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Rice agriculture provides millions of households with a steady source of income and employment. However, for small and marginal farmers, the exorbitant cost of production inputs presents a formidable obstacle in their pursuit of acquiring it. Credit constraints are a significant impediment to the adoption of agricultural technologies. Therefore, this paper identifies the determinant of access to rural credit and its impact on Boro rice production technology adoption in Bangladesh using cross-sectional data. The study employed probit regression, propensity score matching (PSM), inverse probability weighting (IPW), and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) techniques. The findings indicate that age, family size, working members, and involvement in safety net programs negatively and significantly influence access to rural credit, while earning persons in the family, literacy, rice farming experience, remittance, and total income positively influence access to rural credit. The positive and significant ATT values suggested that access to rural credit has a positive and significant effect on technology adoption and the level of technology use. It was also found that access to rural credit has a heterogeneous effect. In particular, non-government organization (NGO) credit has a more significant impact on technology adoption than formal bank credit. Access to credit and the adoption of agricultural technologies can be greatly improved with the help of a location-specific rural credit policy and strong monitoring from the formal banking sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents findings of research addressing the question of how women's status affects contraceptive use in rural Bangladesh. Background; Participation in rural credit programs; Level of empowerment; Results.

This study investigates the motivating factors behind the formalization of small informal enterprises in Bangladesh, an emerging economy, employing the lens of institutional theory. It emphasizes how regulatory structures, normative pressures, and cognitive understandings shape the decisions of SME owners in emerging economies like Bangladesh. A significant portion of small enterprises in Bangladesh remain informal, leading to concerns over economic development, productivity, and efficiency. Informal enterprises often face challenges such as limited access to finance, market entry barriers, and regulatory hurdles. Recognizing the need for formalization, this research aims to understand the drivers behind this transition. A questionnaire survey of 304 informal enterprises reveals that streamlined regulatory systems, particularly one‐stop solutions and simplified registration processes, are primary motivators for formalization. Additionally, flexible collateral requirements for financing and lower levels of technological adoption also significantly influence this transition. These findings contribute to the academic discourse on informal businesses in emerging economies and provide key policy implications for fostering formalization through targeted strategies and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BRAC's focus on women and community organisations in the 1970s was lauded as bringing forth "a quiet revolution." We explore the evolution of BRAC's selected programs that built community forums and argue that while BRAC successfully retained its focus on women's inclusion, its approach to collective empowerment is marked by contradictions. The shifts in funding structures that emphasised individual empowerment, the organisation's emphasis on scaling up programs at the expense of investing in building community organisations, and the accommodation of patriarchal norms to prevent backlash from local actors – all resulted in trade-offs, limiting programming on collective empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study sought to explore the effect of Social Capital (SC) on banks’ financial performance and whether this effect is mediated by competitive advantage (CA) or not. Secondary data were collected from banks’ nine years’ annual reports (2014-2022). By stratified sampling method, 20 commercial banks in Bangladesh were selected. Findings revealed that the influence of SC on ROA and NIAT is significant and CA mediates between them. For one unit increase in SC, ROA and NIAT will increase by 0.274 and 0.508 units respectively. However, there is no significant effect of SC on ROI. SC has a significant impact on CA also. One unit increase in SC results in a 0.822 unit increase in CA and vice versa. The findings of the study will have implications for policymakers like Bangladesh Bank, government, bankers, depositors, borrowers, and other stakeholders as enrichment of social capital is likely to improve banks’ financial performance through the attainment of CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main goals for Bangladesh is to achieve economic growth by increasing agricultural productivity. I will be conducting research to examine how agricultural financing and contributions impact Bangladesh. The researchers collected yearly time series data from the Bangladesh Bank (BB), Ministry of Finance (MoF), and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) for the period of 2012 to 2022. This article employed the GMM estimation technique using SPSS to examine the short- and long-term relationships between agricultural financing and agricultural contribution, along with other control variables. The findings of the study showed that there are connections between agricultural funding and agricultural contribution in both the short-term and long-term. Additionally, agricultural productivity is affected by various dynamic factors including GDP, inflation, interest rates, and government agricultural spending. The dependent variable in this study was GDP, while the independent variable was agricultural production. Most agricultural processing sectors, along with some agricultural producing sectors, have a greater potential for making money. This research indicates that it would be beneficial to increase agricultural financing in order to support the economic development of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Economic Coercion Scale 36 (ECS-36) is a validated scale measuring women's exposure to economic coercion for low-income countries. A valid short form is needed to facilitate parsimonious measurement of economic coercion in general surveys or program evaluations. We used data from a probability sample of 930 married women 15–49 years in Matlab, Bangladesh. We selected 21 items from the ECS-36 based on theory, content coverage, and item and dimensional information. We evaluated external validity with measures of non-economic intimate partner violence and depressive symptoms. We tested measurement invariance of the short-form scale across participants and non-participants of microfinance programs. A final, 20-item scale captured husband's interference with wife's (1) acquisition of economic resources and (2) use or maintenance of economic resources. IRT results of the ECS-20 demonstrated precision over the higher range of the economic coercion trait. Tests of external validity confirmed expected correlations of the ECS-20 with measures of IPV and depressive symptoms. The ECS-20 was measurement invariant across groups of women who did and did not participate in microfinance programs. The ECS-20, a valid short-form of the ECS-36, is suitable for general surveys and monitoring potential