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The paper attempts to assess the interlinkages among the equity markets of SAARC nations by examining the degree of co-movement or association in the long run between the selected subject markets. The time-series data is also tested to examine the impact of shock transmission from one market to another (to-and-fro). The timeseries is tested for stationarity using unit root tests. Further, the paper aims at determining the long-term interrelatedness between four member countries of SAARC--India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh--using the Johansen cointegration methodology. Further, the impact of shocks from one stock market to another is studied using Variance Decomposition (VD) and Impulse Response Function (IRF). The daily closing prices of principal stock markets are used for empirical investigation for the period April 1, 2013 to December 31, 2019. Results from the study propose that no interrelatedness and cointegration exist among the equity markets of the four countries in the long run. Empirical evidence from the variance decomposition and IRF further reconfirms that the level of integration among the SAARC region is low. Overall, the inferences from the study state that each stock market is influenced by price fluctuations in its own market. Also, due to less stringent regulatory environment of the studied stock markets, accept India, there will be opportunity for QIBs to generate value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assesses whether Ethical and Sustainable Supply Chain (E&SSC) disclosures increase firm-values and competitive advantages of apparel manufacturing firms in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) certified countries. E&SSC disclosures by 40 apparel manufacturers from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Pakistan were compared with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework to ascertain the strength of disclosures. Multivariate analysis was employed to assess their impact on firm-values, measured by Tobin's Q, and competitive advantages using Organization Capital (OC) as the proxy. This study finds that E&SSC disclosures have a positive but not significant relationship with the values of firms. However, E&SSC disclosures were found to influence the competitiveness of firms positively and significantly, suggesting firms that disclose E&SSC matters have competitive advantages over those that do not disclose. There is no known study specifically referring to E&SSC disclosures in the apparel industry in GSP-certified countries. The findings will be useful to the apparel manufacturers in the GSP-certified countries and to customers in developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stock markets in Bangladesh have been suffering from shocks at gaps of around five years regularly. Due to these market failure experiences, stock markets in Bangladesh have undergone serious policy reforms in different instances to improve market efficiency. Out of the two stock markets, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) is the main bourse of the country. In this paper, policy reforms have been grouped into 12 categories with reference to different time frames and a total of 3,113 Daily Market Return Index from 2006 to 2018 have been captured to explore the impact of each policy reform on market efficiency. Both nonparametric tests (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Run test) and parametric tests (autocorrelation and ARIMA test) are conducted in support of market efficiency. While market return index is used as independent variable, market efficiency is used as dependable variable to draw statistical inferences. The analysis reveals that the market is not efficient even in weak form; the market return is not normally distributed, and it lacks randomness and dependency, which violates the nature of random walk model. Amid all these negative connotations, the result reports an improvement in dependency parameter which becomes insignificant over the years due to the reform initiatives the market is going through. From the recent behavior of data is assumed that if this trend continues, the market return will follow random walk model and the market will become weak form efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has started affecting food systems directly through its impact on food supply and demand, and indirectly through decreases in purchasing power and the capacity to produce and distribute food grains, which would strongly affect the poor and the vulnerable of Bangladesh. Agricultural economists are concerned about the current and imminent implications of Covid-19 on food security. The aim of this paper is to identify the current situation of food security and its impact on the society that could emerge in the coming days. The study is designed on the basis of secondary information. The global survey of the food system shows that Bangladesh's overall performance in ensuring food security is good but needs to be improved. The Covid-19 depression creates health risks and psychological risks, besides earning failure and disruptions to normal life in the society. Food supply chain must be maintained and accessibility to nutritious food by the poor and the vulnerable should be ensured through social safety net, food for work, Viability Gap Funding (VGF), monetary compensation and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often migrants are caught between spaces where they live negotiating between their past and present selves. A sense of nostalgia traps them from within, which gets reflected in comparative parameters through their interaction with the new place and culture, through changing frameworks of family and relations, and through varying levels of perceptions. As a social phenomenon, migration gets potent when seen through