Md. Shahidul Islam

Bio: Md. Shahidul Islam is an academic researcher from University of Dhaka. The author has contributed to research in topics: Social capital & Family planning. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 16 publications receiving 113 citations. Previous affiliations of Md. Shahidul Islam include Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.

Inter-Spousal Communication on Family Planning and Its Effect on Contraceptive Use and Method Choice in Bangladesh

Abstract: Inter-spousal communication is largely influenced to couples on contraceptive use and the decision of appropriate method choice. This paper examined the effects of inter-spousal communication on contraceptive use and method choice in Bangladesh. A total 451 married men aged 15-49 were interviewed from Narsingdi municipality, Bangladesh. Bivariate analysis as chi square test was applied to examine the relationship between spousal communication as well as other socio-demographic variables on contraceptive use. Binary logistic regression was applied to examine the effect of spousal communication on contraceptive use and multinomial logistic regression was applied to examine the effect of spousal communication on method choice. Binary logistic regression showed that inter spousal communication on family planning has strong positive effect on current contraceptive use and multinomial logistic regression showed that inter spousal communication has positive effect on choosing modern and tradition method than none using any method. However, age of husband, age of women, number of living children, media exposure, knowledge on contraception, husband and women occupation, and couple’s income were also associated with contraceptive use and method choice in Bangladesh.

Green Industry in Bangladesh: An Overview

Abstract: Green industry initiative is a major driver towards sustainable industrial development around the world Bangladesh economy has been targeting a middle-income status by 2021, and for such development to occur , a sustainable development is required, for which a green industry is one of the major drivers This paper presents an overview of the current scenario of the initiatives taken for a green industry and tries to examine the social economic and environment benefit This paper also discusses major prerequisites of green buildings as location and transportation, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation, regional priority Apart from these, other opportunities are also discussed in this paper Bangladesh Government and Bangladesh Bank are also adopting some policies for this development Finally, some policy suggestions towards an efficient green financing policy for the better nourishment of green industries are provided in this paper

Does social capital reduce poverty? A cross-sectional study of rural household in Bangladesh

Abstract: Social capital accrues to numerous positive socioeconomic outcomes, especially poverty reduction in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between social capital and poverty reduction with special reference to Bangladesh.,A cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural setting of north-eastern Bangladesh, where primary data were collected from 310 households. Exploratory factor analysis was pursued to extract multiple dimensions of social capital. Afterward, multivariate binary logistic regression model was applied to measure the association between social capital dimensions and poverty. In this model, odds ratios were used to present the regression coefficients.,The study confirms that social network, norms of reciprocity, social trust and civic participation were associated with poverty. The logistic regression reveals that social trust, social networks, norms of reciprocity and civic participation are negatively associated with poverty by OR=0.488, 95% CI=0.377–0.633; OR=0.709, 95% CI=0.542–0.927; OR=0.619, 95% CI=0.473–0.812; and OR=0.783, 95% CI=0.598–1.025 units.,This study has a significant policy implication related to reducing entrenched poverty in Bangladesh as social capital has a potential to bring about a concomitant improvement in the condition of the poor.

Urbanization and Environmental Problem: An Empirical Study In Sylhet City,Bangladesh

Abstract: Urbanization is a growing phenomenon in Bangladesh. This paper examined the consequence of unplanned urbanization on environment in Sylhet City Corporation in Bangladesh (SCC). A cross sectional study was conducted in Sylhet city and social survey and FGD method were applied to collect the primary data from the respondents. This study showed that rapid urbanization have created social, economic, environmental and cultural problem. The urbanization has different environmental impacts such as water supply problem, solid waste management, disposing waste system, water logging problem, traffic congestion and sound pollution. Among the negative social consequences of urbanization, increasing incidence of crime and traditional family function and relation has been changed. Urbanization has created extreme pressure on housing, unemployment, infrastructure problems and urban services like education, health, transportation, water, sanitation, electricity, fuel, garbage clearance, recreation etc. To resolve the effect of urbanization, the citizens should be conscious as well as government should take proper initiatives and policy. Keywords : Urbanization, Environmental Problems, Social Problems, Cultural Problems, Bangladesh

The Role of Microcredit Program on Women Empowerment: Empirical Evidence from Rural Bangladesh

Abstract: The empowerment of women is the burning issues in developing countries. This study examined the impact of micro-credit on the empowerment of rural women in Bangladesh. A total of 120 respondents were selected as sample using stratified random sampling technique on Tuker bazar Union Parishad under Sylhet Sadar Upazilla in Sylhet district, Bangladesh and data was collected through face to face interview by using survey method. The women empowerment was measured by five dimensions .These dimension were (1) economic decision making, (2) household decision making,(3) freedom of physical movement, (4) ownership of property,(5) political and social awareness. OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) regression was applied to understand the effects of microcredit program on each dimension of women empowerment and aggregate women empowerment. The results showed that microcredit program was positively associated with each dimension of women empowerment as well as aggregate measure of Empowerment. So, this study reveals that microcredit program improves the women empowerment in Bangladesh. Keywords: Microcredit, Empowerment, Effects, Rural Women, Bangladesh.