adverse impacts of microfinance programs targeting women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a developing country like Bangladesh, ensuring food security through increased agricultural production is one of the important development goals. Providing agricultural credit to poor farmers (small, marginal and landless farmers) from formal credit sources can facilitate the timely and sufficient supply of agricultural inputs in order to promote the food production and improve the livelihoods of poor farmers. This study aims to investigate the impact of agricultural credit on agricultural productivity in Bangladesh. The empirical analysis employed annual time-series data that have been collected from Bangladesh Bank (BB), Ministry of Finance (MoF), and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) for the period of 2000 to 2019. This paper examined the short run and long run relationships between agricultural credit and agricultural productivity along with other control variables applying the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test approach. The findings of the study revealed that the short run and the long run relationships exist between the agricultural credit and agricultural productivity while the productivity of the agricultural sector also influenced by other dynamic variables like inflation, interest rate, and government expenditure on agriculture. This paper concludes that agricultural credit growth should increase to boost up the agricultural production, which would definitely be helpful in fostering economic growth in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that determine non-farm enterprise revenue and to empirically test the association between access to credit, credit source and firm performance among poor entrepreneurs in rural Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approach Using a Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and World Bank survey from over 1,700 households in rural Bangladesh, a panel data model is used to control for unobserved heterogeneity among households and explore the determinants of non-farm revenue.Findings The findings suggest that village infrastructure and household labor assets have a positive impact on enterprise development. The findings reveal that the use of rural credit as a production input is important in augmenting revenue for the non-farm enterprise, but there are differential effects by credit source.Research limitations/implications Because the study uses data from a quasi-experimental survey design, unobserved effects that can bias the results must be controlled for. Also, as credit program impacts can be location-specific, caution in generalizing the results of this study must be exercised.Practical implications This study provides evidence on the positive effects of microcredit, family assets and family social capital on economic outcomes and microenterprise growth for poor entrepreneurial households. If enterprise growth is important for development, greater understanding of the determinants of microenterprise performance and the role of credit in the success of microfirms is beneficial for policymakers and the institutions that finance small-scale production.Social implications If it is agreed that entrepreneurship is important in promoting development, self-sufficiency and positive economic outcomes (Yunus, 2007), then credit program design should focus on both the credit needs of the poor and the dynamics inherent in enterprise development for this group of entrepreneurs.Originality/value This paper expands the limited literature on the determinants of microenterprise growth and the role of credit in microenterprise development by tracing a positive link between village infrastructure, family demographics and access to credit. The identification of the factors that determine non-farm enterprise revenue is important for policymakers because enterprise growth is perceived as essential for economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the informal economy and agricultural productivity in Bangladesh over a 25-year period from 1993 to 2018. While the impact of the black market on the economy is a well-studied topic, its implications for the agricultural sector in this specific country context was less explored. By controlling structural transformation, trade, and foreign direct investment (FDI) in agriculture, the authors employ autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) using Kripfganz and Schneider's (2018) approximations, as well as fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and feasible generalized least square (FGLS) techniques. The results reveal that informality initially hampers agricultural productivity in the short term due to reduced government revenue, but in the long run, it acts as an active social protection system, fostering informal employment and providing essential amenities. Although the study's time span limits the investigation to this specific period, it serves as a crucial attempt to assess the impact of informality on agriculture in Bangladesh, highlighting the need for cautious consideration of both the benefits and drawbacks of the informal sector in enhancing agricultural productivity. Policymakers in Bangladesh should act cautiously, acknowledging the nuances of the informal sector's influence on agriculture to leverage its potential for sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Development Research is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Violence against working women strikes at the heart of economic empowerment programs—the very programs that are intended to empower them. If economic empowerment is defined as women's control over their income, violence as patriarchal deterrence prevents those women from controlling the money that they have worked so hard to earn. Therefore, women who earn are not inevitably empowered through their participation in the labor force. We argue that economic empowerment cannot be defined in terms of women's labor force participation alone. Gender-based violence sustains patriarchy. As part of the development of sociolegal empowerment theory, we introduce patriarchal deterrence as a new concept, which goes in tandem with patriarchal backlash theory, further clarifying analyses of low female labor force participation. As patriarchal backlash, violence punishes women who have joined the workforce; as patriarchal deterrence, it deters women from even starting to work. Arguing that income generation is insufficient, we present a theory of socio-legal empowerment as a necessary corollary of economic empowerment, which integrates concepts of legal empowerment and social accountability. Our theory has four components, which can be applied to assess a justice system. First is societal embeddedness, which measures how context-specific it is. For example, in Muslim countries, informal justice systems, which utilize feminist interpretations of Islam, are more embedded in local values and therefore more effective. By analyzing feminist interpretations of Islam as an imperative measure of effective justice systems for Muslim communities, we challenge Orientalist binaries of Islam versus women's rights. Second is social accountability, which assesses whether its verdicts and processes have social sanction. Third is its gender transformativeness, or social change potential, which addresses its capacity to build awareness. Fourth is its costs not only in terms of legal expenses but also of physical proximity which eliminates childcare