Social Capital and Hygiene Practices among the Extreme Poor in Rural Bangladesh

We investigate the effect of social capital on hygiene practices pertaining to lives of the extreme poor in rural Bangladesh. Analysing a unique survey dataset for 5,600 extreme poor households, we document a significant positive effect of social capital on sanitary latrine use and wearing shoes/sandals at home for hygiene. We account for the endogeneity of social capital by instrumental variable estimation. Our findings emphasise the role of social capital in preventing common diseases through improving hygiene practices for the extreme poor, who usually lack access to medical services in the event of illness, which has important policy implications.     

Degrees of Separation: Informal Social Protection,Relatedness and Migration in Biswanath,Bangladesh

This paper argues for a more precise and context specific understanding of mechanisms of ‘informal social protection’ in Bangladesh. The context is a ‘Londoni’ village in Sylhet which has high levels of internal and overseas migration. The economic boom caused by the latter provides important employment opportunities for people from much poorer areas of Bangladesh, who have moved into the area. Yet, as our findings show, the extent to which the poor can call upon the help and protection of rich overseas migrants depends upon the degree of closeness to, or separation from, them. This is marked both through real and fictive kinship as well as geography: those that come from nearby become ‘our own poor’, whereas those from further away are treated as ‘outsiders', not qualifying for significant ‘help’. As the paper argues, access to hierarchically ordered places is vital for the sustainability of precarious livelihoods. Yet whilst geographical movement is an important survival strategy for the poor, it is only when social relations are established with wealthy patrons that it can be said to contribute to informal social protection.     

The Effect of IMF Programmes on Economic Growth in Low Income Countries: An Empirical Analysis

Using an LIC-specific participation model, we adopt a propensity score matching (PSM) methodology to compare economic growth performance in countries with and without IMF programmes over the period 1989–2008. Concessional programmes are found to have had a generally positive effect on economic growth for up to two years after agreements were signed. The effects are contingent on other factors including overall initial economic conditions, recent prior growth performance, aid dependency, debt, IMF resources, recent history of IMF engagement and time period. We examine the implications of the results as the IMF considers how best to support the Sustainable Development Goals.     

A Distributional Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap in Bangladesh

This article empirically investigates the gender wage gap in Bangladesh during the period 2005–2009. Applying unconditional quantile regression models, the article demonstrates that women are paid less than men throughout the wage distribution and the gap is higher at the lower end of the distribution. Discrimination against women is the primary determinant of the wage gap. The article also demonstrates that the observed gender wage gap is likely to be underestimated if we ignore selection in full-time employment. A number of policy implications are discussed.     

The deep marketisation of development in Bangladesh

This article introduces the concept of ‘deep marketisation’ as a relatively new, contemporary phase of neoliberal development policy in Bangladesh. By looking into the development strategy of the country’s energy sector, the article shows how an emphasis on marketisation through public-private partnerships (PPPs) and other strategies advances a market fundamentalist agenda to strengthen the private sector and establish a world market. By drawing on interviews with development practitioners from various development organisations in Bangladesh, the article further reveals how development conceptualisations are shaped by the strategy of deep marketisation, leading to the impoverishment of development by constraining its field of actions to measures based on the primacy of economic growth and private sector-led economic development, at the same time leading to a re-legitimisation of flawed neoliberal development policies that result in further inequality, poverty and environmental degradation.     

Women's Capabilities and the Right to Education in Bangladesh

The World Bank promotes women's education because it is an input into human capital. In the capabilities approach, education is a force that enables women to have expanded choices. Using data from in-depth interviews conducted in two villages in 1996 and 2000, we examine how rural Bangladeshis perceive women's education and to what extent those perceptions concur with the World Bank's instrumentalist view and with the capabilities approach. Parents educate their daughters because women's education is valued in the marriage market, and marriage is the best way to secure their daughters' well-being. Schooling has also enhanced women's capabilities by increasing their earning potential.     

Active Labour Market Programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis

We present a systematic review and meta-analysis of impact evaluations of active labour market programmes (ALMPs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). We extract 296 impact estimates from 51 programme evaluations to analyse the effects of participation on employment, earnings, hours worked, and formality. Our analysis finds that the probabilities of being employed and in formal employment are the labour market indicators most likely to be positively affected by ALMPs in LAC. Moreover, ALMPs are more successful among women and youth and when they are implemented during periods of economic expansion. Training programmes increase both formal employment and earnings; training is particularly effective when it is more intensive and when explicitly targeting poor individuals.     

The Impact of Microcredit on the Poor in Bangladesh: Revisiting the Evidence

Abstract

We replicate and reanalyse the most influential study of microcredit impacts (M. M. Pitt & S. R. Khandker’s, ‘The impact of group-based credit on poor households in Bangladesh: Does the gender of participants matter?’, published in the Journal of Political Economy, 106, 1998). That study was celebrated for showing that microcredit reduces poverty, a much hoped for possibility (though one not confirmed by recent randomised controlled trials). We show that the original results on poverty reduction disappear after dropping outliers, or when using a robust linear estimator. Using a new program for estimation of mixed process maximum likelihood models, we show how assumptions critical for the original analysis, such as error normality, are contradicted by the data. We conclude that questions about impact cannot be answered in these data.     

