This study assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and the role of Fintech, in particular mobile financial services (MFS), in their recovery from COVID-induced losses. The study uses data from a survey of 216 MSMEs from Bangladesh Small...

Part I Macroeconomic Policy, Growth and Poverty -- 1. Macroeconomic Policy, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh: An Overview -- 2. Inflation and Household Welfare: Evidence from Bangladesh -- 3. Labor Market Dynamics, Inflation and Wage Adjustments in Bangladesh -- 4. Impact of...

This paper analyzes a unique case of default risks and associated factors of a solar home system (SHS) program in Bangladesh and, within that context, proposes a theoretical market-based solution to finance a renewable energy (RE) program. The paper first develops a theoretical framework that...

This paper tests whether local financial development matters for SMEs' growth performance. We develop a theoretical model framework based on banks' and firms' profit-maximizing behavior that critically hinges upon credit default risk ratio. We argue that an expansion of branch network would...

As an alternative clean and climate-friendly energy source, renewable energy has gained increased importance in government policies, in particular regarding the use of sun power to operate irrigation projects. Researchers have found solar-power-based irrigation projects to be reliable,...

As Bangladesh is a densely populated and land-scarce country, a land trust method can be applied in order to ensure productive and sustainable land management. We argue that land trust can be applied to managing agricultural land, khas land, real estate, and a delta in a sustainable manner in...

While discussing the enhancement of the connectivity between Europe and Asia, this policy paper explores a new area of cooperation, which is the use of European long-term investment funds in Asia's infrastructure. We argue that, if Asian countries agree to offer 50% of their spillover revenue to...

Overall inflation in Bangladesh saw a surge in inflation rate amid rising trend of global commodity prices in the last few years. Inflation in 2009 was 6.66 percent and 7.31 percent in 2010. As higher inflation might have detrimental impact on different sectors, this study aims to assess the...