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The adverse impacts of climate change have occupied central theme of many policy initiatives. This paper investigated the impact of economic development, fossil fuel consumptions and population density on CO2 in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh using annual data over the period 1971–2014. We have applied panel Autoregressive distributed lags model to estimate the long‐run dynamics and Vector error correction model specified Granger causality test for finding the causality direction. Using three multivariate equations model, the empirical outcome of our study has established key associations that have crucial policy implications. Firstly, the results of auto‐regressive distributed lags (ARDL) confirmed the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis that the relationship between CO2 and economic development is U‐shaped. Moreover, fossil fuel consumption and population density have a positive impact on CO2 emission in the long run. VECM test evidence suggests that short‐run causalities from economic development to CO2, population density to CO2 and fossil fuel consumption to CO2 exist. Secondly, CO2 has a negative impact on economic development while the impacts of fossil fuel, FDI and total exports on economic development have been significantly positive in the long run. In short run, CO2, fossil fuel consumption and FDI Granger cause economic development. Lastly, CO2 emission negatively influences population density while economic development positively affects population density in long run. Moreover, short‐run causalities from economic development to population density and CO2 to population density exit. For policy drives, efficient and low carbon emission technologies should be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Bangladesh by incorporating trade openness in production function using quarter frequency data over the period of 1976-2012. We applied combined Bayer-Hanck cointegration approach to examine cointegration among the series. Our empirical evidence suggests that development of financial sector facilitates economic growth but capitalization impedes it. In addition, trade openness stimulates economic growth. Labour is also positively linked to economic growth. The vector error correction model Granger causality results divulge that financial development causes real per capita gross domestic product ( GDP) growth, and resultantly, real per capita GDP growth causes financial development in a Granger sense. The results also show that trade and labour Granger cause economic growth. The findings of the paper provide insights for policymakers to use financial development and trade openness as a tool for sustained economic growth in the long run. The paper also suggests policymakers to utilise capitalization in a way that is beneficial for economic growth of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty reduction remains the most important challenge for policy makers in Islamic communities. The World Bank (2010: Poverty profile in Muslim world, from ) estimates that approximately 3 billion people are living in poverty and 46 million more people will come under the income level of US$1.25 a day due to the recent global economic meltdown and slow economic growth rates. Thirty-five percent of these people are Muslims from Islamic countries. The global Muslim community has an essential role to play in addressing the injustice of global poverty through zakat. Zakat is an Islamic faith-based institution and is being underutilized for poverty reduction in many of these poor Muslim countries. Since zakat constitutes one of the pillars of Islam, it is logical to assume that policy makers among Muslims should pay serious attention to it. However, that is not the case for many Muslim countries and this paper will show that not all Muslim countries are seriously applying zakat in its strategy of combating poverty. This paper will specifically examine the role and effect of zakat in three Muslim countries ( Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia) providing the facts of countries that practise zakat in comparison with those that do not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-examines the relationship between inflation and economic growth in developing countries. Both the theoretical and the empirical literature are extremely divided on this issue. We apply a relatively new empirical technique - the continuous wavelet transform - to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is of interest because of its remarkable economic growth and poverty reduction during the last 30 years in combination with, for a developing country, a controlled inflation. The wavelet analysis is a contribution because it displays how the correlation and the lead-lag structure between variables change over timescales, taking into account that growth and inflation can follow several different cycles. Comovements between variables are generally studied in the time domain. Results from studies in the time-domain study can be sensitive to the frequency of observations. On the other hand, studies in the frequency domain are not easily translated into time domains that can be associated with economic policies. The wavelet methodology finds a balance between time and frequency domains. Our study finds that growth Granger causes inflation at all frequency scales, starting from the short run to the very long run. Inflation, on the other hand, Granger causes growth in the long run but not in the short run. This result has implications for Bangladesh, and as such for similar developing countries, where some policymakers believe that inflation must be kept at very low levels for sustained economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the facts on existing and future prospects of regional trade integration in South Asia in the backdrop of multilateral trade agreements. The study applies trade intensity index of four largest South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) to estimates the short‐ and long‐run trade co‐integration in autoregressive multilateral framework. The results highlights that long‐run trade complementarities are found between the trade of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while short‐run trade complementarities exist between India and Bangladesh, and between India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan and Bangladesh are found close trade competitors in South Asia in short run. The findings are important for policy implication which highlights how to bridge the untapped regional trade integration in South Asia. If trade barriers are overcome, the greater degree of trade openness can play vital role in achieving balanced