expenses. In sum, we illustrate that earning income, though necessary, is insufficient for women's economic empowerment. Through the analysis of the NGO-ReformedShalish (informal justice system) in Bangladesh, we illustrate how socio-legal empowerment, in theory and practice, is also needed to empower working women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender ideology has long been a discussed issue in the field of social science, particularly gender studies. This study aims to explore the category of people's gender ideology toward their family and societal responsibilities in rural Bangladesh. Following a mixed-methods approach, this study interviewed 400 rural people (200 men and 200 women, between 18 and 50 years) and conducted two FGDs from eight cluster villages at Paba Upazila of Rajshahi District in Bangladesh. The result shows that people were liberal in the context of household chores and decisions (strongly agreed to share taking care of an infant, housekeeping/cooking, and freedom of choice in taking matrimonial decisions) but traditional and transitional in acceptance of male privilege and preferences for female privilege respectively. This study argues that patriarchal adherence is reflected in people's gender ideology. Our study results suggest better awareness of rural people to transform their traditional gender ideology in the family and societal responsibilities in Bangladesh. These findings add new knowledge about the gender ideology of rural people and contribute as a prior field to promote liberal attitudes among both men and women in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted among communities surrounding the Sundarban mangrove forest in Bangladesh with the aim of assessing farmers' participation in agroforestry systems, as well as the opportunities it provides for enhancing sustainable and resilient livelihoods. However, field work was conducted between July 2014 and July 2015 to collect data from 120 respondents who were selected using a multistage sampling technique in four sub-districts (Debhata, Tala, Kalaroa and Kaliganj) in Satkhira, Bangladesh. The results showed that almost 100% of the respondents practiced homestead agroforestry traditionally and more than 56% practiced aquasilviculture. Besides, majority of the farmers (40%) practiced boundary plantation, 31% practiced alley cropping and the rest (29%) practiced random and mixed plantations. Farmers' reported improved opportunities for livelihood diversification by working with agroforestry as of possessing benefits from trees, fruits, medicinal plants, fuel wood and fish as well as opportunities for the rearing of livestock and the cultivation of food crops. The results also showed that these livelihood activities resulted in an enhanced ability of respondents to construct and repair housing (physical capital), purchase land (natural capital), save money (economic capital), fund children's education (human capital) among others. In all, these results suggest that agroforestry is a sustainable alternative livelihood option which provides opportunities for reduced dependency on protected forests, in addition to increased potential for livelihood diversification and ability to cope with climate change impacts and other change drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the factors that cause female labour migration to the Gulf states from Bangladesh. Grounded on Amartya Sen's concept of well-being in terms of capability and Marta Nussbaum's further interpretation on that, the paper focuses on the cases of Bangladeshi returned and intended female domestic workers and analyses the factors influencing the decision of transnational labour migration. The study follows a qualitative method including in-depth semi-structured interviews, coupled with some focus group discussions, participant observation, and secondary data analysis. The paper unveils different external and internal factors influencing women's decision on migration. Global demand for female domestic workers and caregivers is rising in many nations. In response to that, many countries including Bangladesh have relaxed restrictions on women's transnational labour migration and facilitate their involvement in the global care industry. Furthermore, socio-economic, and personal drivers play a role for migrating to the Gulf states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disbursements of small-scale credit to poor entrepreneurial households in developing countries have become a popular tool for promoting self-sufficiency and alleviating poverty. The success of such programs, however, has been inconsistent across self-sufficiency and poverty measures. This study explores the effects of small-scale loans, household assets, and other household characteristics on household income. The study uses longitudinal survey data collected by the World Bank and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies from over 1,700 households in rural Bangladesh. The results suggest that microloans disbursed by microfinance institutions and other formal programs have a positive impact on income for borrowers. Loans received from relatives and other noninstitutional moneylenders, however, only benefit male borrowers. The findings document differential impacts by loan source, gender, education assets, and labor assets. Households that are resource poor in land assets and education, benefit the most from receiving small-scale credit. This study provides important policy insights. The results suggest that one-size-fits-all approaches to development finance may not be appropriate given that program outcomes can be sensitive to credit source, borrower's gender, and other household characteristics. To address endogeneity issues in the data, the study relies on a quasi-experiment survey design to reduce bias in the estimates. A quasi-experiment imposes a cutoff criterion for eligibility to allow us to trace treatment group impacts. A panel data model was also used to further control for unobserved effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro enterprise is extremely important for the development of entrepreneurs, help human development, poverty reduction and employment generation both in rural and urban areas. The specific objective underlies in the provision of resource allocation, infusion of vital potent promoting microenterprise and to peruse socioeconomic patronization for development of the microenterprise. Secondary data is used in this research. For the study, the researchers organized discussions with the NGO personnel to have a clear conception on the issue. NGOMFI's regular microcredit program (rural credit, urban credit, ultra poor credit, seasonal credit and specialized projects for agriculture, livestock etc.) is providing collateral free loan to the individual and microenterprises. Non financial support also proliferates micro enterprises with high potential. The micro enterprises are innovating new ways of doing business or initiating changes in the production function, exploring market opportunities for products and ultimately changing the business environment. Development of micro enterprise needs twopronged strategy - poverty reduction and employment creation strategy. Entrepreneurship development training is needed for the micro entrepreneurs. Flexible service interventions attaching to the economic condition of the micro entrepreneurs doses input potent to the microenterprises. Most of the micro enterprises demand loan and its availability in time of