Unequal Laws and the Disempowerment of Women in the Labour Market: Evidence from Firm-Level Data

Institutions are defined as the set of rules that govern human interactions. When these rules are discriminatory, they may disempower segments of a population in the economic spheres of activity. In this study, we explore whether laws that discriminate against women influence their engagement in the economy. We adopt a holistic approach where we explore an overall measure of unequal laws also known as legal gender disparities and relate it to several labour market outcomes for women. Using data for over 59,000 firms across 94 economies, we find that unequal laws not only discourage women’s participation in the private sector workforce, but also their likelihood to become top managers and owners of firms. Suggestive evidence indicates that access to finance, property ownership, business registration, and labour market constraints are pathways by which legal gender disparities disempower women in the private sector.     

Bureaucratic Corruption and Income: Evidence from the Land Sector in Bangladesh

We examine, for the first time, the effects of corruption on income using household survey data from a developing country. Estimating the effects of corruption on income is challenging because of the simultaneous relationship between the two variables. We use a two-step instrumental variable approach to identify the effects of corruption on income. We find that after adjusting for simultaneity bias the act of bribery reduces income and that higher bribes have a negative effect on income. Taken together, our results provide a possible explanation why a vicious cycle between corruption and income inequality does not exist in the land sector in Bangladesh.     

Influence of organizational culture on knowledge transfer: Evidence from the Government of Dubai

In the current context of globalization and technological spread, the role of knowledge as an organizational resource is phenomenal. Knowledge management can be seen as an add-on to reform paradigms such as new public management, good governance, and smart government, which has generated significant interest for public sector reformists in recent years. The amount of literature on knowledge management in public the sector of the United Arab Emirates is relatively scanty. In the Government of Dubai (1 of 7 Emirates in the UAE), the journey towards knowledge management has started 2 decades or so ago and now has begun to take structural roots in many organizations. This study examines the relationship between organizational culture elements (i.e., trust, communication between employees, reward, leadership, and learning and development), organizational socialization, and knowledge transfer in the government organizations in Dubai. Based on a theoretical framework to measure the influence, this study conducted a questionnaire survey in the Government of Dubai entities. From 811 respondents representing these organizations, the survey results unfold positive relationship between knowledge transfer and the 4 selected organizational cultural elements (i.e., trust, communication between employees, reward, and leadership). Socialization is found to play a moderating role in all the hypothesized relationships except between reward and knowledge transfer. It also examines further research implications to support knowledge transfer processes and practices in the public sector of Dubai and the UAE.     

Indigenous floating cultivation: a sustainable agricultural practice in the wetlands of Bangladesh

Floating-bed cultivation has proved a successful means to produce agricultural crops in various wetland areas of the world. In freshwater lakes and wetlands, vegetables, flowers, and seedlings are grown in Bangladesh using this floating cultivation technique, without any additional irrigation or chemical fertiliser. No detailed study of this indigenous cultivation technique has been published to date, although the laboratory method, hydroponics, is well documented in the professional literature. Our study is focused on the nature and characteristics of the Bangladeshi system, where local farmers have demonstrated the potential for the sustainable use of such common-property local water resources. We seek to establish a reference point for further research into this technique for its possible refinement and an assessment of its suitability for replication.     

The Effect of Soft Tissue on Temperature Estimation from Burnt Bone Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

This study investigated the effect of soft tissue and different exposure times on the prediction of burning temperatures of bone when using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Ovis aries rib bones were burnt at different temperatures and for varying time intervals. Results of a linear regression analysis indicated that burn temperatures can be predicted with a standard error of ±70°C from defleshed bone spectra. Exposure time does not have a significant impact on prediction accuracy. The presence of soft tissue has a significant impact on heat‐induced changes of the bone matrix in low (<300°C) as well as high temperatures (>800°C), slowing down combustion in the former and accelerating it in the latter (p < 0.05). At medium temperatures, no significant difference was noted. These results provide forensic investigators a new perspective with which to interpret the results of crystallinity measures derived from burnt bone.     

The Toxic Politics of Bangladesh: A Bipolar Competitive Neopatrimonial State?

In order to understand the structural dimensions of the problems concerning democratic governance in Bangladesh, this article seeks to explicate whether or not Bangladesh is a neopatrimonial state. This article examines contemporary Bangladesh politics with a particular focus on the notion of neopatrimonialism and with special reference to the personalization of state power. The concept of neopatrimonialism has great utility in explaining leadership behaviour in a dysfunctional democracy such as Bangladesh, where personalized exchanges, exploitation of bureaucratic and state mechanisms and political scandals are common. I argue that Bangladesh is a special variant of the neopatrimonial state, which I suggest to be bipolar neopatrimonialism. I contend that since independence, successive governments and political leaders always attempt to monopolize state power in various ways. The patron-client society of Bangladesh helps political leaders to personalize the state power they possess. To monopolize state power, the political elites of Bangladesh create networks and alliances, relying on exchanges to meet their objectives. In this regard, state elites use elements of the state and political system to mediate these exchanges.     

Preferential Trade Agreements and the Scope of Gatt Article XXIV,Gats Article V and the Enabling Clause: An Appraisal of Gatt/WTO Jurisprudence

Netherlands International Law Review -