Imalka Wasana Rathnayaka, Rasheda Khanam and Mohammad Mafizur Rahman
This study aims to explore the efficacy of government policy directions in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by employing a panel of 22 countries throughout the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the efficacy of government policy directions in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by employing a panel of 22 countries throughout the 2020-second quarter of 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
The panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is employed to examine this phenomenon and to investigate the long-run effects of government policy decisions on infection and mortality rates from the pandemic.
Findings
The study reveals the following key findings: (1) Income support and debt relief facilities and stringent standards of governments are associated with reduced infection and death rates. (2) The response of governments has resulted in decreased mortality rates while simultaneously leading to an unexpected increase in infection rates. (3) Containment and healthcare practices have led to a decrease in infection rates but an increase in mortality rates, presenting another counterintuitive outcome. Despite the expectation that robust government responses would decrease infection rates and that healthcare containment practices would reduce mortality, these results highlight a lack of health equity and the challenge of achieving high vaccination rates across countries.
Research limitations/implications
To effectively combat the spread of COVID-19, it is crucial to implement containment health practices in conjunction with tracing and individual-level quarantine. Simply implementing containment health measures without these interconnected strategies would be ineffective. Therefore, policy implications derived from containment health measures should be accompanied by targeted, aggressive, and rapid containment strategies aimed at significantly reducing the number of individuals infected with COVID-19.
Practical implications
This study concludes by suggesting the importance of implementing economic support in terms of income, and debt relief has played a crucial role in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 infections and reducing fatality rates.
Social implications
To effectively combat the spread of COVID-19, it is crucial to implement containment health practices in conjunction with tracing and individual-level quarantine. Simply implementing containment health measures without these interconnected strategies would be ineffective. Therefore, policy implications derived from containment health measures should be accompanied by targeted, aggressive, and rapid containment strategies aimed at significantly reducing the number of individuals infected with COVID-19.
Originality/value
This research makes a unique contribution to the existing literature by investigating the impact of government responses on reducing COVID-19 infections and fatalities, specifically focusing on the period before COVID-19 vaccinations became available.
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Mohammad Mafizur Rahman, Rasheda Khanam and Son Nghiem
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of microcredit on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh using the latest primary data.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of microcredit on women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh using the latest primary data.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data have been collected by a household survey in the four districts of Bangladesh. Logistic regression is used to estimate the odd of improving women empowerment after participating in microfinance.
Findings
The results show positive impacts of microfinance on most of the selected indicators for women’s empowerment.
Research limitations/implications
Lack of control groups and baseline data are the main limitation of this research. Future research can address this issue by selecting institutions with baseline data or control groups.
Practical implications
The findings of the study can help policy makers to adopt appropriate policies that integrate empowerment in development projects with women.
Social implications
The results of this research could encourage more women to participate in microfinance activities and development projects.
Originality/value
This research provides the most updated data from a primary survey in Bangladesh. The authors also mitigate the possible selection biases by using a fixed-effects estimator.
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Rakia Ishra, Saif Sharif, Jeffrey Soar and Rasheda Khanam
Since the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on all facets of civilisation around the world, including food safety, this study aimed to determine and compare the pre-COVID…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on all facets of civilisation around the world, including food safety, this study aimed to determine and compare the pre-COVID and post-COVID food safety knowledge of Bangladeshi consumers and their association with sociodemographic variables.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study performed a cross-sectional survey of 503 consumers who prepared food at least 2–4 times per week through a validated questionnaire, selected through convenience sampling from two metropolitan cities and two rural districts in Bangladesh. The non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann–Whitney U tests, Kruskal–Wallis H and binary logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.
Findings
Although an increased percentage of consumers showed a better level of overall food safety knowledge in the post-pandemic (38.2%) than the pre-pandemic (28.8%), there is a low level of awareness of the appropriate duration of handwashing, foodborne pathogens, consuming raw milk or eggs, safe storage and temperature control of food. University graduates, families with few children and urban consumers had a good understanding of food safety both pre- and post-pandemic.
Originality/value
This study compares consumers’ pre- and post-COVID-19 food safety knowledge previously unknown in Bangladesh. The findings have significantly contributed to existing food safety knowledge in Bangladesh to adopt policies and structure training programmes for consumers in the country.
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Imalka Wasana Rathnayaka, Rasheda Khanam and Mohammad Mafizur Rahman
A systematic, PRISMA-guided literature review was conducted using four databases (ProQuest, PubMed, EconLit and Scopus) to analyze research published between February 2020 and…
Abstract
Purpose
A systematic, PRISMA-guided literature review was conducted using four databases (ProQuest, PubMed, EconLit and Scopus) to analyze research published between February 2020 and August 2021. This review included 31 studies out of 1,248 that were identified.
