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OUR RESEARCH

“Identifying a sector with a scope of large employment is
appealing from poverty reduction point of view. But, if wrongly
targeted, it might have worse consequences.”

 

Mohammad A. Razzaque, Economic Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat 
In: Dynamic Products in South-South Trade: Issues for Policy Makers (16 October 2007)

Research-site_Development Strategy_portrait.jpg

Bangladesh's Development Strategy

  • Evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of some alternative development strategies.

  • Makes suggestions on the optimal mix of alternative development strategies.

Research-site Working Papers.jpeg

Our Working Paper Series

  • The BDRWPS is a peer-reviewed working paper series of the Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC)

Aid & Debt

Analyzes the implications of alternative sources and levels of development finance and their implications on debt sustainability and sustainable development in Bangladesh.

Research-site_Aid and Debt.jpg

Climate Change

Includes four areas/topics:

  • climate change adaptation policies,

  • climate change vulnerability,

  • the impact of development on CO2 emissions, and

  • an annotated bibliography on climate change.

Research-site_Climate Change_portrait.jpg

BDRC Research: Aid and Debt

 

Outputs (in reverse chronological order):
 

  • Concessional Financing for Development in Bangladesh, Journal of Bangladesh Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (published in October 2019), pp. 51–65 (with M. Faizul Islam and Farah Tasneem).

​

  • "Aid, Debt, and Development in Bangladesh: Synergies or Contradictions", published in: Munir Quddus
    and Farida Khan (eds.) Bangladesh Economy in the 21st Century: Selected Papers from the 2008-09
    Conferences at Harvard University (Dhaka: University Press Ltd., 2011), Chapter 10 (by Bernhard G.
    Gunter, A. F. M. Ataur Rahman, and Jesmin Rahman).

 

  • “Aid, Debt, and Development in Bangladesh: Synergies or Contradictions" published in Journal of
    Bangladesh Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1 (2010), pp. 23-43 (by Bernhard G. Gunter; A. F. M. Ataur Rahman;
    and Jesmin Rahman).

 

 

 

  • Research paper authored jointly by Bernhard G. Gunter; A. F. M. Ataur Rahman; and Jesmin Rahman on
    "Aid, Debt, and Development in Bangladesh: Synergies or Contradictions", Presentation made by Dr.
    Bernhard Gunter at the Conference on "Bangladesh in the 21st Century" at Harvard University,
    Cambridge, MA (June 13-14, 2008) on aid, debt and development.

 

 

  • BDRC Feature: Bangladesh deserves more aid (June 2008)


See also:
 

  • Gunter, Bernhard G.; Jesmin Rahman; and Haiyan Shi (2009) "Linking Social Development with the Capacity
    to Carry Debt: Towards an MDG-Consistent Debt-Sustainability Concept", Development Policy Review, Vol.
    27, No. 3 (May), pp. 26-286.

 

  • Gunter, Bernhard G.; Jesmin Rahman; and Quentin Wodon (2008) "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul?
    Understanding Who Pays for Debt Relief", World Development, Vol. 36, No. 1 (January 2008), pp. 1-16.

 

  • Gunter, Bernhard G. (2007) “MDG-Consistent Debt Sustainability: How to Ease the Tension between
    Achieving the MDGs and Maintaining Debt Sustainability”, Discussion Paper commissioned for a joint
    UNDESA/UNDP roundtable in New York (October 31, 2006; revised version of January 2007); available at: http:
    //www.undp.org/poverty/docs/debtflow/Debt-3-Gunter.pdf.

 

  • Jeffrey Sachs, Jeffrey; John McArthur; Guido Schmidt-Traub; Chandrika Bahadur; Michael Faye; and Margaret
    Kruk (2004) Millennium Development Goals Needs Assessments: Country Case Studies of Bangladesh,
    Cambodia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda; UN Millennium Project Working Paper (Draft of 17 January 2004)
    availalbe at: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/mp_ccspaper_jan1704.pdf.