Humanitarianism,civil society and the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper reflects on responses to Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee crisis in the weeks that followed the increased numbers of Rohingya refugees who arrived from Myanmar after 24 August 2017. Drawing on literature on the local and international dimensions of humanitarianism, and the analytical lens of performance, it explores narratives of helping in relation to the shifting character of Bangladesh’s civil society, changing expressions of local and international religious sentiments, and the importance of understanding both formal and informal responses historically in the context of Bangladesh’s own experiences as a country born from a crisis in which citizens became refugees fleeing state-sponsored violence.     

Estimating the gender wage gap in Rawalpindi city

Studies estimating wage discrimination against women have rarely been conducted for Third World countries, and no research has been directed to this issue in Pakistan at all. This article uses data from Rawalpindi City to calculate the magnitude of the male‐female earnings gap, and identifies the proportion of this gap which results from discrimination as well as that which stems from differences between males and females in productivity characteristics. In addition to the Oaxaca model, the recently developed Cotton/Neumark model is also used to derive estimates. In a new twist to such models, adjustments are made for the presence of selectivity‐bias in the data. The results indicate existence of high levels of discrimination against women, as reflected in estimates of the earnings differentials.     

Entangled in Social Safety Nets: Administrative Responses to and Lived Experiences of Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine

Abstract

This essay explores the citizenship experiences of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. Since 2014, conflict in eastern Ukraine has forced over 1.7 million people to leave their homes. Unlike refugees, who are protected by international law, IDPs rely primarily on state support. Based on ethnographic research and analysis of secondary sources, the essay focuses on IDPs’ interactions with the state to highlight how displacement affects the provision of social guarantees. The discussion questions the distinctions between categories of migrants and citizens by offering insights into new modalities of controlled citizenship that displaced people live through.     

Anatomy of creeping authoritarianism in Bangladesh: a historical analysis of some events that shaped the present state of Bangladesh’s culture and politics

ABSTRACT

This paper offers a critical analysis of creeping authoritarianism in Bangladesh’s culture and politics. Political events since the 1940s that have shaped the presently unstable state of Bangladesh’s society are interpreted specifically in terms of their cultural and political significance. One important aspect of this unstable political state is the ongoing search for Bangladeshi national identity. Accordingly, the paper seeks to answer the questions of why and how the present sociocultural and political divisions in Bangladesh have emerged from the fundamental debate over whether (1) Bengali ethnicity, language, culture, and secularism, (2) Muslim nationalism or (3) a combination of both should become the marker of Bangladesh’s national identity to secure social and political stability. Furthermore, recent social, religious and political developments across the Muslim world suggest that attempts to introduce ultra-secularism in some Muslim-majority countries since the 1950s have led to authoritarianism, a movement which has ultimately ended or will soon end through popular Islamic upsurges. Bangladesh seems to be moving toward such social and political change, as the people have become restless in their desire to remove creeping authoritarian, the mark of a repressive regime that has emerged since the early 1970s. The key lesson that can be drawn from the extant literature on this issue in the context of Bangladesh is that the extreme form of secularism or ultra-secularism, which the present ruling Awami League and its left-communist allies continue to advance and impose from above, is neither desirable nor acceptable to Bangladeshi Muslims whilst there is clear movement away from ultra-secularism by other Muslim-majority countries. This paper draws the conclusion that since neither assertive secularism nor theocratic Islamism can flourish in Bangladesh, a competitive democratic political order that accommodates aspects of both secularism and Islamic ethical-moral codes could be a feasible model for the achievement of social, cultural and political stability that is so fundamental to the promotion of steady economic growth and social justice.     

Mainstreaming Gender in Politics in Bangladesh: Role of NGOs

‘Gender mainstreaming’ has been regarded as one of the strongest approaches to deal with the issue of equality policy for women. In order to mainstream women in the political process, a number of NGOs have been carrying out different programs in Bangladesh for building awareness among women so that they could opt for participation in the political process. The paper analyzes the role of NGOs in the process of mainstreaming gender in politics in Bangladesh in general and in the enactment of the Local Government (Union Parishad) (Second Amendment) Act of 1997 in particular. Based on empirical data collected through an open-ended structured questionnaire and available secondary data, the study findings reveal that despite having no formal access to the policy process, NGOs augment participation of women in the political process through informal means as is exemplified by their training programs that enhance women's social and economic status.     

