Dr. Kazi Mostafa Arif is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Islamic University, Bangladesh. He began his academic career as a Lecturer in the Economics Discipline at Khulna University in December 2000 and joined Islamic University in May 2001. He obtained his PhD in Economics from Islamic University in 2014, following his BSS and MSS degrees in Economics from the same university, where he achieved First Class First Position in both examinations. He completed his HSC from Kushtia Government College in 1991 and SSC from Kushtia Zilla School in 1989. With more than two decades of teaching, research, and academic experience, his areas of specialization include agricultural and rural economics, rural development, livelihood transformation, poverty and income inequality, women's empowerment, and applied econometrics. His teaching experience encompasses microeconomic theory, development economics, statistics, mathematical economics, econometrics, and research methodology. His research focuses on understanding socioeconomic challenges, rural livelihoods, agricultural productivity, economic efficiency, and inclusive development in Bangladesh. He has conducted and contributed to several university-funded and externally supported research projects, including a World Bank-supported initiative on rural economic infrastructure. His scholarly contributions include publications in national and international academic journals. In addition to his teaching and research activities, he has held various academic leadership and administrative responsibilities, including serving as Chairman of the Department of Economics. He is also involved in institutional research development, technology transfer, research commercialization, and international academic collaboration. He is committed to advancing quality higher education, promoting evidence-based research, strengthening institutional research capacity, and contributing to sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development.

Rural development and rural transformation Poverty, income inequality, and livelihoods Gender, women's empowerment, and asset ownership Agricultural economics and efficiency analysis Applied econometrics and development policy

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=DLabKp0AAAAJ

Aim:
The objective of this study is to evaluate the technical efficiency of jute farmers in Bangladesh and to examine their socioeconomic challenges by developing a Farmers’ Narrative Index (FNI) that links production efficiency with farmers’ experiences.

Material and methods:
A quantitative field survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire informed by a literature review and reconnaissance survey. During March and April 2024, data were collected from 150 active jute farmers selected through convenience sampling across six upazilas in the Kushtia district, a central jute-producing region. Farmers were categorized by farm size. Technical efficiency was assessed using the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method. The FNI was developed to evaluate socioeconomic challenges and identify disparities using district-level survey data.

Results:
The SFA results indicate that jute farmers exhibit a high average technical efficiency of 89%, reflecting nearly optimal utilization of existing technology. Fertilizer and irrigation significantly increased output, whereas higher seed costs were associated with reduced productivity. The FNI identified key regional disparities, highlighting primary challenges such as low market prices, water scarcity, and financial constraints. Favorable conditions, including good weather and NGO support, were also identified as factors enhancing yields.

Conclusions:
The findings show that although jute farmers are technically efficient, their productivity is heavily limited by socioeconomic barriers. Consequently, policies that focus on input affordability, irrigation infrastructure, and market mechanisms are crucial. The FNI provides policymakers with a practical tool to identify vulnerable regions and customize support programs effectively, ultimately improving the sustainability and productivity of jute farming in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is predominantly an agro-based economy where the rural economy is the linchpin of her development. Rural market i.e., rural growth centres serve as a hub of the rural economy. This study assessed the challenges and opportunities of growth centres in Bangladesh from the perspective of rural development. Twelve rural growth centres were randomly selected from the six Upazilas of Kushtia district of Bangladesh, and information was gathered from various stakeholders of those rural growth centres via a survey questionnaire. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with buyers and sellers as well as Key Informants Interviews (KIIs) with market committee members and chairman/members of the pertinent locality were held for this purpose. An indicator-based assessment technique developed to elucidate the connection between the growth centres and rural development. Furthermore, a Priority Index (PI) also utilized to rank the need for further investment in growth centres. The findings unveil that storage, loading/unloading facilities, and a women's toilet arrangement were essentially non-existent in the studied regions. Furthermore, the state of the connecting roadways from the farm to the market is unsuitable for market vendors. Finally, indicator-based assessment signifies that rural development elements are profoundly impacted by the growth centre. The policy implication is that, after acknowledging the real scenario of growth centres, we should rethink and rearrange investment policies from the standpoint of rural development.

The handloom textile industry is a significant source of income and employment for many rural workers in Bangladesh. However, it faces though competition from power loom textile industries, resulting in wage discrimination and decreased profit margins. This study aims to measure the technical efficiency of the handloom textile industry in handloom rich areas of Bangladesh. This study used multistage sampling techniques to collect data from 50 handloom textile industries in the Sirajganj district. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) technique was used to assess technical inefficiency and production efficiency. In contrast, the Benefit-Cost Ratio was used to determine the profit margin for handloom textile industries. The findings indicate that the sample's technical efficiency ranges from 38 to 100 percent, with a mean value of 79 percent. The SFA regression model also indicates that 66 percent of handloom industries have a 0.75-1.00 efficiency score. The Benefit-Cost Ratio analysis shows that handloom products are not highly profitable. The study also identified several factors affecting production efficiency, including high prices of colors and fabrics, lower adaption of technical knowledge, and obstacles to access to credit. The government should address these issues to ensure favorable textile production in the area.