regional economic development. India being the largest economy can play key role in striving the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) process for pursuing its objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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During the last 30 years, rapid social change has dramatically altered the conditions and meanings of women's lives in Bangladesh. After generations of public neglect and exclusion, women are now widely exposed to a globalised world of foreign aid, migration, trafficking, factory work, and urbanisation. The sharp rise in women's participation in the labour force, involvement in governmental and non-governmental programmes, and migration to urban centres as well as other countries augment their greater social and political visibility. The presence of women in the marketplace and public space has improved opportunities for greater access to resources and the capacity to act, but exposed large segments of the population as highly vulnerable targets of sexual violence, repression in workplaces, and religious persecution. This paper frames the realities of escalating violence against women within the contemporary discourses of gender empowerment and development. It argues that current development policy in Bangladesh assumes increased welfare for women in the process of economic development when, in fact, women are subjected to new and intensified forms of violence during these changes in the economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsustainable wildlife trade is a major threat to many species, but quantifying trade remains challenging, as seizure data provides an incomplete understanding. For this reason, integrating multiple types of information, including interviews with actors involved in trade, is crucial if we are to understand the problem better. Hence, in this study, we digitized Bangladesh Forest Department tiger seizure records to identify trade routes and interviewed 163 individuals involved in trafficking tigers through Bangladesh's air, sea and land ports, including poachers, smugglers, and traders. We identified six ports used to import tigers, 14 ports used for tiger export and three ports showing bi‐directional trade. Elite Bangladeshis were the most important consumer group, and tigers were sourced from populations in NE India, Myanmar and Bangladesh Sundarbans to supply domestic demand. Tiger products were exported to 14 countries, including seven G20 nations, with Bangladeshi expatriates as the consumer group in three countries (United Kingdom, Germany and Qatar). Rising economic development in Bangladesh over the last decade, combined with deep‐rooted cultural ties to tiger consumption, has led to a rise in domestic demand. Additionally, rapid growth in international transport links has increased smuggling and connected local traders with global markets, increasing the complexity of global trade. These findings suggest Bangladesh is poised to play a pivotal role in tiger conservation over the next decade, requiring strong national strategies to reduce trade opportunities, disrupt networks and weaken demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a view that decentralization brings tangible benefits to the developing world, increasing material welfare and reducing the alienation of traditional societies when faced with centralized and modernizing bureaucracies. In theory, this is plausible, but in practice decentralization seldom lives up to its promises. Only strong states are in a position to cede a realistic range of powers. 'Successful' decentralization often takes place in conscious opposition to the state, and for that reason it is likely to be short-lived. This paper draws on the past history and more recent experience of decentralization in Bangladesh, to conclude that the reform of local government structures has not in practice been of benefit to rural areas, the villages and the rural poor. The delivery of basic needs has not improved, nor has there been any significant increase in popular participation. The conclusion emphasizes the need to view decentralization in its social and political context. Proper account needs to be taken of the interests that dominate the political process in a highly stratified society such as Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Non-government organisations (NGOs) have become a critical constituent of the larger civil society, and their activities have been institutionalised into the development process. Under the title 'NGO', they are only a few decades old in the region, but they had an earlier life as 'voluntary' organisations. In the context of the Indian sub-continent, NGOs evolved from institutions of charity and welfare, mainly within the prerogative of kings and philanthropists, to become stakeholders in the development process and the self-appointed well-wishers of poor and marginalised communities. In their journey, they were sometimes partners and collaborators with the state, sometimes advocates and sometimes adversaries. The state-NGO relationship evolved through various political regimes and was marked by tensions-at times overt and at times hidden. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the resource-poor countries have strongly outperformed the resource-abundant countries in terms of economic development. However, some resource-poor countries like South Korea have been more dynamic than other countries like Bangladesh. Two models of resource-driven growth, the staple trap model and the competitive industrialisation model, help to explain why Bangladesh lagged. Prior to the 1980s Bangladesh drifted into the staple trap model associated with the resource-abundant countries so that incentives were squeezed in the primary sector to support slow-maturing manufacturing. However, the staple trap retards passage through the demographic transition, so rapid population growth eventually pushed Bangladesh towards severe land-scarcity that triggered hesitant reform towards competitive industrialisation in the 1980s. The economy then outpaced many resource-abundant countries but still grew at barely two-thirds of its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development planning in Bangladesh has not been conspicuously successful, Nevertheless it is essential for the nation to continue to plan its economy, Bangladesh's plans must be explored within the context of the economic and sociopolitical constraints that are placed upon the plan and its implementation. The First Five Year Plan (FFYP) was prepared within the framework of a socialist economy but not implemented accordingly. The attitude of the government was a major factor in the eventual distortion of this plan. The mobilization of national