Suchergebnisse

External trade has played a crucial role in Bangladesh's strong economic growth and structural transformation, in the backdrop of rising prosperity in Asia as a whole. This paper examines the effect of national incomes and trade costs of three key Asian sub-regions—which "powered" the overall growth and prosperity in Asia as a whole—on Bangladesh's external trade. The paper used the gravity model of international trade to test its validity in explaining Bangladesh's trade with the sub-regions. Alternative empirical specifications of the model were econometrically estimated. The parameter estimates indicate that the central hypothesis of the gravity model is valid, i.e., trade between any two countries is directly proportional to their national incomes and inversely proportional to their trade costs. In line with these predictions, Bangladesh's trade with the three key Asian sub-regions were found to be positively related to their GDPs and inversely related to trade costs. The predictive power of the estimated gravity models is also high. The statistical tests relevant to the econometric estimation of the specified model and the data used were conducted to ensure that the parameter estimates were robust. The model thus provides a solid basis for forecasting medium-term trade growth with the key Asian sub-regions, and hence it has a value to Bangladesh's planners and policymakers. The results also imply that Bangladesh should pay greater attention to reviving trade (and industry) reforms to benefit from growing prosperity in its continental neighbourhood.

The paper investigates the factors which are believed to influence the behaviour of households' willingness to pay for public services provided by municipal authorities in Bangladesh. The underlying concern of the analysis is a deeper understanding of the factors that are important for revenue mobilisation strategies in the municipalities of Bangladesh. The analysis is based on a survey of over six thousand households across all municipalities of Bangladesh, complemented with administrative data obtained from these local entities. A multinomial logit model is fitted. The model specification groups the household payment responses into three categories, i.e., willing to pay, reluctant to pay and opposed to paying the service charges while controlling for economic, social and demographic factors. The econometric model is estimated for each of three public services, i.e., water supply, solid waste management and street lighting facility, separately. The results indicate that household willingness to pay is significantly affected by factors such as service charge, income, education and the municipal classification. An important policy insight is that service charge increases and other factors noted above can be important in strategies for local revenue mobilisation.

The author provides a review of macroeconomic performance in Bangladesh as reflected in particular indicators in key sectors in the 1980s and an evaluation of the stabilization and adjustment experience in the 1980s. Savings, investment, economic growth, export policies and performance are analysed. (DÜI-Sen)

The trade relations between Bangladesh and four of its South Asian partners is modelled within a larger macro-economic model. The macro-economic model, including the trade functions, is estimated, using econometrically a single-equation simultaneous method. The results of econometric estimates are very encouraging with exceptionally good fits in most cases. (DÜI-Sen)

The author provides an empirically testable conceptual apparatus which could be used to understand the process of market price determination in the yarn and textile sectors, and hence to forecast important market variables. A model of the yarn and textile sectors specifying yarn production, imports, consumption, price, cloth production, demand and price is estimated econometrically. (DÜI-Sen)

After an overview of trends in agricultural production, and yield of agricultural commodities since 1971, the study investigates the supply response of 25 individual commodities and 6 group commodities. It is shown that irrigation is mainly responsible for rapid increase in Boro rice production. The sharp increase in wheat production. Decline in the importance of jute in Bangladesh agriculture. (DÜI-Sen)

The article explores the impact of a flexible buffer stocks scheme on important indicators of the Bangladesh jute market. The sensitivity of such a scheme to the price elasticity of demand is also examined to take account of the critical importance of this parameter in the analysis of market stabilization policy. (DÜI-Sen)

Using an econometric model of the Bangladesh jute sector for controlled policy experiments, the author investigates the effects of a buffer stocks-supported price stabilization scheme on this sector. Empirical probability distribution of buffer stocks size under alternative price stabilization policies. The study concludes that the large year-to-year jute price swings can be effectively contained at a reasonable net cost

A model of the interdependence between energy and macroeconomy is developed and estimated. The model is kept general enough to be applicable to a wide range of oil-dependent developing economies. As a test case, the model is estimated only with Indian data. Government's rural electrification campaign - an extremely important factor in the rapid growth in electricity consumption in the country. Private and public consumption of energy. (DÜI-Sen)

Advantages and disadvantages for Bangladesh if it participates in an International Buffer Stocks Programme (IBSP) for raw jute. In principle, either the producer or the consumer may gain from price stabilization. It is argued that the concrete outcome depends upon the way the demand and supply elasticities, the inclusion of risk etc. are generated. More empirical research necessary before Bangladesh decides to participate in an IBSP. (DÜI-Sen)