Syed Yusuf Saadat 1521111653 - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Syed Yusuf Saadat 1521111653
Centre for Policy Dialogue, May 30, 2020
Centre for Policy Dialogue, Jul 30, 2019
One of the relatively understated issues concerning implementation of the Sustainable Development... more One of the relatively understated issues concerning implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) happens to be the role of nonstate actors, including the private sectors, non-government development organisations, community-based organisations and civil society organisations. In this connection, the present publication, prepared under the aegis of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, can be distinguished by its two main features. First, it embodies a unique set of works undertaken by the non-state actors in Bangladesh in the context of the state of delivery of the SDGs. Second, this invaluable compendium is the outcome of an extraordinary participatory process initiated on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the launch of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. who spontaneously came forward to form the Goal Groups on the six SDGs and prepared the review reports. We sincerely appreciate the inputs received from consultation meetings with government officials, private sector representatives, international development partners and media professionals. We are also grateful to the partner organisations, as well as private sector entities, who have extended generous support towards underwriting the process and different events. In this connection, we would like to make special mention of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Swedish Development Cooperation (SDC). One final note of gratitude is due to the senior management of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and colleagues from its Research, Dialogue and Communication, and Finance and Administration Divisions-for their extraordinary efforts as the Platform's Secretariat.
This chapter discusses the role of institutions in creating employment for youth in Bangladesh. I... more This chapter discusses the role of institutions in creating employment for youth in Bangladesh. It contains the findings from a series of expert interviews, as well as a brief analysis of the findings.
Emerging Markets: Finance eJournal, 2018
Escalation in the per capita investment within the economy and enhancement in the volume of loan ... more Escalation in the per capita investment within the economy and enhancement in the volume of loan extensions have been enlisted as some of the key targets under the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda of the United Nations. Against this backdrop, the critical roles of banks and non-bank financial institutions in the extending credit facilities cannot be overlooked. However, incidences of rise in the number and monetary value of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) act as severe hindrances for the financial institutions in carrying out their tasks effectively; which in turn exerts a marginalizing impact on the overall development prospects of an economy. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the effects of governance on trends in NPLs across the three lower middle income countries in South Asia: Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The novelty of this paper lies in its approach of linking governance and multidimensional macroeconomic instabilities to the loan defaulting behavior of the borrower...
Youth Employment in Bangladesh, 2019
This chapter contains the findings of 21 focus group discussions (FGDs) that were carried out in ... more This chapter contains the findings of 21 focus group discussions (FGDs) that were carried out in 10 districts of Bangladesh and involved 237 youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years. The sampling strategy employed for the FGDs is discussed. The ethical issues encountered while carrying out the FGDs is then briefly recalled. Following this, the procedure followed for conducting the FGDs, the ground rules and the questions that were discussed are mentioned. Finally, a brief analysis of some of the key findings is provided. Keywords Focus group discussion (FGD) • Corruption • Bribery • Vicious cycle of poverty A focus group discussion (FGD) consists of a dialogue between 6 and 12 participants, with a moderator who asks questions about a particular topic (Smithson, 2008). FGDs have been viewed by different researchers as group interviews (Hughes & DuMont, 1993), carefully planned discussions (Krueger, 1998), or even informal discussions (Beck, Trombetta, & Share, 1986). FGDs are unique in the sense that they allow communication not only between the participants and the researcher(s), but also within the participants themselves (Smithson, 2008). In fact, the hallmark of FGDs is that they often yield data and insights that would be inaccessible to the researcher without the interaction of the participants of the FGDs (Morgan, 1988). Therefore, FGDs CHAPTER 6
Political Economy - Development: Fiscal & Monetary Policy eJournal, 2018
Mobilization of domestic revenue is of paramount importance in the context of the South Asian reg... more Mobilization of domestic revenue is of paramount importance in the context of the South Asian region since most of these regional countries are dependent on multidimensional development assistance which are expected to exhibit a decreasing trend in future. However, the low ratio of tax revenue to GDP scenario across South Asia is a major area of deep concern for the associated countries that have been ineffective in making remarkable improvements in their respective tax-GDP ratio. Thus, this paper aims to fill the gap in existing literature by modeling the tax evasion phenomenon across Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The authors employ annual data of relevant macroeconomic variables for the time period between 2001 and 2015. As part of the regression model, the authors express the tax-GDP ratio as a function of macroeconomic factors attributing to tax compliance in these countries. Fixed effects panel estimation techniques along with Vector Error Correction Model a...
