Banglanomics

On the 24th of April 2013, an eight-storied ready-made garments (RMG) factory, named Rana Plaza, collapsed, leading to the death of over 1,000 workers and injuring over 2,500 more. The aftermath was an increase in international pressure for compliance of RMG factories regarding worker safety.  One of the concerns raised was whether an increase in compliance could reduce workers' wages or employment in an already extortionist market. Coupled with ongoing strikes to increase factory workers’ minimum wage, another related question is how raising total compensation affects the RMG industry.  In this episode, we turn to Rachel Heath, an associate professor at the University of Washington, for an answer to this question. Here is a link to the academic paper.

Vitamin A supplementation can lower a child's risk of disease and prevent early death. What is less widely known, however, is the protection that timely intake of Vitamin A can provide to infants against sudden environmental disasters, such as tornados and floods. With rapid adverse climate change, such a precaution is vital for Bangladesh. In this episode, we turn to Professor Achyuta Adhvaryu, who teaches Economics at UC San Diego and is a co-founder of the Good Business Lab, for a tale of vitamins and a tornado. Here is a link to the academic paper.

BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra Poor programme transfers assets, mainly livestock, to women of ultra-poor households and provides them with training for their maintenance and upbringing. But how much does this asset transfer help the women and how does this change the intra-household power dynamics? In this episode, we turn to Shalini Roy, a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), for an answer to this question. Here is a link to the academic paper.

Bangladesh is home to over 54 indigenous tribes that co-exist with the majority, the Bengalis, often giving rise to a subconscious dominant-subservient social power structure. This power differential can trap minority groups in various forms of exploitation. One of the reasons such a trap can become permanent may be due to an aversion to competing against the majority group. Do minority groups compete differently than the majority? In this episode, we turn to Abu Siddique, an Assistant Professor at King's College London, for an answer to this question. Here is a link to the academic paper.

Do smart people play chess, or does playing chess make people smart? Relatedly, can teaching children how to play chess improve their educational attainment? The general answer to the latter question seems to be a no – an investigation to test the effects of chess instruction on the academic skills of nearly 4,000 British children showed no effect on their scores in mathematics, literacy, or science. However, a study with Bangladeshi rural primary school kids showed an improvement in their calculative risk-taking. So, perhaps playing chess makes people smarter, just not the way we think. In this episode, we turn to Asadul Islam, an Economics professor at Monash University, for an answer to this question. Here is a link to the academic paper.