Design/methodology/approach
In addition to the serious health issues it causes, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) has a destructive impact on the global economy. The objectives of this study are (1) to examine the growing literature on variations of economic factors due to COVID-19 (2) to review the literature on the governmental response to the pandemic and (3) to discover the perspective and the gaps and outline the future avenues for further research.
Findings
All selected studies (31) have used the macroeconomic, household and health economic factors to analyze the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these studies, 22 articles examined the economic consequences and macroeconomic activities, 7 analyzed microeconomic costs and healthcare trade-offs and 2 studies reviewed economic uncertainty and macroeconomic expectations.
Research limitations/implications
This study comprises the most relevant research articles to measure the economic consequences of COVID-19. As a result of the lockdown and other containment initiatives, price levels, employment and consumption patterns have all suffered.
Practical implications
Therefore, the government's requirement to develop policy tools and approaches to ensure a full recovery from the pandemic should lead to greater long-term economic resilience.
Originality/value
This study examines the economic implications of COVID-19, with the aim of not only analysing COVID-19's negative economic effects but also, those measures that provide new directions in the form of short-run economic impacts and policy decisions.
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The objective of this paper is to understand better the determinants of child labour and schooling in Bangladesh.
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to understand better the determinants of child labour and schooling in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses data from a survey based in rural Bangladesh and considers the children aged 5‐17 years living in rural households in which the mother and father are both present. The sample size is 1,628 children. A multinomial logit model is used to estimate the determinants of schooling and working, combining schooling and work, or doing nothing for 5‐17 years old children.
Findings
The results show that the education of parents significantly increases the probability that a school‐age child will specialise in study. The presence of very young children (aged 0‐4) in the household increases the likelihood that a school‐age child will combine study with work. The significant and positive gender coefficient suggests that girls are more likely than boys to combine schooling with work. The children who are sons and daughters of the household‐head, as opposed to being relatives living in the household are more likely to combine study and work but less likely to specialise in work.
Originality/value
The existing anti‐child labour policies mainly focus on the lowering of the demand for child labour in Bangladesh. The focus of this paper is, however, on the supply side of child labour, particularly on the use of child labour in the agricultural sector and the household sector where children are mainly employed by their parents. Unlike most of the existing studies on child labour, this paper considers housework and non‐market works in the definition of child labour.
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– This paper aims to examine the impact of child health (measured by nutritional status) on schooling performance of Bangladeshi children.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of child health (measured by nutritional status) on schooling performance of Bangladeshi children.
Design/methodology/approach
The data set used in this study comes from a survey titled “Micronutrient and Gender Study (MNGS) in Bangladesh”. The survey was administered by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The author controls for the potential endogeneity of child health by an instrumental variables approach. The results indicate that the impact of child health on school achievement will be overestimated if endogeneity of child health is ignored.
Findings
The results reveal that child health has significant effects on school enrolment and grade attainment, although it does not affect the current school attendance. The impact of child health is stronger for school enrolment compared to grade attainment.
Originality/value
This study improves the understanding on the relationship between child health and schooling in several ways. First, the author controls for the potential endogeneity of child health by an instrumental variables approach. The chosen instrumental variables (i.e. heights of father and mother) are strong predictors of child health and satisfy the validity test. Second, this study examines the effects of child health on wide ranges of schooling measures: enrolment, attendance and attainment.
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Rasheda Khanam and Russell Ross
The aim of this paper is to examine the linkages between child work and both school attendance and school attainment of children aged 5‐17 years using data from a survey based in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine the linkages between child work and both school attendance and school attainment of children aged 5‐17 years using data from a survey based in rural Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first looks at school attendance as an indicator of a child's time input in schooling; then it measures the “schooling‐for‐age” as a learning achievement or schooling outcome using logistic regression models.
Findings
The results from this paper show that school attendance and grade attainment are lower for children who are working. The gender‐disaggregated estimates show that probability of grade attainment is lower for girls than that of boys. The results further reveal that child work has the highest impact on schooling of Bangladeshi children, followed by supply side correlates (presence of a school in the community), parental education and household income, respectively.
Practical implications
The results obtained in this paper are of interest to policy makers seeking to design policies that increase school outcome and reduce child labor.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the limited empirical literature that has explored the impact of child work on schooling on Bangladesh by considering supply side correlates of schooling, and unpaid household work in modeling child labor.