ODA-to_Bangladesh-755x543.jpeg

Source: Figure 1 of Gunter, Bernhard G.; A. F. M. Ataur Rahman; and Jesmin Rahman (2008) "Aid, Debt, and
Development in Bangladesh: Synergies or Contradictions", Paper presented at the Conference on "Bangladesh in
the 21st Century" at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (June 13-14); please click here to load the whole
presentation (pdf).

Aid
Climate

Climate Change

I. International Planning Workshop on:

  • Conceptualizing Effective and Efficient Adaptation Policies to Climate Change in Bangladesh
    Building on current climate change research and recognizing the excellent work that has been undertaken in this regards, four research organizations [the BCAS, the BDRC, the IIED, and the Millennium Institute (MI) ] had agreed to jointly organize an International Planning Workshop to draw up a research program for conceptualizing effective and efficient adaptation policies to climate change in Bangladesh. Thanks to the generous support by the Rockefeller Foundation, this three-day workshop was held at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study and Conference Center from May 20-22, 2008.

 

For further details about the workshop, please see:

 

Presentations made on Day 1:

     Shireen Kamal Sayeed, Assistant Country Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh
 

     Mozaharul Alam, Research Fellow, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS)
 

     Bernhard G. Gunter, President, Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC)
 

     John D. Shilling, Chairman, Board of Trustees, MI



II. How Vulnerable are Bangladesh’s Indigenous People to Climate Change?
 

  • Abstract: This paper compares the vulnerabilities to climate change and climate variability of the indigenous people
    with the Bengali population of Bangladesh. It distinguishes between (a) individual vulnerabilities that are related to
    an individual’s capability to adapt to climate change and; (b) spatial vulnerabilities, that is, vulnerabilities that are
    related to the location of a person (like the exposure to climate change-induced disasters). While an individual’s
    capability to adapt to climate change is determined by many factors, some relatively simple approximation is to look
    at poverty, landlessness, and illiteracy. Spatial vulnerabilities are reviewed by looking at drought hazard maps, flood
    hazard maps, landslide hazard maps, and cyclone hazard maps. Hence, the paper compares levels of poverty,
    landlessness, illiteracy, and the more direct though also more subjective exposures to increased droughts, floods,
    landslides, and cyclones across the two population groups. The paper concludes with suggestions for adaptation
    strategies of indigenous people as well as suggestions for policy interventions to reduce climate change-induced
    vulnerabilities for indigenous people.

    Revised Paper available at:
    i)        Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series
    ii)       Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
    iii)      RePEc (Research Papers in Economics)    



III. The Impact of Development and Growth on CO2 Emissions:

A Case Study for Bangladesh until 2050
A new study by Bernhard G. Gunter and A. Atiq Rahman uses the example of Bangladesh to illustrate the impact of
low-income countries’ economic growth on global CO2 emissions in 2050 by using a set of alternative assumptions
for GDP growth and improvements in energy efficiency. The study was presented at the 5th bi-annual conference of
the United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE) in Washington, DC, on June 1, 2009.

Please click here to see the presentation (pdf).  
Please click here for the paper (pdf).

​


IV. Bangladesh and the Copenhagen Accord:

How Much Carbon Dioxide Might Bangladesh Emit in 2050?
This study, published in Environmental Economics. Vol. 3, No. 1 (2012) builds on previous research by Bernhard G.
Gunter (American University and BDRC) and A. Atiq Rahman (BCAS). Using a projection period until 2050, it shows
that Bangladesh’s emission would surpass a simple equity-based per capita emission limit consistent with the
Copenhagen Accord if there are no changes in Bangladesh’s carbon intensity and no gains in its energy efficiency,
but that Bangladesh would stay below such a limit with some feasible improvements in energy efficiency.
This paper is freely available at: the website of Environmental Economics (pdf).

​​

​

 V. Climate Change and Bangladesh - Annotated Bibliography  

Last time updated on January 5, 2010.