Some Neglected Aspects of Performance in Field Administration in Bangladesh

Performance of public service personnel does not depend solely upon their qualifications and level of training. Rational organization of activities and division of work with effective work processes are important, and it is necessary to ensure that employees have appropriate qualifications and training for performing the tasks assigned to them. Rules and procedures help facilitate their work and provide flexibility to innovate. Attractive terms and conditions of service, and other intangible rewards such as opportunities for contribution to the mission of the organization, participation in decision-making, and recognition by the employer and the clients of public service are also important. Based on data collected from sub-district level public agencies in Bangladesh, this article argues that performance at the field level is affected by a number of additional organizational, political, and social factors. They include personnel turnover, procedural delays, multiplicity of tasks, decision pattern and behavior, politician-administrator interaction, dual loyalty of officials, inadequate facilities for fulfilling family obligations, and attachment to major urban centers for health and educational services. These elements need to be integrated in the framework for assessing performance of public service personnel in developing countries. It is necessary to look beyond the commonly known causes for dealing with performance problems.     

Tax Evasion and the Role of the State Actor(s) in Bangladesh

Little attention has been paid to tax evasion in developing countries due to a lack of data. This article addresses this lacuna by investigating the tax evasion practices and finds significant increases in tax evasion in Bangladesh. The study makes a major contribution to the literature in tax evasion, and indicates that the norms of state actor(s) (i.e. the National Board of Revenue–the sole tax authority in Bangladesh) lie in the interests of politicians and the continuation of corruption. The legitimacy of the state actors in this case means that they act as facilitators for increasing tax evasion practices. Therefore, the current system has endured remarkably robustly to date, and coercive isomorphism is indeed needed in the institutionalization process.     

Corruption and Policy Implementation in the Philippines: A Comparative Analysis of the Teacher Training and Textbook Delivery Programmes

Corruption is a perennial obstacle to the Philippines’ pursuit of development. The Department of Education (DepEd) is considered to be one of the most corrupt agencies in the Philippines. However, there are two DepEd programmes with different levels of effectiveness in controlling corruption. The Textbook Delivery Programme has been ineffective while the Programme on Basic Education has been successful. The article explains the different levels of implementing these programmes by using local perspectives via the ‘narratives of implementation actors’. Apart from providing insights on the challenges facing the evolving educational bureaucracy in the Philippines, this article also demonstrates the utility of network actor perspectives in appreciating the many concerns that determine and impede implementation performance and discusses the causes and impact of corruption and policy implementation on two public educational programmes.     

Impact of Shocks on Labour and Schooling Outcomes and the Role of Public Work Programmes in Rural India

The effectiveness of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) on rural labour market dynamics in India has been widely debated in the literature. However, the impact of the NREGS on non-agricultural labour market and children schooling outcomes in reference to exogenous rainfall shock is unclear from the existing literature. This paper exploits the Indian National Sample Survey and rainfall measures from the precipitation archive of the University of Delaware to investigate the role of the NREGS in the labour market and schooling outcomes of children during shocks. Using a difference-in-differences methodology, we focus on disaggregated shock specification and find a shock-cushioning pattern for the NREGS during negative shocks. However, there is an excess demand for labour during positive shock periods resulting from exposure to the NREGS. The implication is that the excess informal labour market opportunity translates to a reduction in school engagement for children. These findings summarily distinguish the role of the NREGS during positive and negative shocks respectively.     

Estimating the Duration of Jihadi Terror Plots in the United States

The number of ongoing terror plots increases with the duration of time from plot initiation until plot execution or interdiction (whichever comes first), yet no estimate of the probability distribution governing terror plot duration has appeared in the open literature. To remedy this gap, jihadi terror plots in the United States were identified from terrorism-related indictments that occurred between 11 September 2001 and 30 June 2011 in addition to successful attacks. From a review of indictments, affidavits, and other publicly available information, it was possible to identify lower and upper bounds for the initiation date of the plot in question as well as the ending date corresponding to either the arrest of the suspect(s) eventually convicted or an attempted/actual act of terror. These observations enable estimation of the duration distribution of jihadi terror plots in the United States accounting for the censoring and truncation effects inherent with these data (technical details appear in the Appendix). The estimated mean plot duration equals 270 days (standard error of mean 40 days), while 95 percent of all plots are estimated to fall between 33 and 750 days. These estimates suggest that on average, approximately three ongoing terror plots have been active in the United States at any point since 11 September 2001.     

Child participation in disaster risk reduction: the case of flood-affected children in Bangladesh

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. This article aims to gain a deeper understanding of the specific effects of natural disasters on children and how they could better be involved in the disaster risk reduction (DRR) process. The article begins with a review of the literature published on the Child-led Disaster Risk Reduction (CLDRR) approach and describes the key issues. Then it identifies the effects of floods on children in Bangladesh and analyses the traditional coping mechanisms developed by communities, highlighting where they could be improved. Finally, it analyses how DRR stakeholders involve children in the DRR process and identifies the opportunities and gaps for the mainstreaming of a CLDRR approach in Bangladesh. This should contribute to a better understanding of how key DRR stakeholders can protect children during natural disasters. Encouraging the building of long-term, child-sensitive DRR strategies is an essential part of this process.