need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile banking (M-bank), a newly introduced technology, can improve women's access to financial services. This study empirically estimates the effect of a husband's and wife's socioeconomic characteristics, relative differences in age and education, and household characteristics on M-bank use in northern Bangladesh, exploring the presence and possible effect of the gender gap between husband and wife. A couple's relative differences in age or education can function as a proxy to capture the wife's M-bank use, thereby, her financial responsibilities in the household. The empirical evidence is based on a two-equation probit estimation that predicts the possible determinants of M-bank use by husbands and wives. M-bank use of husbands and wives differed remarkably, with wife to husband ratio of 4:15. Households were categorized into three subgroups: wife user, husband user, and nonuser. Results show that a husband's level of education, having his own business, and having a migrant family member within the household have a statistically significant positive effect on the likelihood of him using M-bank. On the other hand, a wife with an education level higher than that of her husband's has a significant positive effect on the likelihood of her using M-bank. A substantial gender gap in M-bank use, favoring husbands, was observed in most couples where the husband has more schooling than the wife and vice versa. The impact of M-bank use must be critically studied, focusing on the couple's relative status due to the gender gap in educational attainment and positive relative characteristics of couples in patriarchal, Islamic, rural settings in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change-related catastrophic events have a considerable influence on south-western coastal agriculture in Bangladesh. The objectives of this study are to measure the agricultural vulnerability of south-western coastal households in Bangladesh due to climate-induced disasters and to find the sub-indicators of adaptive capacity (AC) that influence the agricultural vulnerability. An agricultural vulnerability index (AVI) was developed by using the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) dimensions to measure the vulnerability. The sub-indicators of AC that affect agricultural vulnerability to climate-induced disasters were identified using an ordered logit model. This study employed a survey of 346 households from two villages (181 households from Sutarkhali and 165 households from Nalian) of the Sutarkhali Union of Dacope Upazila within a south-west coastal district (Khulna) of the country. The main respondents were the household heads. The findings demonstrated that Sutarkhali had a mean score of 0.703 (high) for exposure, 0.762 (high) for sensitivity, 0.397 (low) for AC, and 0.689 for AVI (high). Similarly, Nalian scored 0.658 (high) for exposure, 0.681 (high) for sensitivity, 0.410 (low) for AC, and 0.643 (high) for AVI. Non-farm employment, livestock ownership, irrigation pump access, improved crop diversification/saline tolerant high-yielding variety (HYV) crops access, and farm credit access were found to be statistically significant sub-indicators of AC that affect the agricultural vulnerability of both study sites. Finally, it is recommended that the relevant authorities and policy makers should implement the necessary agricultural adaptation initiatives in south-west coastal Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic development initiatives (SDIs) have become a controversial issue. In giving skill trainings and credit supports, practitioners assume that SDI participation will enhance women's income/dignity. Some studies have indicated that SDIs reduce women's exposure to marital violence (MV), while others have shown that they increase spousal conflicts/MV. Our study explains how SDI participation may influence women's marital life. This explorative study adopted a grounded theory design. Data included 17 participating-women's interviews. It revealed that many women experienced further marital subordination, spousal conflicts, and MV. Yet women with strong motivation increased marital dignity/safety. Caring husbands facilitated this. If men can be involved in supporting women, impacts of SDIs will be substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to identify the factors that influence rural women in income generation, household activities as well as their capacitybuilding status after participating in small-scale agro farming. The overall objectives of the study are to recognize the changing livelihood status and their empowerment status at the household level. A total of 75 respondents (women) were purposively selected from three villages of Trishal Upazilla under the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. FGDs, KIIs and Case studies were performed for the collection of qualitative data from the study area. Numerous narrative, descriptive and continent analyses were executed to attain specific objectives. The output of the qualitative analysis revealed that women who had engaged in farming considerably made a significant change in their life, and they can maintain dominance over their decision and income. In addition, the findings of the study represent the complex real-life situations of rural women, including the position of women in a family, their capability of decision-making, as well as contribution to generating income and their participation as a member of various organizations, which ultimately expresses their empowerment status. Moreover, the study indicates that active involvement in low-scale farming activities plays a key role in overcoming prejudice and gender-based violence and inspires them to be selfreliant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, to achieve gender equality and to empower women, requires monitoring trends in intimate partner violence (IPV). Current measures of IPV may miss women's experiences of economic coercion, or interference with the acquisition, use, and maintenance of financial resources. This sequential, mixed-methods study developed and validated a scale for economic coercion in married women in rural Bangladesh, where women's expanding economic opportunities may elevate the risks of economic coercion and other IPV. Forty items capturing lifetime and prior-year economic coercion were adapted from formative qualitative research and prior scales and administered to a probability sample of 930 married women 16–49 years. An economic coercion scale (ECS) was validated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with primary data from random-split samples (N 1 = 310; N 2 = 620). Item response theory (IRT) methods gauged the measurement precision of items and scales over the range of the economic-coercion latent trait. Multiple-group factor analysis assessed measurement invariance of the economic-coercion construct. Two-thirds (62.26%) of women reported any lifetime economic coercion. EFA suggested a 36-item, two-factor model capturing barriers to acquire and to use or maintain economic resources. CFA, multiple group factor analysis, and multidimensional IRT methods confirmed that this model provided a reasonable fit to the data. IRT analysis showed that each dimension provided most precision over the higher range of the economic coercion trait. The Economic Coercion Scale 36 (ECS-36) should be validated elsewhere and over time. It may be added to violence-specific surveys and evaluations of violence-prevention and economic-empowerment