Economics and Business Letters, 2021
This study investigates whether government borrowing can be likened to a Ponzi scheme which will ... more This study investigates whether government borrowing can be likened to a Ponzi scheme which will allow the government to roll-over its debt perpetually. The results show that, on the basis of the condition of maintaining real economic growth rate above and beyond the real interest rate on government debt, it will not be possible to sustain a perpetual Ponzi scheme of all four types of National Savings Certificates in Bangladesh. The government’s debt may be rolled over perpetually for two types of National Savings Certificates, following the condition outlined in Ball, et al. (1998), or for three types of National Savings Certificates following the condition outlined in Mehrotra (2017).
Insurance & Financing in Health Economics eJournal, 2018
The importance of health expenditure has gone on to becoming a crucial sector of public investmen... more The importance of health expenditure has gone on to becoming a crucial sector of public investment irrespective of the economic status of a nation. The prime importance of sustainable healthcare has also been acknowledged in the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in which SDG 3 particularly stresses on ensuring global healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. However, good governance is a key prerequisite when it comes to the overall attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Lack of good governance is a concern for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in particular to which Bangladesh, being the largest LDC in the world, is no exception. More precisely, corruption is believed to be the main attribute to the poor governance scenario in Bangladesh. Thus, the aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the impacts of corruption on the efficacy of government expenditure on health in order to understand the key importance of ensuring good gov...
Global Ecological Change eJournal, 2018
Urbanization is believed to be a driving force of an economy which facilitates the transfer of su... more Urbanization is believed to be a driving force of an economy which facilitates the transfer of surplus labor from the rural agricultural sector to the urban industrial sector and contributes to economic development. However, unplanned urbanization can at times boomerang, exerting negative impacts that not only adversely affect the economy but also stimulate environmental degradation. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of urbanization on climate change in Bangladesh, a country that has a history of being vulnerable to natural calamities. This paper specifically addresses the effects of urbanization, and other control variables, on emission of selected greenhouse gases and on the average annual temperature change in Bangladesh. Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Johansen Cointegration test, Vector Error-Correction Model (VECM) causality test, and Granger causality test are conducted in this paper to analyze the data. Moreover, the techniques of Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (...
Bangladesh now stands at the crossroads of maintaining the momentum of high economic growth and d... more Bangladesh now stands at the crossroads of maintaining the momentum of high economic growth and dealing with rising inequality. Social protection measures can play an instrumental role in narrowing inequality through distribution of some of the social entitlements among those who are left behind. The present study seeks to highlight the role of social protection in meeting the aspirations of Bangladesh to be an inclusive society. The paper describes the characteristics of social protection in Bangladesh, and reviews the current state of social safety net programmes. It also sheds light on some of the limitations of these programmes, and budget allocations for various programmes. Finally, the study assesses the National Social Security Strategy and makes recommendations to move forward.
Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 2020
The three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism have proliferated around the world, ... more The three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism have proliferated around the world, creating pandemonium and causing panic. While terrorists appear to have a symbiotic relationship among themselves, such synergy is patently missing among the governments of nations. This paper advocates that there exists a strategic rationale for international cooperation for counter-terrorism, both in ancient Chinese wisdom and in contemporary game theory. By revealing clear strategic advantages, this paper aims to influence policy-makers of various countries to prioritise mutual cooperation for mutual benefit.
South Asia Economic Journal
Technological advancement can displace workers with machines, but also create new jobs. Hence, at... more Technological advancement can displace workers with machines, but also create new jobs. Hence, at the crux of the matter lies a race between the rate of technological advancement and the pace at which educational institutions can empower workers with the right skills. For the countries of the South Asian region, generating jobs for youth will prove to be a challenge in the backdrop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper investigates the impact of technological advancement on youth unemployment in the context of six South Asian countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The results of the panel instrumental variables model estimations show that lower secondary completion rate has a negative relationship and capital–labour ratio has a positive relationship with the share of youth not in employment, education or training. However, since the magnitude of the coefficient of the lower secondary completion rate is greater than the magnitude of the...
Journal of Business and Policy Research
International Journal of Trade and Global Markets
South Asia Economic Journal
Inequality in the distribution of income can be beneficial or detrimental for economic growth dep... more Inequality in the distribution of income can be beneficial or detrimental for economic growth depending on the level of inequality. This study advocates that when income inequality is low, increase in income inequality increases economic growth, whereas when income inequality is high, increase in income inequality decreases economic growth. The level of inequality that maximizes economic growth is defined as the optimum level of income inequality. This article attempts to determine the optimum level of income inequality for South Asia through an econometric analysis. It uses panel data from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, over a 34-year period to undertake a systematic investigation using panel instrumental variables techniques. The results of this study confirm that an optimum level of income inequality does exist, and occurs at a Gini coefficient value of 0.4492. Thus, this research empirically confirms that the relationship between income inequality and economic...