the perspectives of time, nostalgia, and memory. Temporality hence is closely connected to the understanding of the process of migration. This paper aims to analyze the conditions and situations that the migrants face when aspects of time and remembrance are brought together on a temporal scale of past and present from select migrant narratives of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is an extremely crucial issue for Bangladesh and according to the Global Climate Risk Index, the country ranks first as the nation most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in the coming decades. Coping with climatic events like drought, cyclones and flooding is not new to Bangladesh. However, in recent times, focus has been shifted on community-based adaptation practices in understanding and addressing modern drivers, such as climate change and their impacts on local populations and their own adaptation practice. This paper attempts to use data collected from two coastal upazilas (sub-districts) in the southern coast of Bangladesh to look into the types of livelihoods, which provide us with a wider picture on what households do--and what they could do--to adapt to climate change in the coastal zone using their own knowledge generated through inter-generational community interaction. This case tries to open up the black box of 'vulnerability' and map out differential adaptation strategies according to varying levels of resource access, livelihood strategies, and perception of risk. The aim is to incorporate self-assessments of community people with scientific descriptions of exposure to hazards and available resources to cope. The idea behind this new approach is to match experts' assessments of adaptive capacity with a self-evaluation of the target populations on what can actually be done to adapt to ongoing processes (in addition to the continuing effort to improve livelihoods). This papers argues that community knowledge continuously enriches the household adaptive capacity in a constantly changing climatic situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority and minority identity has always been used for political discourse or political interests. A newly emerged nation like Bangladesh has faced problems of national identity and nationalism due to different political interpretations and devices for political discourse. Due to continuous institutional discrimination, politically and economically, marginalization of minorities has led to confrontational politics and problems of separatism in the country. Bangladesh itself is the product of continuous deprivation. The problems and issues of security of minorities are not confined to only Hindu, Buddhist or Christian minorities in Bangladesh, but it has become a national problem and poses a threat to nation building. The moderate Muslims, academicians and different segments of civil society are also under the threat of extremists. It has posed a threat not only to territorial integrity and national sovereignty but also to peace and stability of South Asian region. The continuous migration from Bangladesh has great impact on Indo-Bangladesh relations. It has put economic, political, social and security burden on India. This paper focuses on the sociopolitical status of minority communities of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main causes of soil degradation is salinization which adversely affects crop productivity and threatens the livelihood of resource-constrained small-scale farmers in coastal regions that are sensitive to climate change. Building adaptation plans requires an understanding of farmers’ perspectives and indigenous adaptation techniques. This study focuses on soil salinity and its effects on small-scale farmers and their responses to it. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including average and percentage, linear regression, and chi-square test. The findings demonstrated that the studied sites’ soil salinity increased with time. The majority of farmers in the study areas believed that salinity had a detrimental effect on crop productivity, availability of freshwater for irrigation, cost of irrigation water, crop area, plant height, and crop size. The methods of indigenous knowledge adaptation varied depending on the locale. Surprisingly, the majority of farmers in extremely salinity-prone regions fell into the low adaptation category, whereas those in somewhat salinity-prone regions fell into the medium adaptation category. The unsuccessful adaptation to rising soil salinity may be a result of their lower educational level, small farm size, reliance on surface water, and lack of access to information and training. Therefore, all parties associated with those influencing elements should collaborate in a comprehensive effort to develop farmers’ need-based, site-specific methods to solve the problem of salinity intrusion in the coastal sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish are highly perishable food items that must be delivered to consumers quickly and efficiently. For commercially significant fish, it is required to ensure that they are provided to consumers at the proper time and place. The current study seeks to examine two economically important marine fish species’ value chains and marketing channels in the Chattogram region of Bangladesh. The species examined were sea bass (Lates calcarifer) and Bombay duck, (Harpodon numerous). In the study, primary, secondary, and retail markets— in their combined forms—were examined. Bombay duck and sea bass had 38% and 35% marketing margins, respectively. In the primary, secondary, and retail markets, the proportion of fishermen to sales price for Bombay duck and sea bass was 86%, 73%, and 62%, respectively. Sustainable and profitable fish marketing systems require government involvement in the marine species’ marketing channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) data