programs that have a primary interest measuring economic coercion. Short-form versions of the ECS may be developed for multipurpose surveys and program monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Development Research is the property of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their participants, we show how certain innovations made by MFIs during the COVID-19 pandemic enable further consolidation of NGOs in Bangladeshi society. The study is based on interviews conducted in 2020 with key personnel from three major NGOs in Bangladesh: Grameen, Sajida Foundation, and Brac (which is also the largest NGO in the world), as well as 20 interviews conducted in 2018 (before the pandemic) with microcredit recipients who use financial services. We observed that MFIs scaled up by taking on the function of relief provision, financial services became more entrenched, and NGO governance was bolstered as MFIs served as intermediaries between the state and people, even though, as the 2018 interviews reveal, microfinance participants were reticent about technology uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the causes and consequences of multiple borrowing in rural Bangladesh using long‐term household and village panel data covering the years 2000–2014. We find that the sharply growing number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in a wider set of villages over time coincides with a corresponding increase in household borrowing from multiple MFIs and households accessing loans generally as well as significant rises in the total values of household assets, especially in the form of agricultural equipment. Although the increasing number of MFIs resulted in some households borrowing to repay previous loans, the fraction of such households is relatively small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using georeferenced data to map the dramatic flood that hit Bangladesh in August–September 2014, we evaluate how rural households coped with this natural shock. Employing survey data on panel households for the period before and after the shock, we estimate a difference-in-difference model with fixed effects of the impact of flooding on income, expenditure, nutrition, and migration outcomes along the wealth distribution. Our results show that the most affected households experienced significant drops in income and expenditure and an increase in the probability of migrating as a coping strategy to compensate for this loss. Internal migration increased by 7 percentage points for low-wealth households, while international migration increased by 3 percentage points for high-wealth households. Remittances received by poorer households from established international migrants represented significant monetary support after the shock, amounting to approximately 40% of the decline in income from self-employment in farm activities and half the decline in food expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfinance is widely portrayed as a tool that empowers poor women to challenge constraining social institutions and make better, rational choices that will enable them to escape poverty. At the same time, the reported impact of microfinance is underwhelming, and scandals and poor practices are widely documented. This then poses a puzzle: why do people still borrow from microfinance institutions? This article seeks to answer that question through an ethnographic examination of the moral economy of microfinance in rural Bangladesh, investigating how morality shapes the remit of legitimate economic activity and social change locally. For men, microfinance fieldworkers use stories of moral 'idols' to embed narratives of microfinance within existing rural social institutions as a way to legitimize and normalize microfinance. For women, borrowing is presented as a means to perform dharma — the 'correct order of things' — a moral imperative to protect, retain or compete for male guardianship. The moral economy of microfinance is one that motivates people living in poverty to imitate and conform to prevalent gendered and hierarchical norms and values. These arguments highlight the significance of conformity to social and moral obligations in economic behaviour, and bear important implications for understanding the remits of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrition‐sensitive social protection that enhances household resources and nutrition knowledge can be an important avenue of addressing food security and nutrition concerns of the poor. This paper studies the impact of a cluster randomized intervention of cash or food transfers, with‐or‐without nutrition behavioural change communication (BCC), on food security and nutrition outcomes in rural Bangladesh. We find that the addition of the BCC to transfers led to the greatest impact on the quantity and quality of food consumed by household members, especially women and children. The addition of BCC also had the greatest impact in reducing the incidence and intensity of deprivations measured using a nutrition‐sensitive multidimensional poverty index. Evidence suggests this occurs through the BCC inducing increased consumption of flesh food, egg, dairy, fruits and vegetables and through investments in housing, sanitation and assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses poverty dynamics in rural Bangladesh using a nationally representative panel dataset of 5,020 rural households interviewed in 2011/12, 2015, and 2019. Findings show that education, savings, assets, international remittance, non-farm employment, substantial safety net transfers, and women's empowerment are key factors in breaking chronic and transient poverty. Rural infrastructure development and market access through improved connectivity are also critical for sustained poverty alleviation. On the other hand, woman-headed households (widowed, divorced or abandoned) are found to be particularly vulnerable to impoverishments. The results are consistent across multinomial logit, simultaneous quantile regression, and panel fixed effects models. Thus, policies and programs that address the determinants of chronic and transient poverty identified in this study hold promise for sustained poverty reduction in rural Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the effects of credit constraints on technical efficiency of Boro rice growers in the district of Pabna in Bangladesh. Using a simple random sampling technique, the data was collected from 570 Boro rice growers from the Pabna district of Bangladesh. Before conducting a field survey, a theoretical model was designed to identify credit-constrained and non-constrained rice growers. We have analyzed the collected data in two phases: first, we investigated the technical efficiency of Boro rice growers using the stochastic frontier model (SFA); and second, we used an inefficiency effect model to estimate the influence of credit constraints on technical efficiency. Findings indicate that credit-constrained rice growers (CCRG) are 6.7% less technically efficient than credit non-constrained rice growers (CNRG). Findings further indicate that the education level of the household head, family size, certified seed, sowing time, access to extension services, off-farm income, and household savings have significant effects on the technical efficiency of both groups of rice growers. Furthermore, credit size has a significantly positive impact, whereas the interest rate imposed on the principal amount has a significantly negative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to