 

Previous versions published on:

  • May 19, 2009

  • January 15, 2009

  • November 27, 2008

  • October 27, 2008

 

Jointly with Bangladesh’s Climate Change Cell, the BDRC provides a comprehensive

Climate Change and Bangladesh - Annotated Bibliography (pdf) 

which contains information on 406 publications addressing climate change in Bangladesh.

 

This publication also contains the names of and links to some 70 website resources, structured into four sections:  
(a) main international organizations working on climate change; (b) research centers/institutes that focus on climate
change; (c) websites of networks and/or websites with specific tools, projects, etc.; and (d) climate change related
newsletters specifically on Bangladesh. Please note that this publication is provided only electronically as: (i) it
contains more than 300 hyperlinks/website addresses which provide readers further information, (ii) the electronic
version allows readers to search the contents, and (iii) it is planned to be updated frequently.



VI. Other Information on Climate Change
 

1. Key Action-Related Documents:

​​

2. Other climate change conference websites (in reverse chronological order):   


COP15 - United Nations Climate Change Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark (November 30 - December 11, 2009)

World Climate Conference-3
Geneva, Switzerland (August 31 - September 4, 2009)

3rd International Conference on Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change (pdf)
Dhaka, Bangladesh (February 22-26, 2009)

A presentation on “The Case of the Ganges Brahmaputra Delta” was held on February 11, 2009
at the Second World Forum on Delta & Coastal Development (Aquaterra 2009) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For
further information, please see: http://www.aquaterraforum.com/aquaterra2009/e/exp_overig152

Climate Change and Urban Poverty - Infrastructures of Development
Dhaka: BRAC Centre Auditorium (28. January 2009)

United Nations Climate Change Conference
Poznań, Poland (December 1-12, 2008)

International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia
Dhaka, Bangladesh (August 25-29, 2008)

OneWorld South Asia’s Seventh Annual Regional Meeting on the theme “Climate Justice
for Realisation of the MDGs: Southern Perspectives and Voices”
New Delhi, India (February 8-9, 2008)


3. Other interesting website resources:

OneWorld Climate Change in Bangladesh Briefing
This briefing paper summarizes the key issues related to effects, adaptation, finance, and electricity access.
It also includes various videos. Last updated by OneWorld in March 2011.  

Kazipur, Sirajganj, Bangladesh [by Doreen Marie Indra and Norman Buchignani; undated]
An anthropological and photographic exploration of riverbank erosion and flood in rural Bangladesh

Bangladesh—Eco Symbol? [by Sebastian Strangio; May 28, 2010]
Often derided as a basket case, Bangladesh might just have a thing or two to show the world about tackling climate
change.

Bangladesh’s Solar Powered Floating Schools [BDRC Task; June 20,  2011]
Some resources related to Bangladesh’s innovative way to adapt to climate change with solar powered floating
schools.

​

Strategies

BDRC Research: Bangladesh's Development Strategies

 

Abstract: While poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) need to remain to be the center of Bangladesh’s development strategy, there are
suggestions to broaden the agenda towards a more forward-looking development and employment
strategy. For example, it has been suggested that information technology could be Bangladesh’s
superhighway to prosperity. Others consider agribusiness (for the domestic and foreign sectors) of
being able to provide the amount of employment needed for Bangladesh’s growing population. Still
others concentrate on intensifying export promotion polices. This research project will evaluate the
advantages and disadvantages of some alternative development strategies as well as make
suggestions on the optimal mix of alternative development strategies.

 

Related background: In 1983, the jute mills of the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) exported
71,841 tons of jute carpets and earned Taka 1.89 billion, providing the life line for millions of Bangladeshis.
Today, most of Bangladesh's jute carpet factories are closed down, partly due to the emergence of synthetic
fiber (polypropylene). Yet, in view of the cotton price rise over the last few years, a few textile producers have
been using jute yarn to produce denim. Bangladesh may emerge as a major denim producer in the world as --
being a front ranking jute producing country -- it has an edge over others. Indeed, according to the Export
Promotion Bureau (EPB), export of jute yarn grew 42 per cent to Taka 10.28 billion in 2004-05 fiscal and 12.5
per cent to Taka 11.57 billion in 2005-06.