for the macroeconomic variables, this study comparatively examines the sovereign debt crises in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It identifies different macroeconomic factors related to the sovereign debt crisis, investigates their interrelations, and explores if their debt crises are similar. It shows that the general revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratios of Sri Lanka degraded to converge with the upgrading status of Bangladesh during the Covid-19 period. Since 2010, Sri Lanka has maintained a well-off economic status with per capita GDP, while Bangladesh has a long way to go yet. The general expenses to GDP ratio of Sri Lanka shows stresses on its GDP, while that of Bangladesh is more relaxed. Sri Lanka has overstressed debt to GDP ratio along with Balance of Payments (BOP) deficits, while Bangladesh has continued traces of managed debt to GDP ratio along with BOP surpluses. Bangladesh has taken enough precautions in their sovereign debt management, compared to Sri Lanka. Even in 2020, Bangladesh maintained progressive investment track over the threshold limit of 30%, while Sri Lanka fell into a debt trap. Following the pandemic, Bangladesh has enjoyed a gross national savings to GDP ratio of above the threshold of 25%, while Sri Lanka is going through a critical phase. It shows governance myopia of Bangladesh regarding its imbalanced current account positions, while governance myopia of Sri Lanka exists with reference to its imbalanced current account positions, adverse gross debts, and government borrowing as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of climate change on crop production is a cause for concern worldwide. Indigenous knowledge and adaptation approaches can help the farmers and relevant stakeholders cope with the devastating effects of climate change. Hence, this study reviews the crop farmers' discernments of climate change and recognizes key adaptation options, factors that impact their decisions and various barriers they face, through interviews with crop farmers in northwest Bangladesh. The study found that the main indigenous coping strategies recognized were toggling the different crops, shifting application of fertilizer and insecticide, and changing the pattern of the irrigation process. Inadequate accessibility to information on the climate parameters, poor knowledge of proper coping options, and inadequate value of crop production were the foremost barriers. The study recommends intensification of research on agricultural diversification and conservatory services to the crop farmers, together with training, information dissemination, and proper supply of seeds and fertilizers, to formulate effective indigenous and sustainable adaptation strategies to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last three decades, aquaculture production and technologies for culture system upgradation have become a revolutionary development in Bangladesh, especially in the coastal areas. The study was conducted to assess aquaculture development along with sustainable value chain for aquaculture business purposes in the southern coast of Bangladesh. The authors found that small-scale aquaculture and inland fisheries sector in the study areas is facing some environmental, technological and socioeconomic challenges that may lead to production failures and make it unstable in the near future. Additionally, farmraised fish quality and their safety for human consumption are becoming a serious concern to local and international food markets. These challenges could have severe impacts on earnings and the rural economy of the southern coast of Bangladesh. To overcome the challenges, sustainable and environment-friendly aquaculture practices are required to be taken up to maximize environmental and economic sustainability and reduce the likelihood of outbreak of diseases in the aquaculture farms. However, adopting Good Aquaculture Practices (GAPs) requires a combination of strategies and policies. A top-down and bottomup holistic approach to aquaculture planning and management may help to sustain this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the effect of corporate governance on the performance of financial institutions in Bangladesh. This empirical analysis focuses on 12 selected financial institutions from the Dhaka Stock Exchange from 2015-2019. To achieve this objective, the authors have considered Return on Asset (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Earnings Per Share (EPS) as the profitability measurements, and corporate governance mechanisms, which include size of the board, independent directors, audit committee members, CEO duality, and female directors. Applying the Fixed Effect Ordinary Least Square method, the study found that board size, independent directors, audit committee members, and percentage of female directors substantially influence at least one measurement criterion of the performance of firms under investigation. Moreover, regarding the control variables--firm age and leverage negatively influence firm performance. The findings suggest that firms that practice good and effective corporate governance procedures may expect better market and financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The banking sector of Bangladesh had been struggling with poor performance before the Covid-19 situation. The reasons included non-performing loans, declining margins in a capped interest rate regime, deteriorations in various efficiency indicators and government-directed restructuring of loans. Now the Covid-19 pandemic has put this sector into further stress. This study examines the impact of Covid-19 on the bank's liquidity by using Pooled Ordinary Least Square (Pooled OLS) on a data set of 20 Bangladeshi commercial banks covering the period from March 8 to December 31, 2020 and the daily