examine the relevance of guilt aversion preference in financial decisions. Using data from a lab-in-the-field experiment in rural Bangladesh, this study elicits villagers' unwillingness to fall short of others' expectations—that is, guilt sensitivity—and examines its association with their financial decisions in the field. The experimental result demonstrates a consistent pattern with guilt aversion. It also shows that guilt-sensitive villagers are more likely to repay loans and have better access to credit. These findings could make an important contribution to our understanding of how villagers address moral hazard and limited enforcement problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to credit is a major limitation for small-scale fish farmers in Bangladesh in pursuing their fish farming activities. One attempted remedy is that NGOs have created microcredit facilities to address this limitation. This study empirically assesses the impact of microcredit on the economic welfare of the poor fish farmers in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. Opinions of the fish farmers toward their economic well-being under microcredit programs have also been assessed by using the Binary Logistic Regression technique. Our empirical findings support the existing literature that access to credit can significantly contribute to the expansion of the economic welfare of the fish farmers in terms of household income and expenditure. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that an overwhelming proportion of the fish farmers has expressed satisfaction toward microcredit programs for uplifting their living-standard on economic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Originality: The study employed the methodological approach of reflexive ethnography to analyse management accounting in microfinance. Research Objective: The study aims to present an illustration of reflexive ethnography and its application in investigating management accounting in an informal setting, specifically a rural village in Bangladesh. Method: The study used a reflexivity lens that presents a detailed account of the author's personal doctoral journey in gaining access to and exploring the field, analysing field data, and overcoming challenges. Empirical Result: The study highlights how to overcome the barrier of 'functional stupidity' while examining (management) accounting, governance, and related issues in microfinance. Practical Implications: The contributions include enhancing the accounting and development literature which are dominated by functional paradigm. Moreover, alternative approaches were proposed, such as reflexive ethnography to recognise a more mundane form of management accounting and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor households often rely on transfers from their social networks for consumption smoothing, yet there is limited evidence on how antipoverty programs affect informal transfers. This paper exploits the randomized rollout of BRAC's ultra-poor graduation program in Bangladesh and panel data covering over 21,000 households over seven years to study the program's effects on interhousehold transfers. The program crowds out informal transfers received by the targeted households, but this is driven mainly by outside-village transfers. Treated ultra-poor households become more likely to both give and receive transfers to/from wealthier households within their village; and less likely to receive transfers from their employers. As a result, the reciprocity of their within-village transfers increases. The findings imply that, within rural communities, there is positive assortative matching by socio-economic status. A reduction in poverty enables households to engage more in reciprocal transfer arrangements and lowers the interlinkage of their labor with informal insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcredit has shown mixed results when used to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV). This study explored microcredit and IPV in Bangladesh by conducting 12 focus groups with married men and women. Participants described challenges to microcredit participation highlighting "missed opportunities" for reducing IPV, including needs to (a) prevent violence sparked by loan disputes, (b) incorporate skill development to improve women's agency as a means of reducing IPV, and (c) mindfully engage men in the loan process to help address men's unequal gender ideologies. These modifications to microcredit programs are proposed to maximize positive change on gender and IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyzed the effects of the partial quantity rationing of credit on the technical efficiency of Boro rice growers in the Pabna district of Bangladesh. Before conducting the field survey, we designed a theoretical framework and identified farm households affected by the partial quantity rationing of credit. Data were collected from 174 Boro rice growers and analyzed in two stages, where the technical efficiency of Boro rice growers was assessed using stochastic frontier analysis, and the inefficiency effects model was then applied to evaluate determinants of the technical efficiency. The mean technical efficiency of Boro rice growers was 78%, which indicates that their technical efficiency was 22% beyond the production frontier curve. The variables comprising the household head’s age, education level, seed quality, formal training, access to the market, farm labor, tillage cost, fertilizer cost, irrigation cost, and price of seedlings significantly affected the technical efficiency of rice growers. The variables of interest comprising the rate and partial quantity rationing of credit had significant negative effects on the technical efficiency of rice growers. The findings obtained in this study will help to enhance the actual production level using the available resources and improve the food security situation in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Male out-migration from rural areas means women left behind may have the opportunity to assume roles and responsibilities previously handled by their husbands. This shift in household power dynamics may enable these women to become more empowered which would reflect positively in their asset ownership, productive decision-making, household expenditures, personal autonomy, and exposure to domestic violence. This paper contributes to this emerging literature by evaluating whether the absence of the primary male, due to migration, empowers the women left-behind in rural Bangladesh. To account for self-selection and endogeneity bias arising from migration, we employ propensity score matching and instrument variable techniques, respectively, for efficient estimation. Our results indicate that even though the women left behind enjoy greater ownership of assets, there is no improvement in their decision-making authority over productive utilization of those resources. This also raises concerns over long-term persistency of increased asset ownership. However, we do find the women to experience a better status within the household, facing lower domestic abuse in the absence of their husbands from other household members. Finally, male out-migration also significantly improves women's control over minor household expenditures and freedom of physical mobility, by providing an opportunity to explore and realize their own potential for empowerment in an otherwise dominant patriarchal society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that