Please see also the BDRC's task on:
Jute-Bangladesh's Golden Fiber of the Past, also of the Future?

 

 

Outputs:

​

  • The first output related to this research project is a paper by Dr. Jahan, Dr. Gunter, and Dr. Rahman,
    who show how substituting wood with nonwood fibers in papermaking in Bangladesh implies a win-win
    solution for Bangladesh as it reduces the large import of pulp and paper as well as creates employment
    in the agricultural and industrial sectors of Bangladesh. For further details, please see the fourth paper
    in the BDRC's Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series (BDRWPS).

​​

  • The second output related to this research project is a follow-up paper by Dr. Gunter, Dr. Jahan, and Dr.
    Rahman. The follow-up paper looks beyond the availability and suitability of jute for papermaking. It
    analyzes the economic viability of jute pulp, the main implications for Bangladesh’s economy as well as
    some developmental and environmental implications. The second paper was presented by Dr. Gunter at
    the Conference on “Ideas and Innovations for the Development of Bangladesh: The Next Decade”, held
    on October 9-10, 2009 at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Please
    click here for the summary presentation of the paper. The full paper is published in Munir Quddus and
    Farida Khan (eds.) Bangladesh Economy in the 21st Century: Selected Papers from the 2008-09
    Conferences at Harvard University (Dhaka: University Press Ltd., 2011), Chapter 4.

Working Papers

Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series
(BDRWPS)

The BDRWPS is a peer-reviewed working paper series of the Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC)
Editor: Bernhard G. Gunter (American University and BDRC)

​

General Information about this Working Paper Series

 

For Prospective Authors:
Please read Information for Contributors (pdf) before submitting any paper for this Working Paper Series.

​

List of Bangladesh Development Research Working Papers
(in reverse chronological order; provided as pdf files)

​

BDRWPS No. 34 (February 2018)
Stealing Shahbag: A Re-legitimization of Islamism in the Aftermath of a
Secularist Social Movement

by Anupam D. Roy
Also available at:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3116349
http://ideas.repec.org/p/bnr/wpaper/34.html

BDRWPS No. 33 (September 2017)
Free Falling Terms of Trade Despite Industrialization: The Case of Bangladesh
by Bernhard G. Gunter and Valeria Vargas Sejas
Also available at:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=3053657
http://ideas.repec.org/p/bnr/wpaper/33.html

BDRWPS No. 32 (November 2016)
The Macroeconomic Impact of Foreign Aid in Bangladesh Before and After the Paris
Declaration

by Nuzat Tasnim Dristy
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 31 (September 2016)
Unhappily Ever After: An Analysis of Child Marriages in Bangladesh and Niger
by Samantha Morrow
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 30 (March 2016)
Impact of Shifting Cultivation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh on the Growth of
Microbial Organisms

by Shafat Hosen, Ohidul Alam and S. M. Sirajul Haque
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 29 (December 2015)
Status of Industrial Noise Levels and Impact on Workers’ Health:  A Case Study of Kalurghat
Heavy Industrial Area in Bangladesh

by Kamrul Islam and Sahadeb Chandra Majumder
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 28 (November 2015)
A Rights-based Assessment (RBA) of Bangladesh’s National Budget 2014-15
by Emraan Azad, Mahmudul Hasan, and Muhammad Mahdy Hassan
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 27 (September 2015)
Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene in Bangladesh:
An Investigation of Lohagara Upazila

by Tawhidul Islam, Ohidul Alam, and Khaled Misbahuzzaman
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 26 (April 2015)
Impact of ICT on Health Services in Bangladesh:
A Study on Hobiganj Adhunik Zila Sadar Hospital

by Fatema Khatun and Mst. Rokshana Khanam Sima
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 25 (January 2015)
Ensuring Accountability and Transparency at Local Level Finance:  
A Study from Sylhet Sadar Upazila

