Department Hosts Conference on Contemporary Economic Development in Bangladesh

Submitted by Nicole Johns on
Assistant Professor Rachel Heath
Assistant Professor Rachel Heath

Earlier this month, the Department of Economics co-hosted a conference on the economic development of Bangladesh in conjunction with the South Asia Center in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Assistant Professor Rachel Heath and Professor Fahad Khalil organized the conference. 

The talks focused on a variety of contemporary issues in Bangladesh development, such as the potential for conditional cash transfer to mitigate poverty in the long run, the relationship between formal and informal sources of finance, and the relationship between women's autonomy and labor force participation. 

The conference featured talks from Tania Barham (University of Colorado at Boulder), Willa Friedman (the University of Houston and the Center for Global Development), and Cynthia Kinnan (Northwestern), as well as several local speakers.

Dr. Shamma Alam, who completed his PhD this spring at UW and will start as assistant professor of economics at Dickinson College this fall, presented his research "Seasonal Variation in Microloan Repayment: Evidence from Bangladesh." His dissertation is "Three Essays in Development and Health Economics."

Heath, a specialist in development and labor economics, presented her research "Intrahousehold Bargaining, Female Autonomy, and Labor Supply: Theory and Evidence from India." Dr. Heath also addressed the topic of Bangladeshi economic development in her 2011 dissertation "Why Do Firms Hire Using Referrals? Evidence from Bangladeshi Garment Factories," and continues to conduct research in areas such as labor market opportunity and property rights.  

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