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2. Incentivising Pro-Labour Reforms
- Author:
- Alice Evans
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper shows that countries may reduce labour repression if they perceive this as conducive to export growth. This paper traces what happened before, in the presence of, and then following the withdrawal of international economic incentives for pro-labour reforms in Vietnam and Bangladesh. The Government of Vietnam announced it would allow independent trade unions, in order to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and increase market access. Similarly, the Government of Bangladesh rescinded restrictions on unions, following global condemnation of Rana Plaza and fear of buyers leaving en masse. Both governments reduced labour repression to promote export growth. With high-level authorisation, Vietnamese and Bangladeshi activists and reformists became less fearful, and mobilised for substantive change. However, these economic incentives were short-lived: after Trump’s election, the USA withdrew from TPP; buyers continued to source from Bangladesh, and squeezed prices (without requiring labour reforms). Both governments then amped up labour repression - notwithstanding private regulation, economic upgrading, industry growth, and mass strikes.
- Topic:
- Economics, Labor Issues, Reform, Economic growth, and Trans-Pacific Partnership
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh, South Asia, and Vietnam
3. Factors Promoting Foreign Aid Dependence in South Asian Countries
- Author:
- Shazia Kousar and Salman Masood
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- South Asian Studies
- Institution:
- Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
- Abstract:
- This study used panel data approach to investigate comprehensive set of determinant of foreign aid and extent to which these determinants, domestic saving, capital formation, human capital, government expenditure, military expenditure and trade deficit, can affect foreign aid dependence in south Asian countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This study used Error correction model to estimate the short run association between defined variables. The results indicate that capital formation, ,trade deficit, government budget deficit and military expenditure have positive and significant association with foreign aid in the long run while these determinant have positive but insignificant relationship with foreign aid in the short run except gross domestic capital formation (GDCF). However, domestic savings, human capital formation has negative and significant relationship with foreign aid in long run. The findings of the study help foreign aid policy makers, analysts, researchers and official donor agencies.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Economic growth
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Punjab, and Bhutan
4. Bay of Bengal: ITLOS' first ruling in favour of Bangladesh
- Author:
- Jalila Abdul Jalil
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Maritime Institute of Malaysia
- Abstract:
- Wednesday, 14th March 2012, marked an important date when the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered its judgment on a maritime boundary delimitation dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. The ruling, by a vote of 21 to 1, awarded Bangladesh territorial and full 200 nautical miles (nm) economic rights as well as a substantial share of the outer continental shelf beyond 200 nm. The Tribunal also awarded a full 12 nm territorial sea around St. Martin's Island to Bangladesh. The conclusion of the dispute now opens up opportunities for exploration and exploitation of petroleum and natural gas in the bay.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Law, International Trade and Finance, Maritime Commerce, and Territorial Disputes
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh, South Asia, Island, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar
5. The Impact of Microcredit on the Poor in Bangladesh: Revisiting the Evidence
- Author:
- David Roodman and Jonathan Morduch
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The most-noted studies on the impact of microcredit on households are based on a survey fielded in Bangladesh in the 1990s. Contradictions among them have produced lasting controversy and confusion. Pitt and Khandker (PK, 1998) apply a quasi-experimental design to 1991–92 data; they conclude that microcredit raises household consumption, especially when lent to women. Khandker (2005) applies panel methods using a 1999 resurvey; he concurs and extrapolates to conclude that microcredit helps the extremely poor even more than the moderately poor. But using simpler estimators than PK, Morduch (1999) finds no impact on the level of consumption in the 1991–92 data, even as he questions PK's identifying assumptions. He does find evidence that microcredit reduces consumption volatility. Partly because of the sophistication of PK's Maximum Likelihood estimator, the conflicting results were never directly confronted and reconciled. We end the impasse. A replication exercise shows that all these studies' evidence for impact is weak. As for PK's headline results, we obtain opposite signs. But we do not conclude that lending to women does harm. Rather, all three studies appear to fail in expunging endogeneity. We conclude that for non-experimental methods to retain a place in the program evaluator's portfolio, the quality of the claimed natural experiments must be high and demonstrated.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh, South Asia, and Asia
6. The Rise of Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh
- Author:
- Sumit Ganguly
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Bangladesh has generally been heralded as a stable, democratic Muslim state that has made great strides in economic and human development. Following the restoration of democracy in 1990, it carried out three largely free and fair general elections in 1991, 1996, and 2001. Since 1999, attacks by Islamist militants have been increasing. They have targeted opposition politicians, scholars, journalists, members of the judiciary, religious minorities, and members of the Islamic Ahmadiyya sect. Recent years have seen a deepening crisis in governance with continued politicization of civil society, deterioration of judicial independence, and diminishing rule of law and respect for human rights. Until very recently, the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia (backed by two Islamist parties) denied the existence of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh, dismissing these charges as “hostile propaganda,” designed to besmirch the country's reputation. Following a countryside terrorist attack in August 2005 and recent suicide bombings, the government has begun cracking down on selected individuals. Indian observers and policymakers are concerned about the activities of Bangladeshi Islamists. They accuse Dhaka of exacerbating the ongoing insurgencies in India's Northeast by turning a blind eye to growing illegal immigration. They also contend that Bangladesh is cooperating with Pakistan to target India. In light of these developments, questions persist about the government's dedication to respond decisively to Islamist terrorism, conduct free and fair elections in 2007, and address the deterioration in the rule of law and respect for human rights. Because of Bangladesh's regional importance and the implications of internal security developments, the United States has limited policy options to promote its regional goals and ensure democratic elections.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Human Welfare, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh and United States
7. A New World Map in Textiles and Clothing
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Abstract:
- The textile and clothing industries provide employment for tens of million of people, primarily in developing countries, and accounted for USD 350 billion in merchandise exports in 2002, or 5.6% of the world total. The current rules governing world trade in textiles and clothing will change drastically at the end of 2004, when countries will no longer be able to protect their own industries by means of quantitative restrictions on imports of textile and clothing products. What will this mean for cotton growers in Burkina Faso and Turkey, fashion retailers in France and the United States, or shirt factories in Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic or China?
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh, United States, China, Turkey, and France
8. Bangladesh: Changing the Guard
- Author:
- Teresita C. Schaffer
- Publication Date:
- 11-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- Begum Khaleda Zia scored a dramatic victory in the October 1 elections in Bangladesh, winning a historic two-thirds majority in parliament and continuing Bangladesh's 10-year pattern of changing the party in power with each election. Other countries and the business community will welcome early hints at a more flexible policy on natural gas, but not statements about renegotiating a water agreement with India. Outside observers will be watching most closely, however, for signs of Zia's approach to governance. The Awami League has reacted bitterly to its defeat, and dysfunctional relations between the government and the opposition are likely to continue.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh and South Asia