smallholders are fast becoming one of the largest micro-credit recipient groups in Bangladesh. However, the literature on the effects of micro-credit use among smallholders is surprisingly deficient. This article seeks to rectify this gap by highlighting the ramifications of micro-credit's foray into the subsistence agriculture sector. It analyses the ostensibly disparate processes of mounting smallholder indebtedness and the phenomenal rise of micro-finance institutions in Bangladesh in light of the country's broader context of agricultural commoditisation, input subsidy reduction and a systematic lessening of the subsidised agricultural credit system. The article uses the concept of "accumulation by dispossession/encroachment" to argue that persistent borrowing from micro-finance institutions (MFIs) exposes smallholders to the risks and volatilities of the market. Using qualitative insights from a case study of three villages, it demonstrates how the capital accumulation model of Bangladeshi MFIs marginalises smallholders and ensnares them in a perpetual cycle of debts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global discourses have advocated women's empowerment as a means to reduce their own's food insecurity, which is also key development challenges in Bangladesh. However, little empirical research has conducted on this issue, especially in the rural area of Bangladesh. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the relationship of six domains of women's empowerment with their food security in rural Bangladesh using a partial least square structural equation modelling approach. Our empirical analysis indicates that women's accesses to their legal and familial rights and decision‐making roles in households increase their bargaining power over the utilization of resources and to choices of food which significantly and negatively decrease their food insecurity. Moreover, information and communication technologies and infrastructure facilities also negatively and significantly associated with women's food insecurity. However, women's leadership has a negative but not significant effect on their food insecurity, as low self‐esteem rural women feel no ease in publicly addressing their inequalities. By understanding family composition from women's perceptions, the results from our research can assist policymakers to develop more suitable strategies to enhance the empowerment status of rural women and reduce their food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant body of multi-disciplinary research supports the proposition that women may experience empowerment from microfinance programs. This is based on the assumption that an increase in women's financial contribution to the household helps to transform gender norms and relations which increases their decision-making power. However, the relationship between the strength and persistence of patriarchal gender norms within the household and women's financial empowerment needs further exploration. This paper presents the findings of a mixed-method study comprising 331 surveys and 33 in-depth interviews with women receiving microfinance and their husbands in a southern sub-district of Bangladesh; it draws upon gender socialisation and gender performance theory to understand how patriarchal gender norms influence women's financial empowerment in households receiving microfinance. Findings demonstrate that participation in microfinance programs has not shifted gender norms, nor financially empowered women. Women's loans were largely controlled by men as prescribed by underlying, unchanged patriarchal gender norms. The inter-generational reproduction of patriarchal gender relations continued to reproduce a strict gendered division of labour that reinforced restrictions on women's behaviour, mobility, and decision-making domains, and men's dominance in household and economic decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: We assessed the association of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence (UI), alone and in combination (POP-UI), and related factors with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in parous women in Bangladesh. Methods: The study included 357 parous women: 107 with POP alone, 124 with POP-UI, and 126 with UI alone. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, symptom duration, UI severity and type, POP stage, and the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). Results: The median scores of the SF-12 Physical and Mental Component Summary (PCS and MCS) were 29.1 and 35.7 for POP alone, 28.0 and 35.1 for POP-UI, and 33.9 and 42.0 for UI alone, and there were significant differences among the three groups (p < 0.001). Participants with mixed UI had lower scores on both components than those with stress or urgency UI. UI severity was associated with lower MCS scores, but not with POP stage. Multiple regression analysis showed that the coexistence of POP and UI was associated with significantly worse PCS scores than UI or POP alone and worse MCS scores than UI alone. Age ≥ 46 years was associated with lower PCS scores, and not completing primary school was associated with lower MCS scores. Conclusion: POP and UI were associated with HRQOL, especially in those who had POP-UI, were older, and had a low educational level, mixed UI, and severe UI. Healthcare providers should understand the significance of these illnesses and address them to improve women's HRQOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using household survey data from off-grid regions of rural Bangladesh, this study attempts to assess the impacts of mobile phone use on household welfare and women's empowerment. Using two propensity score-based weighted regressions (IPW and AIPW), this study finds that mobile phone use increases household income (3–10 percent) from different sources, such as small businesses and remittances; improves women's empowerment; and facilitates consumption smoothing during periods of shocks. Thus, favorable policies on investment in mobile telephone technologies, tariffs on talk time and internet usage, and mobile innovations, such as mobile financial services could reduce communication bottlenecks and digital divide in rural lagging regions that will help achieve a balanced regional development. Simultaneously, policies to avoid adverse impact of mobile phone usage should also be in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large panel dataset on the labour supply behaviours of women and men within households in rural Bangladesh, we find robust evidence that the effects of microfinance on the labour supply are not symmetrical for women and men across different occupations. We also find that giving households access to microfinance helps to smooth out the seasonality in the labour supply via on-farm self-employment-based activities. Within households, the male members' participation in off-farm activities increased significantly, while the women's improved but still remained at a low level. Overall, the results suggest that microfinance improves labour market activities for men more than for women, even though the credit is targeted mainly at women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to document the impact of participation in microfinance programs on domestic violence against women. