As a part of the regular capacity-building initiatives of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), an in-house session of the Young Scholar Seminar Series (YSSS) was organised by the CPD on 8 September 2022. Ms Farah Nusrat, Senior Publication Associate, CPD, Ms Afrin Mahbub, Programme Associate, CPD, and Ms Jebunnesa Jeba, Intern, CPD, presented their research papers at the session. Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD, chaired the session. Foqoruddin Al Kabir, Research Associate, was the convenor of YSSS.
At the beginning of the session, Ms Afrin Mahbub presented her paper on ‘Empowering Women Through Electricity: Effects of Rural Electrification on Female Employment in Bangladesh.’ She shared how her paper aimed to observe the indirect effects of rural electrification to improve women’s agency in terms of change in the female labour force participation in Bangladesh. The paper took an empirical approach to assess the significance of access to electricity in rural areas on female labour force participation. The study conducted a unit root test to account for stationarity followed by a Johansen Cointegration test to check for any existing long-run association between variables. Also, this paper conducts a bivariate regression analysis using the OLS method with variables at their first difference followed by a VAR analysis to observe any short-run dynamics between the two variables. She recommended that Energy Schemes should be prepared where female-headed households are primary beneficiaries of electricity while increasing accessibility and affordability of electricity. She also suggested for building the capacity of women through training and awareness-based initiatives in utilising electrical appliances and technology.
The research paper on ‘Impact of Job Attributes on Individual Career Choice among BUP Students: A Discrete Choice Analysis’ was presented by Ms Jebunnesa Jeba. Her study aimed to determine the magnitude of preference for specific job-related attributes. In her study, she found that students prefer the public-sector jobs more than the private sector ones. They also prefer job security and shorter working hours. Her findings suggest that working extra hours reduces their utility. She also shared that many students do not want to use their previous knowledge in a job. This finding can mean that most students are unhappy with their major subject in Honours or Masters. This can also mean that working in other generalised fields gives them more utility than the specialised field. For this reason, most students prefer public jobs.
Based on the current economic situation, Ms Farah Nusrat presented her paper on ‘Impacts of Price Hike on Health and Nutrition Status in Bangladesh.’ Her research study aimed to explore the dynamics of various implications of price hikes in light of the significance of a sound health and nutrition status. Her study showed how food price hike increases poverty and forces people to cut back on the quantity of food. She pointed out that high inflation increases the cost of food, heightening trade-offs that families make between food and other rising commodities. These can cause a lack of nutrition among lower and middle-income groups. Children, adolescents, and pregnant women are the worst sufferers. The study showed how price hike can possibly lead to long-term malnutrition among children. She added, price hikes cause an increase in agricultural production costs, resulting in food insecurity. She recommended that the vulnerable people should be provided with social safety net and livelihood support programmes that can boost food security. Measures should be taken to boost our agricultural sector, and targeted public investment is needed to enhance rice production. Also, proper and regular monitoring of the market mechanism is a need of the hour in order to control any absurd price hike.
Distinguished Fellows Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya and Professor Mustafizur Rahman, along with Researcher Fellows, Research Associates, Programme Associates, and Interns of CPD were present at the session, many of whom participated in an open floor discussion and shared their valuable insights.