Suchergebnisse

It is generally argued that the estimates of per capita consumption of food grains in Bangladesh are grossly underestimated due to the failure of comprehensively taking into account the consumption of food items made of rice and wheat at home and outside. To give some insight into this debate, this study revisited the per capita consumption of food grains through a primary survey of a nationally representative sample in 2012 by considering a comprehensive list of 36 food grains items that are consumed at both home and outside. The findings of this study show that the per capita consumption of food grains estimated from the BIDS survey, 2012 is higher than that reported by the BBS estimates based on the HIES 2010. Using the LA/AIDS model, the projection shows that the demand for both rice and wheat will decrease in both rural and urban areas, albeit marginally. The estimated per capita consumption of rice and wheat, the price and income elasticities thereof, and the consequent projections can be used as instruments for the integrated and effective planning on food grains distribution and management in Bangladesh. Moreover, BBS and other organisations involved in foodgrain consumption estimates may consider the methodologies applied in this study in their future surveys and research studies.

This short note estimates the economic value of women's unpaid household service work in Bangladesh using data from the Time Use Survey 2021 of BBS. This survey collected detailed information 17,772 respondents (10,024 female and 7,748 male) from 8,000 households on how individuals aged 15 years and older spent their time over a 24-hour period in a day on various activities. Productive time of all household members is divided into three categories: i) household chores (e.g. cooking, cleaning, etc.); ii) caregiving services for household members; and iii) paid and self-employed work. The first two categories comprise unpaid household service work. Data show that women and men spent 7 hours and 6.9 hours on productive work, respectively. In order to estimate the total economic value of women's unpaid work, we follow an input-based replacement cost approach with generalist wage rates. Our estimate shows that the valuation of women's unpaid care work is BDT 5,307 billion, which is equivalent to 14.8 per cent of the GDP in 2021. This figure is a meagre 2.8 per cent of GDP for men.

The process of economic growth and development involves transformation of the structure of economies that results in a reduction in the share of agriculture and a rise in the share of industries and services in total output as well as employment. Although manufacturing is expected to play the role of the engine of growth and absorption of surplus labour, the experience of developing countries shows that all countries have not been equally successful in this regard. That has led to the search for alternative pathways to the absorption of surplus labour. The present paper addresses this question with particular focus on selected countries of South Asia, viz. Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The analysis is more detailed on Bangladesh, and focuses on whether surplus labour has been exhausted and on how effective the alternative pathways can be. The empirical evidence presented in this paper indicates that it is difficult to utilise the available surplus labour fully and productively without industrialisation. Of course, there are differences in conditions and possibilities even within South Asia. But the limitations of the service sector as an engine of overall economic growth and as a means of absorbing surplus labour seem to be clear. For Bangladesh, data on real wage trends and the persistence of low quality employment show that despite labour market tightening, the economy of the country continues to exhibit signs of the existence of surplus labour.

Primary Education Stipend Project, a conditional cash transfer programme, has been in operations since 2003 to increase attendance rate and stem the dropout rate of children from poor and vulnerable households in the rural areas of Bangladesh. This paper evaluates the behavioural impact of conditionality and gender targeting of transfer of fund on the direct and latent outcomes using propensity score estimation method based on a sample of 2,500 households with primary school going children from 125 primary education institutions. Results reveal that the transfer entails an income effect on the share of educational expenses and channeling the stipend through mothers of the students does not directly empower them as women but does empower them as mothers. It appears that two different but mutually reinforcing stimuli—income effect and women educational empowerment effect—lead to favourable educational outcomes of the recipient students.

Die Instabilität des Juteweltmarktes ist für Bangladesch sehr schwerwiegend, da das Land mehr als 60% seiner Exporteinnahmen über Juteexporte bezieht. Eine mögliche Reaktion auf Preisschwankungen ist die Zwischenlagerung von Jute durch die "buffer agency". In der Praxis birgt diese Operation allerdings diverse Probleme. Untersucht werden diese Schwierigkeiten bzw. weitere Möglichkeiten für die Jutelagerung während Niedrigpreisperioden. (DÜI-Xyl)