Long read: Cities and climate change – improving liveability through impactful research in two cities in South Asia

Solid Waste Management affects each and every individual on the planet. This is of particular relevance in the developing world where increasing population, urbanisation and lack of resources very often make city life unclean, unhealthy and hazardous. Climate change has exacerbated these issues. On the occasion of Earth Day, Mani Nepal and A.K. Enamul Haque discuss the findings of their study, in two cities of Nepal and Bangladesh, that successfully identified the main challenges faced by city administrations in tackling the issue, and impacted on the policies adopted

Public Policy Lessons from the Covid-19 Outbreak: How to Deal with it in the Post-Pandemic World?

Using cumulative confirmed cases of Covid-19 covering 163 countries, this paper tests several hypotheses that have received extensive attention in the popular media and academic research during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to identify lessons for designing better public health policies in the post-pandemic era based on the past 6 months’ experiences of these 163 countries. Based on 2SLS regression, we derive the following lessons. First, providing universal health care is a significant public health strategy for countries to help deal with similar outbreaks in the future. Second, tackling air pollution is a win–win solution, not only for better preparedness against Covid-19 or other airborne diseases, but also for the environment and climate change. Third, lockdowns may help to reduce community spread but its impact on reducing Covid-19 incidence is not statistically significant. Similarly, antimalarial drugs have no significant effect on reducing the spread of the disease. Fourth, countries should encourage home-based work as much as possible until some treatment or cure is found for the virus. Fifth, the lessons of past SARS experience helped contain the spread of the infection in East Asian countries; other countries must adjust their social and cultural life to the new normal: wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping a distance from others in public places

Public Policy Lessons from the Covid-19 Outbreak: How to Deal with it in the Post-Pandemic World?

Using cumulative confirmed cases of Covid-19 covering 163 countries, this paper tests several hypotheses that have received extensive attention in the popular media and academic research during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to identify lessons for designing better public health policies in the post-pandemic era based on the past 6 months’ experiences of these 163 countries. Based on 2SLS regression, we derive the following lessons. First, providing universal health care is a significant public health strategy for countries to help deal with similar outbreaks in the future. Second, tackling air pollution is a win–win solution, not only for better preparedness against Covid-19 or other airborne diseases, but also for the environment and climate change. Third, lockdowns may help to reduce community spread but its impact on reducing Covid-19 incidence is not statistically significant. Similarly, antimalarial drugs have no significant effect on reducing the spread of the disease. Fourth, countries should encourage home-based work as much as possible until some treatment or cure is found for the virus. Fifth, the lessons of past SARS experience helped contain the spread of the infection in East Asian countries; other countries must adjust their social and cultural life to the new normal: wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping a distance from others in public places

Coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2-xSex (x = 0.5 and 1.0), a non-U material with Tc < TFM

We have carried out detailed magnetic and transport studies of the new Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2-xSex (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) superconductors derived by doping Se in Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2. Se–doping produces several effects: it suppresses semiconducting–like behavior observed in the undoped Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2, the ferromagnetic ordering temperature, TFM, decreases considerably from 7.5 K (in Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2) to 3.5 K and the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, gets enhanced slightly to 2.9–3.3 K. Thus in these Se–doped materials, TFM is marginally higher than Tc. Magnetization studies provide evidence of bulk superconductivity in Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2-xSex at x ≥ 0.5 in contrast to the undoped Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2 (x = 0) where magnetization measurements indicate a small superconducting volume fraction. Quite remarkably, as compared with the effective paramagnetic Ce–moment (~2.2 μB), the ferromagnetically ordered Ce–moment in the superconducting state is rather small (~0.1 μB) suggesting itinerant ferromagnetism. To the best of our knowledge, Sr0.5Ce0.5FBiS2-x Sex (x = 0.5 and 1.0) are distinctive Ce–based bulk superconducting itinerant ferromagnetic materials with Tc < TFM. Furthermore, a novel feature of these materials is that they exhibit a dual and quite unusual hysteresis loop corresponding to both the ferromagnetism and the coexisting bulk superconductivity

Assessing Synergy between Climate and Development Projects: Which One is More Effective, Efficient and Transparent?

This study was designed to understand whether projects funded through development window of finance in Bangladesh like the Annual Development Programme(ADP) is different or similar to that of climate window of finance like Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF). The BCCTF is managed primarily by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change whereas the ADP is managed by the Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Finance. It was, therefore, studied also to understand whether the new window of financing climate projects is more efficient, effective and sustainable. On the contrary, if they are both similar in nature then a pertinent question is whether there isa need to have separate windows?The study concludes that projects financed through the ADP windoware relatively (a) more effective to stakeholders and (b) better aligned to meet DAC criteria. As such, BCCTF projects may benefit from following the project implementation and monitoring process ofADP projects. Finally, since many ofADP projects have also climate components, there is also a need to carefully segregate climate activities of the development projects in order to access global climate funds

Do Students Perform Better in Online Delivery of Education? Evidence from Bangladesh