Covid-19 affected and death cases. When finding the bank's liquidity response to Covid-19, we also elevate the interacting relationship between the government action variables and the trend in Covid-19 affected and death cases. We find that social distancing and government economic support significantly affect the bank's liquidity. More interestingly, remittances are by far the most crucial components in keeping the liquidity of Bangladeshi banks constant. As there is frugality of literature regarding bank liquidity during the Covid-19 pandemic, this study will be a unique study on Bangladesh. The study results will be beneficial for other developing economies as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yarn dyeing, a big area in textile industry, has been overlooked in the extant Lean management literature. With a decade's practical experience in four renowned knit composite apparel industries in Bangladesh, the author has identified the scope to apply Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in this area. Standard time for different processes is derived with detailed practical observations in some companies, which has helped to measure the lead time of yarn dyeing using Value stream mapping. Business excellence professionals will find these outcomes readily applicable to improve the capacity and efficiency of yarn dyeing in any textile industry. This study also inspires academicians to further explore opportunities to apply LSS in the vast textile industry. Different data requirements for further application of LSS have also been recommended along with scope and ideas of improvement per process, per function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale of environmental challenges that our planet faces is best mirrored by its effects on the local communities. One of the most affected groups of people is the coastal communities of Bangladesh that are often exposed to various environmental threats simultaneously. Their response to these environmental threats eventually determines the level of damage, which in turn illustrates the severity of the threat. Therefore, efficient coping is the key, and understanding how coping strategies are constructed is of crucial importance in hazard mitigation. Qualitative methods of semi-structured interviews and participant observation were used in the course of the current study. Of the three types of coping strategies (prevention, adaption and migration), prevention was found to be mostly employed by households that are less exposed to risk, while adaption and migration were common strategies at the most exposed households. Based on the interview results and the participant observation, three coping profiles were created with regard to the level of vulnerability. It was found that the strategies are dynamically changing, and a continuous coping development path was identified from the most vulnerable stages till the least vulnerable ones. Thus, it is crucial to approach these strategies as stages of a long and natural process, rather than as stationary attributes of the population. The results may provide useful tools, information and recommendations for local policy makers in order to create a more inclusive and effective hazard mitigation strategy for the affected population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analyzes the Technical Efficiency (TE) of poultry layer production in Bangladesh for a sample of 100 poultry farmers selected from Kishoreganj and Dhaka districts in Bangladesh. Stochastic parametric practice is employed to evaluate the TE of the sample poultry farmers. The results show that size of Day Old Chicks (DOC) and feed input played a crucial role in egg output. Estimated mean TE was 34%, 48% and 61% for layer small, medium and large farm respectively and this variation proposes the existence of further opportunities for layer farmers in sample area to intensify their productivity and income with improvements in TE. Different socioeconomic variables were observed to be negatively related to technical inefficiency. Ensuring the availability of quality DOC and feed, vaccination service, tax exemption, subsidy, poultry insurance with an all-out poultry-friendly policy are the needs of the current situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous knowledge management is important for the purposes of conservation, sustainability and reduction of vulnerability due to climate change in coastal areas. The present study explores the utilization patterns and management aspects of natural resources, and economic valuation of the ecosystem services through indigenous knowledge practices in the southeastern coastal area of Bangladesh for adaptation to changing climate. The results of analysis demonstrate that local communities of coastal area are extremely dependent on coastal resources, in particular fishery resources. About 57% household heads have been directly involved in coastal fishing, followed by agriculture, aquaculture, and salt production. Southeastern coastal area of Bangladesh is endowed with a number of estuarine rivers that are rich in fish diversity and also mangrove ecosystemdiversity. Teknaf Peninsula, which is one of the longest sandy beach ecosystems in the world, located in southern Bangladesh, has mineral resources and is a potential tourism spot. In fact, fisheries and other coastal resources management in the study area are not yet effective. There is ignorance among the resource users of the linkages between the various coastal ecosystems, but they do have vast traditional knowledge about the resources. Therefore, revitalization of environment-friendly traditional values and formulation of effective environmental protection policies are required to improve management that would promote ecological and economic benefits for local communities and national interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]