resources and their allocation, land reforms, subsidy measures, and industrial policies pursued by the government appeared to protect group interests rather than following recommendations of the plan, A bitter triangular relationship emerged among the politicians, the bureaucrats and the planners. This can explain why the implementation of the plan fell short of what was minimally expected. Subsequent plans, unlike the FFYP which placed high priority on social sectors, have been formulated in favour of the more productive sectors of agriculture and manufacturing. The outcome has been a modest increase in economic growth, but inequality and poverty have tended to perpetuate themselves. To achieve growth with social equality, planning in Bangladesh appears to need strong public commitment and bureaucratic support, the absence of which may prove to make national development planning ineffective, if not counterproductive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article on the ready‐made garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh shows how over‐reliance on foreign capital for development financing and deregulated investment—a hallmark of neoliberal economic arrangements—undermines the incorporation of SDGs' and INGOs' equity principles, contributing to biased policy responses yielding unequal outcomes. The article cautions that while countries prioritize economic growth over social and environmental nourishment and continue to adopt neoliberal economic policies to promote economic growth, inequity is unavoidable, if not inevitable. Thus, the way forward may be to shift the focus of 'development' from the economy to society, to building 'good societies' where institutions and strategies, including those that contribute to economic growth, are organized such that these complement not compromise the evolution of such societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research into migration in Bangladesh has highlighted that people migrate for better livelihoods, not necessarily in response to climatic stresses and shocks. If facilitated appropriately, internal and international migration can help build adaptive capacity to future environmental and climatic hazards. In this framing, migration happens in the context of a growing city-centred economy that promotes remittances to villages. However, a textual analysis of current and recent policies concerning climate change, development and poverty alleviation, and disaster management shows that the economic and adaptive roles of internal migration are often not included in policy framing. We argue that if migration works as a positive step towards adaptation, then the key challenge is to align the policies with this new understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) in modeling of environmental and natural resources systems has gradually grown, and they have become one of the mainstream approaches in the field. They are typically used in modeling complex systems in which policy or management decisions must be made under high uncertainties. This article documents an approach to constructing large and highly complex BBNs using a matrix representation of the model structure. This approach allows smooth construction of highly complicated models with intricate likelihood structures. A case study of the Ganges river basin, the most populated river basin of the planet, is presented. Four different development scenarios were investigated with the purpose of reaching the Millennium Development Goals and Integrated Water Resources Management goals, both promoted by the United Nations Agencies. The model results warned against the promotion of economic development policies that do not place strong emphasis on social and environmental concerns. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2012; 8: 491-502. © SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaculture is equated with the reduction of poverty by intergovernmental agencies such as the FAO, which advocate the promotion of small-scale aquaculture through project-based interventions. There is a lack of convincing empirical evidence to support the efficacy of this type of intervention, however. Meanwhile, commercial cultured freshwater fish production has increased hugely throughout Asia, despite limited direct donor or government support. Its impact with respect to poverty also remains ambiguous, however. This article critically evaluates the developmental impacts of both immanent and interventionist forms of aquaculture and advances finely nuanced interpretations of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the current global financial crisis (GFC) and its impact on Bangladesh's economy and discusses international business implications for the country within an institution-based analytical framework. The article finds that the macroeconomy of Bangladesh has shown remarkable resilience in the face of this massive global crisis, and the impact has been minimal and limited to a moderate slowdown of the economy The country thus could be poised for taking advantage of international business opportunities as the global economy begins to recover. Further, JPMorgan's Frontier Five and Goldman Sachs's Next Eleven classification of Bangladesh indicates enormous potential for growth and development. The article suggests that the Bangladeshi diaspora could serve as a connecting hub so that 'brain gain' could be achieved through labor migration and remittances. Strategic alliances among home and foreign firms are also important to the future capacity building of the country. However, strategic management in the form of further institutional, structural, and policy reforms are critical in enabling the country to develop an international-business-friendly environment conducive to taking advantage of evolving global opportunities and realizing its full potential. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the most efficient way of developing Bangladesh is to encourage more emigration. This argument is made in three steps: (i) proposing that 10% of the population be encouraged to emigrate to member states in the Bangladeshi Aid Consortium; (ii) outlining the anticipated costs; and (iii) describing the anticipated gains, which in the light of any feasible alternative, and when contrasted with the relatively meagre costs, are phenomenal and encouraging. By providing individual Bangladeshis with such an opportunity the hopes of the millions remaining behind are strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses evidence on the role of the informal sector in economic development from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Description of the informal sector as a market; Relation between the informal sector and industrial transition.