The aim of the study is to examine the effect of behavioral biases on stock market investors’ decision making in Dhaka Stock Exchange. We focused on three well-documented biases ie, disposition effect, herd behaviour and gambler’s fallacy. In this study we utilized primary data which were collected through our survey questionnaire. Based on these information, descriptive statistics were employed to construct different bias grades. We explored that women do not actively participate in security market as seen on interview time although women also invest in the security market, but most of the activities in the security market are carried out by men. It is also stimulating that seventy seven percent respondents are within the economic active age group, of 30-50 years which thus indicates a positive sign of the market. Moreover, the data reveals that the greater portion of our investors are bachelor graduate. In addition to that the most of the individual investors’ experience are within 3 to 10 years. After building bias grade of the above mentioned behavioral biases it can be settled that our participants are, on average, moderately affected by behavioral biases. And lastly, a hypothesis was inspected that the behavioral biases are more obvious for less experienced investors but our results support this hypothesis weakly. As we conceive that investors do not learn from experience and perform illogically in the stock market.

The study analyzed the major determinants of inflation in Bangladesh using data for the period from 1978 to 2010. The study employed Johansen-Juselius cointegration methodology to test for the existence of a long run relationship between the variables. The cointegrating regression considers only the long-run property of the model, and does not deal with the short-run dynamics explicitly. For this, the error correction from the long run determinants of inflation is then used as a dynamic model to estimate the short run determinants of inflation. The study concluded that the GDP, broad money, government expenditure and import have a positive effect on the inflation in long run. On the other hand, government revenue and export have a negative effect. The government expenditure coefficient is 0.466 and the money supply coefficient is 0.337, implying a one percent increase in government expenditure and one percent increase in money supply elicit 0.466% and 0.337% increase in inflation respectively. In the short-run money supply has been found to be major factor influencing inflation in the country.

The impact of economic globalization on macroeconomic variables has become an issue of significant academic interest. From one point of view, economic globalization is considered to promote economic growth and social stability, while from an alternate viewpoint, it is blamed for growing income inequality which in turn increases economic and social instability and hinders economic growth. Income inequality has become an important issue for Bangladesh’s economic development in recent years. This study investigates economic globalization as characterized by international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, foreign aid and remittance inflows to show their impact on income inequality in Bangladesh. The study employs PhillipsOuliaris Cointegration Test to identify the existence of a long run relationship between the variables. After the application of FMOLS regression analysis, the empirical results show that not all the globalizing factors show unidirectional effect on income inequality in Bangladesh. Increase in foreign trade increases inequality, but increase in FDI and remittance inflow reduces it. Some possible policy choices are also proposed to deal with this issue of income inequality.

This paper focuses on the long-run relationship and causality between government expenditure in education and economic growth in Bangladesh for the period 1973 to 2009 through the application of Johansen Cointegration technique and Vector Error Correction Methodology and causality is tested through Granger Causality approach. The Johansen Cointegration result establishes a long run relationship between education and economic growth. With regard to the Granger causality relationship, the result confirms the unidirectional causality running from GDP to education expenditure. On the basis of the findings of the study, it is recommended that, if government policy is going to substantially increase growth, then investing in education is one of the pro-growth policies for promoting economic growth.

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Macroeconomic Policy Making

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Mithila Tanzil completed MSS and BSS in Economics from the Islamic University, Kushtia. Currently serving as an academician and focused on exploring the knowledge and experiences through true professionalism. Highly self-motivated to pursue quality education and capable to manage the classroom with good communication skill. Strongly passionate about teaching as well as learning and enormously has the desire to amplify the society through this noble profession.

Development Economics, Economic History & Theories, Women Empowerment, Environmental Economics, International Economics, Growth & Sustainability, Climate Change, Green Economics, Inequality & Poverty.

Md. Humaun Kabir is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Islamic University, Kushtia. My research focuses on monetary policy, inflation, rural development, solar energy, community health, and outcome-based education. I use econometric models and work with both primary and secondary data. I have published in national and international journals and am active on research for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Macroeconomics, Development Economics, Financial Economics, Banking, Energy Economics, and Health Economics.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Md-Kabir-199?ev=hdr_xprf

xk4JgBYAAAAJ

Md. Ariful Islam is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, Islamic University, Bangladesh. He earned his Ph.D. Degree in Economics from the School of Economics, Finance & Banking, Universiti Utara Malaysia (AACSB accredited). His Ph.D. thesis specialized in the economic valuation of watershed restoration using CVM techniques. His interest covers the valuation of natural resources, watershed management & modeling, tourism economics, and health economics.

Natural Resource Valuation, Watershed Management & Modeling, Tourism Economics, and Health Economics

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Md-Islam-1993?ev=hdr_xprf

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=bNszKBgAAAAJ

By integrating speech act and conservation of resources (COR) theories, the link between motivating language (ML) and commitment to quality customer service (CQCS) was tested. Furthermore, work engagement was introduced as a mediator and employee resilience as a moderator. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyze the data collected from 424 employees in the hotel industry in Thailand. ML has direct and indirect effects on CQCS via employee work engagement. Employee resilience moderates the relationship between ML, work engagement, and CQCS. Overall, the findings indicate the use of ML, employee resilience, and engaged employees to generate CQCS in the hotel industry in Thailand. The study's novelty is that it provides greater insight into how ML, employee resilience, and engaged employees affect quality customer service in the hotel industry in Thailand. The findings contribute to COR and speech act theories by examining the direct outcomes of ML, i.e., CQCS, and how ML is more effective when employee resilience is a boundary condition. Practical and theoretical implications are described.

Corporate organizations are experiencing the challenges of understanding the factor that has significant and positive relationship on their performance. The aim of this study is to determine the role of effective leadership style on organizational performance. The aim of the findings of this study focuses on a significant and positive relationship between appropriate leadership style and organizational performance. The development of this extensive literature review, suggestions and conceptualization would be helpful for researchers while they aim for further empirical investigation of job engagement and organizational performance.

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