattogram City Corporations and Cox’s Bazar district. We build on household surveys collected before the crisis and phone monitoring surveys collected after the start of the crisis to shed light on the implications of COVID-19 for employment and earnings. Simulations suggest that the upper poverty rate may have been 7 percentage points higher in fiscal year 2020, compared to a non-COVID situation. The findings presented here indicate substantial labour market impacts both at the extensive and intensive margin, with important variation across areas and gender, largely due to the nature of occupations affected by the crisis. The findings also point to substantial uncertainty about job prospects.
We conduct a large household survey immediately after the lockdown was imposed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh. We then follow a random subset of households to examine the changing circumstances of rural households as the pandemic evolves. We find that nearly 90 per cent of these households experienced a negative income shock. Households that had lost their income completely were more worried about their finance and food, while households with no income loss were mostly concerned about the health of their family members. We also find evidence that households where day labourers are the main income earners mostly rely on loans and help from others to cope with the shocks. The overall findings suggest that households experiencing severe negative income shocks were less concerned about the health of their family members, which could further exacerbate the COVID-19 situation as the economic crisis has been deepening over time.
The international trading environment, constituted by a complex architecture of rules and policies shaped by major economic powers and multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), is undergoing significant transformation. This paper begins by analysing the evolving discourse on globalisation within the United States, with particular emphasis on how these domestic shifts reverberate through global trade dynamics. The analysis then extends to the broader international economic context, examining the influence of geopolitical tensions, trade conflicts, and strategic realignments on the global trading system. Special attention is devoted to the resurgence of protectionist policies in the United States and their potential ramifications for smaller developing economies, such as Bangladesh. While the precise outcomes for these economies remain inherently uncertain, the paper considers a range of policy responses aimed at mitigating prospective adverse effects. The concluding section moves beyond a recapitulation of findings to offer reflective insights on the wider implications of these structural shifts for the global economic order.
This paper examines the relationship between trade liberalisation and GDP growth in Bangladesh, with a focus on exports. Using a descriptive analysis of the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) from 2002 to 2022, we find that Bangladesh ranks low in export product sophistication and remains heavily dependent on textile and garment exports, with minimal diversification. While trade liberalisation is expected to enhance economic complexity, our findings suggest that this has not been the case for Bangladesh. Instead, trade liberalisation, when coupled with economic complexity, appears to generate higher growth, highlighting the need for diversification and structural transformation. A gravity model incorporating multilateral resistance terms, estimated using high-dimensional fixed effects regression and Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) for the period 1980–2022, reveals a statistically significant positive impact of shared colonial history, a negative impact of distance and borders, and mixed effects of a common language. Additionally, our results show a favourable interaction between economic complexity and GDP per capita, suggesting that more complex economies benefit more from trade. Furthermore, OLS regressions using data from 2000 to 2022 indicate a positive but statistically insignificant relationship between economic complexity, exports, and GDP growth, implying that other macroeconomic factors may be driving Bangladesh’s economic expansion. Despite its relatively low economic complexity, Bangladesh has experienced sustained GDP growth, raising the question of what factors contribute to this performance. Our findings suggest that while trade has played a role, other elements — such as foreign direct investment, remittances, and macro-economic stability — may have been key drivers. Policy recommendations emphasise the need for export diversification and increased economic complexity to ensure long-term, resilient economic growth in Bangladesh.
Women’s empowerment is crucial for sustainable development and the realisation of human rights for all. This study aims to categorise women’s empowerment levels—low, medium, and high—using the Survey-based Women’s Empowerment Index (SWPER) and to analyse the relationship between these levels and various child and women’s health indicators, using data from the latest three rounds of nationwide BDHS surveys. In Bangladesh, as of 2022, the majority of women were found to be moderately empowered (74.61 per cent), followed by highly empowered (18.16 per cent) and low empowered (7.22 per cent). Several factors showed significant associations with women’s empowerment, including age, educational attainment, gender of the household head, employment status, age at first childbirth, exposure to mass media, place of residence, and administrative division. The analysis revealed notable disparities in child health outcomes based on maternal empowerment levels. Children of low-empowered mothers experienced the highest rates of childhood stunting (28.6 per cent, p<0.001), wasting (12.1 per cent, p<0.01), and underweight (25.05 per cent, p<0.001). An inverse relationship was observed between women’s empowerment and nutritional status. For instance, a consistently higher prevalence of underweight was observed among women with low empowerment across all assessed domains—decision-making, social independence, and tolerance of violence—relative to highly empowered women. Similarly, institutional childbirth was consistently higher among highly empowered mothers across all empowerment domains over the years. These findings underscore the vital role of women’s empowerment in improving maternal and child health outcomes in Bangladesh. To advance sustainable development and promote human rights, it is imperative to implement policies that prioritise women’s empowerment at all levels of society.