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced educational institutions in Bangladesh to adopt online technology for higher education in just a couple of months that, otherwise, would have taken years. This change creates a unique opportunity to examine student performance in online education. In this study, in addition to examining the effect of online education on student performance, we investigate if there is a systematic difference in grading. We use transcript-level academic records of Business and Economics students from one of the leading private universities in Bangladesh for pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. We use two-way fixed effects regression models to eliminate entity- and time-specific fixed effects that may bias our estimates. Student level grade points in online format are higher by about 0.208 (on a scale of 0 to 4). This increase in grade points in online format is driven by the poorly performing student. Course level estimates show that the average grade points increase by about 0.086 which comes from a narrower distribution. The reduction in variance in grade points may be the result of online collaboration among students, more lenient grading by the instructors due to the pandemic situation or because of using increased group activities for assessment. We also find the effect of online format on course level average grade points (AGP) decreases and the coefficient of variation (CV) increases as instructors gain experience indicating some learning effects

Quantifying the impact of Ramadan on global raw sugar prices

Each year during the month of Ramadan (Muslim fasting month) consumption of sugar increased dramatically across the globe as Muslims traditionally break their fast with some sweet drinks or products. Since Muslims use lunar calendar, the months are not fully aligned with the Gregorian calendar or with the seasonal calendar for agricultural crops. In this paper, we quantify the impact of Ramadan on both the price and its growth of global raw sugar price. To set the stage for the empirical work that follows, we employ a dummy and a fractional variable to capture Ramadan in order to overcome the asynchronicity of time between Ramadan fasting (which is based on Islamic lunar calendar) and movement in prices (which follows the Gregorian solar calendar). In order to capture seasonality of production in sugar production, data on sugar price spans over thirty-four years so that the Islamic calendar makes a complete cycle of the Gregorian calendar. Using ARIMA and UCM models, we find strong evidence that monthly raw sugar prices in the global market increases by roughly 6.06% (or $17.78 per metric ton) every year ahead of Ramadan

The Impact of Mobile Money on Long-Term Poverty: Evidence from Bangladesh

Mobile money has become a lifeline for millions of poor people who have limited access to a formal banking system. It encompasses a wide range of benefits such as women’s empowerment, risk sharing, improved labor market outcomes and reductions in poverty. In this paper, we ask whether mobile money can help lift people out of poverty. Previous studies have addressed this question by using microanalyses of field experiments or longitudinal data on rural households, whereas we use district-level data to reevaluate the mobile money–poverty nexus. In particular, we study the impact of mobile money on district-level poverty in Bangladesh over the period 2010–2016. Our study finds that every 1 billion Taka (approximately US$ 11.76 million) increase in mobile money transactions via the bKash system leads to a 0.48% reduction in the poverty rate in Bangladesh. The marginal impact ranges from 0.27 to 0.48 percentage points across five poverty quintiles, implying a reduction of poverty rates between 0.9 and 1.5 percentage points compared with the base poverty rate of 31.5% in 2010. The findings suggest that mobile money has been successful in fostering various poverty reduction initiatives and that targeted policy prescriptions can be devised to lift up poorer societies that are still outside the purview of mobile financial services. To further increase mobile money use, the government could use its own infrastructure to enhance mobile agent density in the poorest sectors of society

The Impact of Mobile Money on Long-Term Poverty: Evidence from Bangladesh

Mobile money has become a lifeline for millions of poor people who have limited access to a formal banking system. It encompasses a wide range of benefits such as women’s empowerment, risk sharing, improved labor market outcomes and reductions in poverty. In this paper, we ask whether mobile money can help lift people out of poverty. Previous studies have addressed this question by using microanalyses of field experiments or longitudinal data on rural households, whereas we use district-level data to reevaluate the mobile money–poverty nexus. In particular, we study the impact of mobile money on district-level poverty in Bangladesh over the period 2010–2016. Our study finds that every 1 billion Taka (approximately US$ 11.76 million) increase in mobile money transactions via the bKash system leads to a 0.48% reduction in the poverty rate in Bangladesh. The marginal impact ranges from 0.27 to 0.48 percentage points across five poverty quintiles, implying a reduction of poverty rates between 0.9 and 1.5 percentage points compared with the base poverty rate of 31.5% in 2010. The findings suggest that mobile money has been successful in fostering various poverty reduction initiatives and that targeted policy prescriptions can be devised to lift up poorer societies that are still outside the purview of mobile financial services. To further increase mobile money use, the government could use its own infrastructure to enhance mobile agent density in the poorest sectors of society

Quantifying the impact of Ramadan on global raw sugar prices

Each year during the month of Ramadan (Muslim fasting month) consumption of sugar increased dramatically across the globe as Muslims traditionally break their fast with some sweet drinks or products. Since Muslims use lunar calendar, the months are not fully aligned with the Gregorian calendar or with the seasonal calendar for agricultural crops. In this paper, we quantify the impact of Ramadan on both the price and its growth of global raw sugar price. To set the stage for the empirical work that follows, we employ a dummy and a fractional variable to capture Ramadan in order to overcome the asynchronicity of time between Ramadan fasting (which is based on Islamic lunar calendar) and movement in prices (which follows the Gregorian solar calendar). In order to capture seasonality of production in sugar production, data on sugar price spans over thirty-four years so that the Islamic calendar makes a complete cycle of the Gregorian calendar. Using ARIMA and UCM models, we find strong evidence that monthly raw sugar prices in the global market increases by roughly 6.06% (or $17.78 per metric ton) every year ahead of Ramadan