Micro-credit initiatives for equitable and sustainable development : who pays?; a case study of the Grameen Bank Program in rural Bangladesh

Abstract: Abstract There is a growing acknowledgement that micro-credit programs have potential for equitable and sustainable development. However, my anthropological research on the micro-credit program of the Grameen Bank shows that bank workers are expected to increase disbursement of loans among their members and press for high recovery rates to earn profit necessary for economic viability of the institution. To ensure timely repayment in the loan centers bank workers and borrowing peers inflict an intense pressure on women clients. In the study community many borrowers maintain their regular payment schedules through a process of loan recycling that considerably increases the debt-liability on the individual households, increases tension and frustration among household members, produces new forms of dominance over women and increases violence in society.

The impact of green entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and green supply chain management practices on sustainable firm performance

Abstract: This study attempts to examine the impact of green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) and market orientation (MO) on the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and subseque...

Impact of Strategic Orientations on the Implementation of Green Supply Chain Management Practices and Sustainable Firm Performance

Abstract: Ensuring sustainability through green supply chain management practices has become challenging for the textiles and garments industry. Organizations need to examine the factors of the firm’s sustainability performance and how to manage them strategically. Hence, the strategic organizational orientation can be the best approach for implementing green supply chain management (GSCM) practices to improve firm sustainability performance. This study aims to assess the impact of strategic orientation in three dimensions, such as green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO), market orientation (MO), and knowledge management orientation (KMO) on the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and the subsequently sustainable firm performance. Data were gathered from an extensive scale survey of 266 respondents of textile manufacturing firms in Bangladesh. Data were analyzed in the structural equation model (SEM) with partial least squares techniques to justify the proposed hypotheses. The results reveal that GEO and MO have a significant positive effect on GSCM practices, affecting sustainable firm performance. Surprisingly, KMO does not have a positive impact on GSCM practices. Further, this study reveals that GSCM practices partially mediate the relationship between GEO and sustainable firm performance while MO and KMO partially mediate the relationship between GEO and GSCM practices. Overall, findings help textiles firm management comprehensively understand the implementation strategies of GSCM practices in operations and reconfigure accordingly in the competitive business environment while improving firm performances. This study is the first to investigate the effect of strategic orientation on GSCM practices implementation in the textiles industry from the context of an upstream operation with a comprehensive understanding of the factors while reducing environmental impact.

Foreign Direct Investments, Renewable Electricity Output, and Ecological Footprints: Do Financial Globalization Facilitate Renewable Energy Transition and Environmental Welfare in Bangladesh?

Abstract: Phasing out fossil fuel dependency to adopt renewable energy technologies is pertinent for both ensuring energy security and for safeguarding the well-being of the environment. However, financial constraints often restrict the developing countries, in particular, from undergoing the renewable energy transition that is necessary for easing the environmental hardships. Against this background, this study makes a novel attempt to evaluate the impacts of FDI inflows on enhancing renewable energy use and attaining environmental sustainability in Bangladesh between 1972 and 2015. Using the autoregressive distributed lags with structural break approach to estimate the short- and long-run elasticities, it is found that FDI inflows enhance the share of renewable electricity output in the total electricity output levels of the country. Besides, FDI inflows are also evidenced to directly hamper environmental quality by boosting the ecological footprints figures of Bangladesh. Hence, it can be said that FDI promotes renewable electricity generation in Bangladesh but transforms the nation into a pollution haven. However, although FDI inflows cannot directly reduce the ecological footprints, a joint ecological footprint mitigation impact of FDI inflows and renewable electricity generation is evidenced. Besides, the findings also verify the authenticity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in Bangladesh’s context. Therefore, economic growth can be referred to as being both the cause and the panacea to the environmental problems faced by Bangladesh. These results, in a nutshell, calls for effective measures to be undertaken for attracting the relatively cleaner FDI in Bangladesh whereby the objectives of renewable energy transition and environmental sustainability can be achieved in tandem. In line with these findings, several appropriate financial globalization policies are recommended.

Identifying factors influencing contraceptive use in Bangladesh: evidence from BDHS 2014 data.

Abstract: Birth control is the conscious control of the birth rate by methods which temporarily prevent conception by interfering with the normal process of ovulation, fertilization, and implantation High contraceptive prevalence rate is always expected for controlling births for those countries that are experiencing high population growth rate The factors that influence contraceptive prevalence are also important to know for policy implication purposes in Bangladesh This study aims to explore the socio-economic, demographic and others key factors that influence the use of contraception in Bangladesh The contraception data are extracted from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) data which were collected by using a two stage stratified random sampling technique that is a source of nested variability The nested sources of variability must be incorporated in the model using random effects in order to model the actual parameter effects on contraceptive prevalence A mixed effect logistic regression model has been implemented for the binary contraceptive data, where parameters are estimated through generalized estimating equation by assuming exchangeable correlation structure to explore and identify the factors that truly affect the use of contraception in Bangladesh The prevalence of contraception use by currently married 15–49 years aged women or their husbands is 624% Our study finds that administrative division, place of residence, religion, number of household members, woman’s age, occupation, body mass index, breastfeeding practice, husband’s education, wish for children, living status with wife, sexual activity in past year, women amenorrheic status, abstaining status, number of children born in last five years and total children ever died were significantly associated with contraception use in Bangladesh The odds of women experiencing the outcome of interest are not independent due to the nested structure of the data As a result, a mixed effect model is implemented for the binary variable ‘contraceptive use’ to produce true estimates for the significant determinants of contraceptive use in Bangladesh Knowing such true estimates is important for attaining future goals including increasing contraception use from 62 to 75% by 2020 by the Bangladesh government’s Health, Population & Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP)