This study is based on how rural poor Muslim women in Bangladesh have become the target of both international donor agencies and of Islamic preachers. In Bangladesh, religion and politics are not viewed separately, nor are they subsumed under the other. This thesis focuses on how Islam is currently being practiced by Islamic groups and attempts to analyse the socio-political conflicts between Islamic views and empowerment opportunities provided by NGOs in rural Bangladesh. Widely speaking, the secondary focus here is the hegemonic model of development espoused by multinational and local NGOs that offer poor rural women employment, and the opposing approaches offered by the main Islamist political party. In addition this study discusses the targeted women‘s capability of identifying the best option among the contested approaches offered by those dominant groups.

Social forestry is a participatory approach to managing forest resources that attempts to reconcile a range of ecological, commercial and social objectives. Its emergence in the last decade signals a recognition of the failure of development programmes imposed by government directive and of the need for forests to support increasingly impoverished local populations while supplying timber for international markets. Social forestry in Bangladesh has been planned and implemented through the combined efforts of the Bangladeshi government, international aid donors, especially the Asian Development Bank, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The weight of development organizations in this coalition led to an explicit commitment to recognizing the role of women in such projects, both as the target group most dependent on forest resources for domestic needs and, for that same reason, as the group most knowledgeable about the forest's capacity for meeting local needs. / All the components of Social Forestry Programs were examined in two different villages. One village, Shakipur, is close to the local administrative center, while the other, Barsharchala, is more isolated. In both cases, the government had alienated itself from the local population through an aggressive approach to land appropriation. It therefore entrusted popular mobilization and credit distribution to Proshika, a national NGO. Four major conclusions emerge from this research: (1) benefits to women and other target groups have been marginal at best; (2) development planning treats village populations as largely homogenous, ignoring the existence of entrenched power holders who are able to capture the benefits of these programmes; (3) planners also ignore the specificity of local patterns of land ownership, a key factor in the success of participatory projects; and (4) "bottom up" development is in danger of failing because many areas lack a capacity for spontaneous popular mobilization.

<p>The overall objectives of this thesis were to assess the theory and evaluate the development roles of MFIs in Uganda and Bangladesh. The study in particular focussed on MFIs impact on poverty reduction, empowering women, promoting health, as well as promoting children's education in Uganda and Bangladesh. The study preferred the selected countries because Bangladesh is internationally considered as the best practice for microfinance, whilst Uganda is assumed to be well-positioned in terms of microfinance as compared to other developing countries in Africa. The question that guided this empirical investigation was whether MFIs empower women, reduce poverrty, promote children's education as well as health among its beneficiaries in Uganda and whether Bangladesh has important lessons of experience for Uganda.</p>

The purpose of this study is to examine what factors have been affecting the implementation of IFRSs in Bangladesh from 1998 to 2010. The study seeks to answer these specific research questions: (1) What is the relative impact of accounting regulatory frameworks and politico-institutional factors on the implementation of IFRSs in Bangladesh?; 2(a): How do (i) training opportunities in the accounting profession and (ii) the state of corruption, as outcomes of culture in Bangladesh, affect the implementation of IFRSs?; 2(b): What other country specific factors are affecting implementation of IFRSs?; (3) How does a study of implementing IFRSs help to build an understanding of a theory of the role of the state in accounting change in a developing country such as Bangladesh? This study adopts a mixed methodology in which interviews over two years (2010-2011) are conducted and documentary analyses of IFRSs-related enforcement documents (1998-2010) are evaluated to identify the possible obstacles for implementing IFRSs in Bangladesh. In relation to RQ-1, the study finds that politico-institutional factors are stronger and more dominant factors than accounting regulatory frameworks for impeding IFRSs implementation in Bangladesh. A lack of co-operation among the institutional bodies has existed in both democratic and military-backed government eras (the military-backed government ruled for 19 years out of 40 years of independence in Bangladesh). However, the military-backed government was effective compared to the democratic government in terms of taking action against companies identified as being corrupt. There is evidence of ‘blaming culture’ with the state institutions and the professional bodies blaming each other regarding the IFRSs implementation process. With respect to RQ-2(a), deficiencies in the training opportunities in accounting profession and high levels of corruption are inhibiting IFRSs implementation. Interviewees comment that professional curricula contain limited content on IFRSs and there are limited training opportunities for accountants in the majority of companies. Looser enforcement of the laws is found during the periods of democratic government. However, the levels of corruption were lower during the military-backed government. Regarding RQ-2(b), some country specific factors are also identified in this study: a lack of qualified accountants; a lack of interest in IFRSs by managers of some companies; a culture of secrecy; and higher costs of IFRSs compliance with lower benefits for small companies. In terms of RQ-3, this study contributes to IFRSs implementation as an example of accounting change in a developing country by applying a Weberian view of the theory of the role of the state. Additionally, this study considers the state-society relationship employing institutional dynamics (Dillard et al., 2004). In particular, outcomes of accounting change in Bangladesh are observed from state and individual organisation levels. However, the influence of the organisation field level is unknown in this research because industry lobbying groups were not interviewed. Since the role of the state is vague in prior accounting research, this study discusses roles of the state (i.e. the state approves experts to write rules; it consults with various stakeholders; it enforces outcomes; it is accountable to its citizens; and it engages with donor agencies) in a developing country’s experience during the process of accounting change. Extending Weber’s (1958)[1904], (1968)[1922] argument on state-society, the study finds that for a state in an era of democratic government, politico-institutional factors and corruption (as an indication of societal values) may be more important and concentrated factors than for a state under a military-backed government in terms of impeding IFRSs implementation. The study reveals that all roles of the state have negative influences on accounting change. However, interviewees’ initial concerns about the roles of donor agencies are transformed into concerns about the democratic government’s failure to implement IFRSs. The implications of the study are relevant to policy makers, practitioners and users of financial information. Although the study is based on Bangladesh, the results of the study are expected to be relevant to other developing countries experiencing similar phases of IFRSs implementation.

A new phase of higher education in Bangladesh begun in the 1990s in which a remarkable transformation took place in the higher education system, largely based on market-driven economic forces. The government promulgated the Private University Act in 1992, which has been recently repealed in order to enact the new Private University Act 2010. It formulated a twenty-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education 2006-2026 (SPHE) in 2006. Consequently economic as well as political goals became drivers of the higher education system. This transformation informs a set of changes in the higher education sector. Often higher education institutions rely on private investment and the education they offer is shaped in line with the demands of global markets. This thesis explores the degree to which neoliberalism is a prominent feature of the higher education sector in Bangladesh, and the perception of key stakeholders about the influence of hegemonic neoliberal policy on their academic goals. This research is analytic and qualitative in nature. The overall approach is one of critical analysis, applying what is discussed in the international literature about neolibralisism to the higher education sector in Bangladesh. In the first instance I analysed documents from policy makers, commentators and news reporters in Bangladesh and related these to concepts in the internationals discussion of monetarism, global market economy and neolibralism. I then turned to a range of key participants in the sector itself and sought their perceptions through interview in order to fill out the initial document analysis and to ground this discussion in the experiences and understandings of people involved in the sector. The data from these interviews is accompanied by an analysis of further documents relating to the participants’ specific workplaces and once again aligned to the international discourse. The views of participants were sought through interview. A total of twenty-one participants were interviewed under six categories: the University Grant Commission (UGC) and government officials, owners of private universities, politicians and student activists, public and private university authorities and faculty members, education expert and sociologists, and public and private university students. In addition, I searched and analysed a range of documents as further tools for examining the context of the neoliberal agenda within higher education. The findings are structured into four subsections: neoliberal hegemony and ideological transformation of higher education, neoliberalism and knowledge-based economy, neoliberalism in the higher education sector and its structural consequences, and neoliberalism and resistance. The findings suggested that the neoliberal shift in the higher education sector in Bangladesh explicitly changes the overall socio-cultural, political and economical patterns of society. Not only are philosophical and pedagogical aspects of higher education changed through neoliberal policy agenda, but higher education also becomes a most expensive commodity in contemporary Bangladesh. Private universities have evolved with an underlying notion of privatisation of higher education, and the process of marketisation of higher education leads to a vocationalisation of higher education. The notion of 'academic entrepreneur' contributes to the development of discriminatory attitudes between students, and between teachers. Profit motivated higher education is adversely impacting on the critical insight of the young generation. The neoliberal policy shift within higher education sector is also leading to large-scale violence in higher education institutions.

<p>The overall objectives of this thesis were to assess the theory and evaluate the development roles of MFIs in Uganda and Bangladesh. The study in particular focussed on MFIs impact on poverty reduction, empowering women, promoting health, as well as promoting children's education in Uganda and Bangladesh. The study preferred the selected countries because Bangladesh is internationally considered as the best practice for microfinance, whilst Uganda is assumed to be well-positioned in terms of microfinance as compared to other developing countries in Africa. The question that guided this empirical investigation was whether MFIs empower women, reduce poverrty, promote children's education as well as health among its beneficiaries in Uganda and whether Bangladesh has important lessons of experience for Uganda.</p>

This research attempts to fill in some specific gaps in the area of economic valuation of non-market goods and services with respect to development projects, and the integration of those values in the policy decision-making process. The concept and theory of non-market valuation and project appraisal are examined. In a developing country context, the conventional contingent valuation method is extended to include respondents’ contribution in terms of time, irrespective of their decision to contribute money. This extension of the conventional contingent valuation method allows the inclusion of economic activities that are non-monetized and transactions in the form of ‘barter exchange’, which are typical for developing countries such as Bangladesh. The values generated by this new approach are integrated into an extended cost-benefit analysis, which reveals that the cleanup of dying rivers is not only an environmental imperative, but is also socially and economically justifiable. Apart from the theoretical investigation, another important dimension of this research is to contribute to the policy decision-making process with regard to public sector investment in developing countries. The Buriganga River, which passes through Dhaka City, the capital of Bangladesh, has been selected as the case study for this research. Although considered to be the lifeline of the capital, the city part of the Buriganga River has become biologically and hydrologically dead because of the indiscriminate dumping of domestic and industrial wastes, encroachment by unscrupulous people, and negligence on the part of the authority to enforce rules and regulations pertaining to the ecological health of the river. A cleanup programme has been designed for the Buriganga River to restore its water quality and develop new facilities in and around the river. This hypothetical cleanup programme is used: (i) to estimate the non-market benefits of an environmentally healthy waterway; (ii) to measure the total benefits; and (iii) to examine the desirability of public funding for the cleanup programme. An extended contingent valuation (ECV) survey of 400 households was carried out in Dhaka City in 2001. It reveals that not only are a significant proportion of the respondents willing to contribute direct cash for the environmental improvement of the river, they are also willing to contribute their time. When the contribution in terms of time is monetized, it is estimated to represent about 60 percent of the total contribution (the remaining 40 percent being cash payment). The total non-market benefits from the Buriganga River cleanup programme are estimated at Tk 388 million (US$ 6.80 million) in the first year, rising to Tk 1805 million (US$ 31.66 million) by the 10th year of the programme. The public decision making process in Bangladesh does not consider such benefits. Failures to do so lead to gross under-estimation of the potential for, and contribution of, undertaking environmental improvement activities. The total benefits of the cleanup programme are estimated within the framework of total economic value: the non-market benefits are estimated using the ECV survey inputs, and the market benefits are measured using secondary information, market methods and a benefit transfer approach. The cost estimate of the cleanup programme is made using market and secondary information with appropriate adjustments. The extended cost-benefit analysis (ECBA), which integrates the non-market benefits of the cleanup programme, shows that such public funding is worth undertaking. The study also reveals that a significant portion (68 percent) of this investable funding can be generated from the community. The need for a cleanup programme of the Buriganga River is not an isolated case in Bangladesh. Many rivers in that country, and also throughout the developed and developing world are under threat of becoming biologically and hydrologically dead. This study provides a framework for addressing such environmental problems. It demonstrates that the ECV survey is a useful tool in estimating economic values of resources even in extremely poor economies. The modification of the contingent valuation method takes into account the local context, including cultural, economic, social and political settings. The extended cost-benefit analysis, which integrates better resource values could provide important information for the policy decision-making process. This is particularly useful for countries where the democratic system is not fully developed and there is limited experience in integrating the environment into the decision making.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1941. / Typescript. Includes abstract and vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 442-458).

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The thesis aims to reconstruct the Holocene sea-level history in Bangladesh. Detailed litho-, bio-, and chrono-stratigraphic techniques have been applied to elucidate the nature of sedimentary sequences in association with the events of the Holocene marine transgressions and regressions. Samples have been collected from two separate sites, one at Panigati near Khulna and another at Matuail near Dhaka. The study shows evidence of five periods of marine transgression, each followed by a regression, during the Holocene. Each minerogenic sediment layer indicates a marine episode and these sediments were deposited under intertidal to estuarine conditions; each peat layer is in situ and indicates a retreat of the sea. It is difficult to separate the eustatic components contributing to these relative sea-level movements, although processes operating locally and regionally are clearly evident. Two separate sea-level curves, together with possible error ranges, have been proposed for Bangladesh; since the early mid-Holocene, an average relative sea-level rise of 1.07 mm. yr -1 has been estimated. The reconstructed sea-level curves show that during the early and mid-Holocene both sedimentation and subsidence rates were much lower than during the last millennium. Differential spatio-temporal progradation and coastline movements have also been evident. The Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers have provided a continuous sediment supply but their convergence is only of recent origin. A possible hypothesis of two separate estuarine systems for these two rivers has been put forward.