Centre for Policy Dialogue, May 30, 2020
Centre for Policy Dialogue, Jul 30, 2019
One of the relatively understated issues concerning implementation of the Sustainable Development... more One of the relatively understated issues concerning implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) happens to be the role of nonstate actors, including the private sectors, non-government development organisations, community-based organisations and civil society organisations. In this connection, the present publication, prepared under the aegis of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, can be distinguished by its two main features. First, it embodies a unique set of works undertaken by the non-state actors in Bangladesh in the context of the state of delivery of the SDGs. Second, this invaluable compendium is the outcome of an extraordinary participatory process initiated on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the launch of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. who spontaneously came forward to form the Goal Groups on the six SDGs and prepared the review reports. We sincerely appreciate the inputs received from consultation meetings with government officials, private sector representatives, international development partners and media professionals. We are also grateful to the partner organisations, as well as private sector entities, who have extended generous support towards underwriting the process and different events. In this connection, we would like to make special mention of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Swedish Development Cooperation (SDC). One final note of gratitude is due to the senior management of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and colleagues from its Research, Dialogue and Communication, and Finance and Administration Divisions-for their extraordinary efforts as the Platform's Secretariat.
This chapter discusses the role of institutions in creating employment for youth in Bangladesh. I... more This chapter discusses the role of institutions in creating employment for youth in Bangladesh. It contains the findings from a series of expert interviews, as well as a brief analysis of the findings.
Emerging Markets: Finance eJournal, 2018
Escalation in the per capita investment within the economy and enhancement in the volume of loan ... more Escalation in the per capita investment within the economy and enhancement in the volume of loan extensions have been enlisted as some of the key targets under the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda of the United Nations. Against this backdrop, the critical roles of banks and non-bank financial institutions in the extending credit facilities cannot be overlooked. However, incidences of rise in the number and monetary value of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) act as severe hindrances for the financial institutions in carrying out their tasks effectively; which in turn exerts a marginalizing impact on the overall development prospects of an economy. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the effects of governance on trends in NPLs across the three lower middle income countries in South Asia: Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The novelty of this paper lies in its approach of linking governance and multidimensional macroeconomic instabilities to the loan defaulting behavior of the borrower...
Youth Employment in Bangladesh, 2019
This chapter contains the findings of 21 focus group discussions (FGDs) that were carried out in ... more This chapter contains the findings of 21 focus group discussions (FGDs) that were carried out in 10 districts of Bangladesh and involved 237 youth between the ages of 18 and 35 years. The sampling strategy employed for the FGDs is discussed. The ethical issues encountered while carrying out the FGDs is then briefly recalled. Following this, the procedure followed for conducting the FGDs, the ground rules and the questions that were discussed are mentioned. Finally, a brief analysis of some of the key findings is provided. Keywords Focus group discussion (FGD) • Corruption • Bribery • Vicious cycle of poverty A focus group discussion (FGD) consists of a dialogue between 6 and 12 participants, with a moderator who asks questions about a particular topic (Smithson, 2008). FGDs have been viewed by different researchers as group interviews (Hughes & DuMont, 1993), carefully planned discussions (Krueger, 1998), or even informal discussions (Beck, Trombetta, & Share, 1986). FGDs are unique in the sense that they allow communication not only between the participants and the researcher(s), but also within the participants themselves (Smithson, 2008). In fact, the hallmark of FGDs is that they often yield data and insights that would be inaccessible to the researcher without the interaction of the participants of the FGDs (Morgan, 1988). Therefore, FGDs CHAPTER 6
Political Economy - Development: Fiscal & Monetary Policy eJournal, 2018
Mobilization of domestic revenue is of paramount importance in the context of the South Asian reg... more Mobilization of domestic revenue is of paramount importance in the context of the South Asian region since most of these regional countries are dependent on multidimensional development assistance which are expected to exhibit a decreasing trend in future. However, the low ratio of tax revenue to GDP scenario across South Asia is a major area of deep concern for the associated countries that have been ineffective in making remarkable improvements in their respective tax-GDP ratio. Thus, this paper aims to fill the gap in existing literature by modeling the tax evasion phenomenon across Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The authors employ annual data of relevant macroeconomic variables for the time period between 2001 and 2015. As part of the regression model, the authors express the tax-GDP ratio as a function of macroeconomic factors attributing to tax compliance in these countries. Fixed effects panel estimation techniques along with Vector Error Correction Model a...
