BIDS Research Almanac 2017: A broad spectrum of development issues

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) is hosting the BIDS Research Almanac 2017 on December 6-7, with the overall theme of narrowing the policy-research divide. There will be 21 papers for presentation by BIDS scholars covering a wide range of issues, reflecting both the depth and diversity of research being carried out in the institute. Last year we presented 11 papers - in other words, our output volume has doubled - a testament to the vigour of our young youthful research community.

As we go into this annual dissemination exercise that has now emerged as an occasion for public engagement and scrutiny of our work, we are deeply conscious of the fact that this is the 60th year of the establishment of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) which was relocated to Dhaka in 1970, under the leadership of its first Director, Professor Nurul Islam, and which was ultimately transformed into the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies after Liberation with the help of the BIDS Act, 1974.

Despite our chequered history, BIDS remains the premier research institute in Bangladesh even today when we are no longer just a one-horse town and where there are a number of good research centres around us. Even here we can take some credit as the 'mother institute' whose members took the initiative to set up new centres to cater to more specialised research needs once they left BIDS.

Coming back to this year's Almanac, our 21 papers cover a broad spectrum of very important development issues confronting Bangladesh.

THE FIRST DAY: We are well aware of the challenge that we face in the agricultural sector today - a sector that has contributed so much to our development through providing food security and generating employment, as well as enabling the growth of the non-farm sector. So it is perhaps fitting that we start off the technical discussions with 'agriculture, external price shocks and rural well-being'. A total of four papers have been lined up, including on land supply response, crop diversification and dietary quality, commodity price shocks and political violence, and the impact of the rural social service programme. Our core message here is that agriculture remains vital for social welfare and we must continue to support and encourage the sector where there still remains considerable potential for growth and employment.

The second technical session helps us to focus much more concertedly on the vexing question of employment - vexing because there is a concern that employment demand is lagging and real wages are no longer buoyant. A particular worry stems from the nature of employment, which appears to be predominantly of an informal nature. Thus, the paper on 'transitions between informal and formal employment' is of particular interest. There are two other papers in this session, (a) on recent changes in labour supply over the period 2006-16 with a core focus on gender and regional dimensions, and (b) a rare attempt to assess 'livelihoods, skills and employment' of tribal populations of Bangladesh.

The third technical session (on day 1) has been described as 'Financial Markets and Financial Inclusion' - an area that comes up for frequent discussion in the various on-going development debates with its antecedents in the rich Bangladesh experience with financial market interventions like micro-credit, agent banking, mobile financial services, and so on. One of the papers is a pioneering study on the much-talked-about but rarely researched Bangladesh stock market that examines both risks and returns from investment, and even goes beyond these to comment on whether the market is efficient (as it should be). A second paper deals with another important, highly policy-relevant area - the impact of formal banking services on poverty reduction, while the third paper is on a recently concluded study on household welfare, women's empowerment and use of mobile financial services.

THE SECOND DAY: Day 2 begins with another hugely important session, namely 'climate change, natural disasters, and environment'. The session begins with a paper on the influence of climate on rice production, based on panel data - an issue that is close to our hearts because of salinity incursion and land degradation, especially in the southern parts of the country.

A second paper examines the household response to persistent natural disasters - and promises to provide valuable insights into coping mechanisms adopted by households in the face of such changes. In fact, the paper has just been published in a well know international journal. Another paper approaches the problem of household impacts by examining and comparing a group of climate-induced migrants with non-climate-induced migrants in Dhaka City to draw some conclusions on climate impact. The last paper in the session is a technical study on air quality in Dhaka City, measured through the level of 'volatile organic compounds' in the air.

Session 2 on Day 2 is titled Entitlement, Welfare and Violence" where three papers are due to be presented. All three papers explore areas that are not often examined. The first is an exploratory study on adolescents' exposure to and attitude to violence. It is an attempt not only to assess the 'state' of violence but also its nature and type and individual, household and locational correlates, drawing on primary data from five districts.

The second paper is a study on the state of the elderly in the country in terms of access and challenges to care-related services - again an area of work that is rarely targeted by researchers here. The third paper is even more esoteric: it is a study of 'unorthodox fakirs' in contemporary Bangladesh and the stresses and tensions, push and pull experienced in terms of their cooption into mainstream society.

The last technical session is on Exports, Firm Performance and Productivity Growth - another critical area of concern for Bangladesh. The papers here (four in all) are on export processing zones, export diversification, governance and sustainability of global value chains for RMG and total factor productivity in Bangladesh. It is well know that Bangladesh faces key challenges in export diversification on the one hand and improving its productivity and competitiveness, on the other, in order to raise employment and increase manufacturing growth rates. The government has also taken up a strategy of establishing 100 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) by 2030 in order to meet its multiple visions for the country. These papers therefore will enrich our understanding of the challenges that our development goals are likely to confront. For example, the Export Promotion Zone  (EPZ) experience that has been carefully studied by BIDS will certainly be useful in throwing light on the likely issues that SEZs might face and therefore provide valuable 'lessons to be learnt'. Similarly, given the huge importance of ready-made garments (RMG), its corporate governance does indeed require incisive study and analysis in order to better serve the sector.

CLOSING PLENARY SESSION: The Closing Plenary this year is on 'bridging the research-policy divide'.  While it is well know that the divide is significant, and has proved difficult to close, it is important for both academics and policy makers to assess where the fault lines are and what needs to be done. In this connection three separate issues need careful analysis:

1. Demand for policy research: Much of the time this demand is not made explicit but is something that emerges through financing. In other words, research demand is set by those finance research and consultancies - be these the government, NGOs, development partners or even the private sector. The major role here has traditionally been played by the development partners. What is the way forward?
2. Supply of policy research: Here is a clear role for government departments, the central bank, think tanks, research institutes and universities. While research capacity has improved and expanded over the years - this process remains an acute challenge. Good researchers are few and high quality research is constrained not just by availability of technically sound researchers but also by appropriate financing mechanisms.
3. Research agenda: Instead of indirectly setting the policy research agenda (through the financing consultancy route) it may be a good idea to tackle it directly by encouraging policy makers to engage directly with researchers and academia in a systematic policy engagement. Here we would need to discuss what mechanisms might be best suited for the purpose.

The session will draw on the combined wisdom of key policy makers and representatives of research platforms to try and grapple with these issues as well as to advise on agenda-setting processes and agenda ideas that researchers from BIDS and outside could seriously consider pursuing.

A broader question that could be addressed is the role of think tanks in today's world. Think tanks have become a powerful knowledge and influence broker in many parts of the world. For example, the Chinese have adopted a think tank strategy whereby all conceivable topics of research and analysis are sought to be encompassed by numerous think tanks at the national, regional and local levels. What is its role in Bangladesh? How can we contribute more? Should we have more in the public/private sector? What value do they add? It is perhaps fortunate that these difficult issues will be discussed under the overall guidance of the session chair, Professor Rehman Sobhan, for we can think of no other person in the country who is better suited to engage in this topic. The presence as Chief Guest of the dynamic Planning Minister will lend both greater credibility and substance to the deliberations.

The writer is Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). The write-up is summary of his speech he will deliver today (December 06, 2017) morning at the inaugural session of the BIDS Research Almanac 2017. 

[email protected]