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the survey data from 69 villages in Bangladesh and the instrumental variable approach to estimate the effect of participation in microcredit programs on domestic violence. Findings: The results show that women's participation in microcredit programs does not reduce domestic violence. However, this result is possible only when the authors do not distinguish between female borrowers who have control over credit and those who do not have control over credit. Classifying female borrowers into these two categories can significantly change the results. The authors report significantly lower physical violence against those female who have control over credit. In case of psychological violence, the authors report no significant impact of control over microcredit. Originality/value: The novelty of the paper lies in distinguishing between physical and psychological violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital investment, especially in education, is a well-known precursor of economic growth in developing countries. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of microfinance programmes, yet evidence on whether microfinance leads to increased educational investment is tenuous at best. We utilise a large-scale cross-sectional household dataset from Bangladesh and geospatial data to study how microcredit participation and increasing microcredit incomes – that is, the extensive and intensive margins of microcredit – affects the probability of children's school enrolment. The causal influence of microcredit participation on enrolments was estimated by utilising the propensity score matching (PSM) technique – a quasi-experimental treatment effects model. Whilst microcredit participation, the extensive margin, did not significantly influence the likelihood of school enrolment for boys, it increased girls' enrolment. Further, microcredit income, the intensive margin, had a stronger influence on girls' and younger siblings' enrolment than on boys' and older siblings' enrolment. Omission of spatial influences can overstate microcredit influence on enrolment; while not utilising PSM can underestimate the influence of microcredit participation on enrolment. Results suggest policies that focus solely on increasing microcredit participation, without increasing the amount of microcredit incomes accessed by households, may be less effective at improving child education outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a unique data set on 143,000 poor households from Northern Bangladesh to analyze the effects of microfinance membership on a household's ability to cope with seasonal famine known as Monga. We develop an identification and estimation strategy that exploits a jump and a kink at the 10 decimal land ownership-threshold driven by the Microfinance Institution (MFI) screening process to ensure repayment by excluding the ultra-poor. Evidence shows that microfinance membership improves food security during Monga, especially for the poorest households who survive at the margin of one and two meals a day. The positive effects on food security are, however, not driven by higher income, as microcredit does not improve the ability to migrate for work, nor does it reduce dependence on distress sale of labor. The evidence is consistent with consumption smoothing being the primary mechanism behind the gains in food security of MFI households during the season of starvation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides evidence on the effects of microfinance competition on moneylender interest rates and households' dependence on informal credit. The views among practitioners diverge sharply: proponents claim that the MFI competition reduces both the moneylender interest rate and households' reliance on informal credit, while critics argue the opposite. Taking advantage of recent econometric approaches to address selection on unobservables without imposing standard exclusion restrictions, we find that the MFI competition does not reduce moneylender interest rates, partially repudiating the proponents. There is no perceptible effect at low levels of the MFI coverage, but when the MFI coverage is high enough, the moneylender interest rate increases significantly. In contrast, a household's dependence on informal credit goes down after becoming an MFI member, which contradicts part of the critic's argument. The evidence is consistent with models where either the MFIs or the moneylenders engage in cream skimming, and fixed costs are important in informal lending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims to examine the level of agricultural credit by commercial banks and the determinants that influence the commercial banks to the increased level of agricultural credit through the pressures of the institutional environment. Design/methodology/approach: The study selects seventeen sample commercial banks following the market capitalization method and investigates a total of 85 annual reports during the period from 2013 to 2017. The study conducts a pooled regression to conclude the proposed hypotheses. Findings: The present study finding indicates that the average of agricultural credits to total credits is 2.25% among the sample commercial banks. The study finds a positive significant association between board gender diversity, foreign director, management team and agricultural credit. Furthermore, the study has found that the role of the deposit in enhancing agricultural credit is positive. On the other hand, the association between independent directors, profitability and agricultural credits is negative. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on secondary data with five firm-year observations of commercial banks. The study finding is based on commercial banks, so it should not be generalized to non-bank financial institutions. Practical implications: The study emphasizes policymakers' attention towards the level of agricultural credit and determinants that influence the level of agricultural credit by commercial banks in emerging markets. Originality/value: The key contribution of the study is to focus on the reformist role of the determinants in promoting the increased level of agricultural credit in the emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Microfinance is a prevalent international antipoverty tool, but little is known about the experiences and viewpoints of individual microfinance participants. I explored the experiences of microfinance participants to better understand the degree to which they view and accept the neoliberal norms that undergird microfinance strategies. Method: Using grounded theory, discourse analysis, and known-sponsor sampling methods, I conducted 2 rounds of in-depth interviews with 60 women who participate in microfinance in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Results: In trying to be "good" entrepreneurs, participants became neoliberal subjects who take personal responsibility for poverty and intimate partner violence—factors that are beyond their control. Microfinance participants also exercised choice under limiting conditions and constraints within structures of patriarchy and poverty. Finally, they described "freedom" as freedom to work. Conclusions: Findings corroborate the suggestion that neoliberalism and its products create consumers and producers—not citizens—who are taught to value labor in terms of efficiency and productivity but not labor rights and a working class quality of life. This study reveals how microfinance can be a vehicle of dispossession by financialization, how microfinance legitimizes capitalism at the micro level, and how it depoliticizes potential anticapitalist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]