Economics and Business Letters, 2021
This study investigates whether government borrowing can be likened to a Ponzi scheme which will ... more This study investigates whether government borrowing can be likened to a Ponzi scheme which will allow the government to roll-over its debt perpetually. The results show that, on the basis of the condition of maintaining real economic growth rate above and beyond the real interest rate on government debt, it will not be possible to sustain a perpetual Ponzi scheme of all four types of National Savings Certificates in Bangladesh. The government’s debt may be rolled over perpetually for two types of National Savings Certificates, following the condition outlined in Ball, et al. (1998), or for three types of National Savings Certificates following the condition outlined in Mehrotra (2017).
Insurance & Financing in Health Economics eJournal, 2018
The importance of health expenditure has gone on to becoming a crucial sector of public investmen... more The importance of health expenditure has gone on to becoming a crucial sector of public investment irrespective of the economic status of a nation. The prime importance of sustainable healthcare has also been acknowledged in the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in which SDG 3 particularly stresses on ensuring global healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. However, good governance is a key prerequisite when it comes to the overall attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Lack of good governance is a concern for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in particular to which Bangladesh, being the largest LDC in the world, is no exception. More precisely, corruption is believed to be the main attribute to the poor governance scenario in Bangladesh. Thus, the aim of this paper is to empirically investigate the impacts of corruption on the efficacy of government expenditure on health in order to understand the key importance of ensuring good gov...
Global Ecological Change eJournal, 2018
Urbanization is believed to be a driving force of an economy which facilitates the transfer of su... more Urbanization is believed to be a driving force of an economy which facilitates the transfer of surplus labor from the rural agricultural sector to the urban industrial sector and contributes to economic development. However, unplanned urbanization can at times boomerang, exerting negative impacts that not only adversely affect the economy but also stimulate environmental degradation. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of urbanization on climate change in Bangladesh, a country that has a history of being vulnerable to natural calamities. This paper specifically addresses the effects of urbanization, and other control variables, on emission of selected greenhouse gases and on the average annual temperature change in Bangladesh. Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Johansen Cointegration test, Vector Error-Correction Model (VECM) causality test, and Granger causality test are conducted in this paper to analyze the data. Moreover, the techniques of Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (...
Bangladesh now stands at the crossroads of maintaining the momentum of high economic growth and d... more Bangladesh now stands at the crossroads of maintaining the momentum of high economic growth and dealing with rising inequality. Social protection measures can play an instrumental role in narrowing inequality through distribution of some of the social entitlements among those who are left behind. The present study seeks to highlight the role of social protection in meeting the aspirations of Bangladesh to be an inclusive society. The paper describes the characteristics of social protection in Bangladesh, and reviews the current state of social safety net programmes. It also sheds light on some of the limitations of these programmes, and budget allocations for various programmes. Finally, the study assesses the National Social Security Strategy and makes recommendations to move forward.
Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 2020
The three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism have proliferated around the world, ... more The three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism have proliferated around the world, creating pandemonium and causing panic. While terrorists appear to have a symbiotic relationship among themselves, such synergy is patently missing among the governments of nations. This paper advocates that there exists a strategic rationale for international cooperation for counter-terrorism, both in ancient Chinese wisdom and in contemporary game theory. By revealing clear strategic advantages, this paper aims to influence policy-makers of various countries to prioritise mutual cooperation for mutual benefit.
South Asia Economic Journal
Technological advancement can displace workers with machines, but also create new jobs. Hence, at... more Technological advancement can displace workers with machines, but also create new jobs. Hence, at the crux of the matter lies a race between the rate of technological advancement and the pace at which educational institutions can empower workers with the right skills. For the countries of the South Asian region, generating jobs for youth will prove to be a challenge in the backdrop of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This paper investigates the impact of technological advancement on youth unemployment in the context of six South Asian countries, namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The results of the panel instrumental variables model estimations show that lower secondary completion rate has a negative relationship and capital–labour ratio has a positive relationship with the share of youth not in employment, education or training. However, since the magnitude of the coefficient of the lower secondary completion rate is greater than the magnitude of the...
Journal of Business and Policy Research
International Journal of Trade and Global Markets
South Asia Economic Journal
Inequality in the distribution of income can be beneficial or detrimental for economic growth dep... more Inequality in the distribution of income can be beneficial or detrimental for economic growth depending on the level of inequality. This study advocates that when income inequality is low, increase in income inequality increases economic growth, whereas when income inequality is high, increase in income inequality decreases economic growth. The level of inequality that maximizes economic growth is defined as the optimum level of income inequality. This article attempts to determine the optimum level of income inequality for South Asia through an econometric analysis. It uses panel data from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, over a 34-year period to undertake a systematic investigation using panel instrumental variables techniques. The results of this study confirm that an optimum level of income inequality does exist, and occurs at a Gini coefficient value of 0.4492. Thus, this research empirically confirms that the relationship between income inequality and economic...