Abu S. Shonchoy

The dynamics of spending and absorption of aid: panel data analysis

In September 1999, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) established the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) to make the reduction of poverty and the enhancement of economic growth the fundamental objectives of lending operations in its poorest member countries. This paper studies the spending and absorption of aid in PRGF-supported programs, verifies whether the use of aid is programmed to be smoothed over time, and analyzes how considerations about macroeconomic stability influence the programmed use of aid. The paper shows that PRGF-supported programs permit countries to utilize all increases in aid within a few years, showing smoothed use of aid inflows over time. Our results reveal that spending is higher than absorption in both the long-run and short-run use of aid, which is a robust finding of the study. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the long-run spending exceeds the injected increase of aid inflows in the economy. In addition, the paper finds that the presence of a PRGF-supported program does not influence the actual absorption or spending of aid.

The Informal Labour Market in India: Transitory or Permanent Employment for Migrants?

AbstractThis paper studies the characteristics of the workers in the informal economy and whether internal migrants treat this sector as a temporary location before moving on to the organised or formal sector to improve their lifetime income and living conditions. We limit our study to the Indian urban (non-agricultural) sector and study the characteristics of the household heads that belong to the informal sector (self-employed and informal wage workers) and the formal sector. We find that household heads that are less educated, come from poorer households, and/or are in lower social groups (castes and religions) are more likely to be in the informal sector. In addition, our results show strong evidence that the longer a rural migrant household head has been working in the urban areas, ceteris paribus, the more likely that individual has moved out of the informal wage sector. These results support the hypothesis that, for internal migrants, the informal wage labour market is a stepping stone to a secured life in the formal sector.JEL codes017; J15; J61; J42.

How does contract design affect the uptake of microcredit among the ultra-poor?: experimental evidence from the river islands of Northern Bangladesh

Abstract This study examines the demand of microcredit among ultra-poor households in northern Bangladesh. We implemented a field experiment to identify what type of credit is best suited to their demand. We found that the uptake rate by the ultra-poor is the lowest for regular small cash credit, followed by in-kind credit. We also found that the ultra-poor are significantly more likely to join a microcredit programme than the moderately poor if a grace period with longer maturity is attached to a large amount of credit, irrespective of whether the credit is provided in cash or in kind.

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Education in Bangladesh: Achievements and Challenges

This chapter presents an overview of the achievements and challenges of the education sector in Bangladesh, ranging from the elementary to tertiary levels. While achievements have been made in education quantity improvements and in narrowing the gender gap, Bangladesh still needs significant improvement in education quality and performance. The current shortcomings arise from various issues, including school dropouts due to seasonality and academic calendar mismatch with the farming calendar, the low quality of teaching and learning, inadequate technical and vocational training. A pronounced female dropout rate—especially at the upper secondary level—may be attributed to early teenage marriage and low labor market opportunity. For improving access to tertiary education for rural and poor households, it is critical to increase the capacity of the universities.

Short-Term Impacts of Solar Lanterns on Child Health: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract We implemented a 16-month randomised field experiment in unelectrified areas of Bangladesh to identify health impacts of solar lanterns among school-aged children. Our analysis of various health-related indicators – self-reporting, spirometers, and professional medical checkups – showed modest improvements in eye redness and irritation but no noticeable improvement in respiratory symptoms among treated students. Varying the number of solar products received within treatment households did not alter these results. This limited health benefit was not caused by nonutilisation of the products by treated children, spillover effects from treated to control students, or contamination resulting from unfavourable family cooking environments.

Analysis of Socioeconomic Conditions and Seasonality in Northern Bangladesh: Based on Survey Data

This chapter addressed the findings derived from the baseline survey and short monga survey conducted in 2011 in northern Bangladesh. The surveys were intended to gather information for better understanding the socioeconomic conditions; state of monga; and problems faced by beneficiaries of the microcredit disbursed in collaboration with, a local NGO in northern Bangladesh.