by Md. Anwar Hossain
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 24 (November 2014)
Kinship and Marriage System among the Khasis of Bangladesh:
A Study of Khasi Culture and Identity

by Rajmoni Singha
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 23 (September 2014)
Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Two NGOs
by Mohammad Samiul Islam
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 22 (June 2014)
The Bangladeshi Agarwood Industry: Development Barriers and a Potential Way Forward
by Md. Joynal Abdin
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 21 (January 2014)
Priority Areas for Bangladesh’s Further Development: Inequality, Employment, and Poverty
by Rubena Sukaj
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 20 (January 2014)
Economic Structure and Macroeconomic Uncertainty: Policy Implications for Bangladesh
by Bernhard G. Gunter, Faisal Ahmed, A. F. M. Ataur Rahman and Jesmin Rahman
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 19 (January 2014)
Relationship between Remittances and Economic Growth in Bangladesh:
An Econometric Study

by Kanchan Datta and Bimal Sarkar
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 18 (September 2013)
Women’s Empowerment as a Result of Microcredit Loans in Bangladesh?
by Lex Loro
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 17 (May 2013)
Reasonable Wages for Workers to Eliminate Unrest in Bangladesh's Ready-made
Garments (RMG) Sector

by Mohammad Ismail Bhuiyan
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 16 (January 2013)
Consequences of Climate Change and Gender Vulnerability: Bangladesh Perspective
by Zayeda Sharmin and Mohammad Samiul Islam
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 15 (July 2012)
Why Highly Educated Women Face Potential Poverty: A Case Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh
by Syeda Umme Jakera Malik
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 14 (January 2012)
Urban Local Government and Environmental Management in Bangladesh:
A Study on Chunarughat Paurashava

by Mohammad Shahjahan Chowdhury and Purnendu Deb
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 13 (December 2011):
Expectations, Realities and Coping Strategies of Elderly Women in a Village of Bangladesh
by Tamima Sultana
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 12 (July 2011):
Socio-Economic Impact of Women Entrepreneurship in Sylhet City, Bangladesh
by Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Hossienie
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 11 (December 2010):
Needs Hierarchy, Motivational Factors and Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh
by Mostofa Haque
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 10 (November 2010):
The Impact of Development on CO2 Emissions: A Case Study for Bangladesh until 2050
by Bernhard G. Gunter
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 9 (October 2009):
Bt Brinjal: Introducing Genetically Modified Brinjal (Eggplant/Aubergine) in Bangladesh
by Mst. Meherunnahar and D. N. R. Paul
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 8 (July 2009):
Physical and Psychological Implications of Risky Child Labor: A Study in Sylhet City,
Bangladesh

by Mohammad Nashir Uddin, Mohammad Hamiduzzaman, and Bernhard G. Gunter
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 7 (June 2009):
People’s Participation in Health Services: A Study of Bangladesh’s Rural Health Complex
by Mohammad Shafiqul Islam and Mohammad Woli Ullah
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 6 (May 2009):
An Analysis of SAFTA in the Context of Bangladesh
by Md. Joynal Abdin
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 5 (May 2009):
Critical Factors of Women Entrepreneurship Development in Rural Bangladesh
by Faraha Nawaz
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 4 (January 2009):
Substituting Wood with Nonwood Fibers in Papermaking: A Win-Win Solution for Bangladesh
by M. Sarwar Jahan, Bernhard G. Gunter, and A. F. M. Ataur Rahman
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 3 (December 2008):
Mineral Extraction in Bangladesh: Some Fundamental Reform Suggestions
by Bernhard G. Gunter
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 2 (June 2008):
Analyzing Bangladesh’s Debt Sustainability Using SimSIP Debt
by Bernhard G. Gunter and A. F. M. Ataur Rahman
Also available at:


BDRWPS No. 1 (April 2008):
How Vulnerable are Bangladesh's Indigenous People to Climate Change?
by Bernhard G. Gunter, Atiq Rahman, and A. F. M. Ataur Rahman
Also available at:

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