Publication:
Frontier Firms and Job Creation in Bangladesh

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (3.99 MB)
129 downloads
English Text (434.15 KB)
12 downloads
Date
2025-02-25
ISSN
Published
2025-02-25
Author(s)
Galal, Rami
Rossignol, Alice
Dexter, Gharam
Editor(s)
Abstract
Bangladesh has made notable developmental progress over the past two decades. Economic growth has been among the top 10 percent globally, and poverty has been reduced by 80 percent over the same period. Exports also saw a dramatic jump from US 6.5 billion dollars in 2000 to US 57.5 billion dollars in 2023. The private sector has played a critical role in this success, spurred by public policy that allowed the ready-made garments (RMG) sector to reach new heights. Bangladesh’s impending graduation from the United Nations’ least developed country (LDC) category in 2026 is a testament to these successes. The question is whether the country is now poised to continue this remarkable performance in the future under the current policy regime, especially in light of some disagreeable changes in the external environment and the emergence of new challenges at home. This report focuses on one of these challenges - namely, that of creating sufficient productive jobs through the private sector for a rapidly growing labor force.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Galal, Rami; Schiffbauer, Marc; Rossignol, Alice; Dexter, Gharam. 2025. Frontier Firms and Job Creation in Bangladesh. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42861 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Place-Based Preferential Policies and Firm Performance
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-21) Galal, Rami
    Economic zone programs are generally pursued to improve firms' performance within discrete areas by removing the constraints firms face. Whether or not they succeed in doing so is an empirical question. This paper capitalizes on a unique survey of firms within and outside zones in South Asia to assess the effects of zone programs on firms’ performance in exports, investment, employment, and productivity. Adopting a propensity score matching approach and district-level fixed effects, the paper explores four questions: whether zones support firm performance; whether the type of zone makes a difference, which kinds of public support services matter more, and whether firms inside zones grow faster. The results show that (i) being inside a zone positively affects foreign direct investment and employment, (ii) the effects across zone types are mixed, (iii) infrastructure and trade facilitation play a greater role in firm performance than fiscal incentives and governance facilities, and (iv) firms inside zones grow faster.
  • Publication
    Türkiye at the Frontier: Human Capital Utilization, Jobs and Equity - Technical Diagnostic
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-07) World Bank
    Türkiye’s early human capital foundations have paved the way for poverty reduction and labor force participation, today facing new multi-dimensional challenges. Türkiye’s investments have historically helped diversify and increase aggregate growth, propelling it to upper middle-income status. Yet relative to overall growth more recently, human capital utilization in terms of jobs has not necessarily kept pace. Over half the population remains either out of the labor force or employed in informal, relatively low-paying jobs, most of whom have been women. Economic vulnerabilities remain following the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID) and the 2023 earthquakes in southeastern Türkiye, compounded by long-term effects of global financial crises and regional conflicts since 2008. Helping vulnerable workers, largely comprising women, adapt to a changing labor market will be needed to sustain a broad, productive workforce for future broad-based growth. As Türkiye embarks on its forthcoming Twelfth Five-Year National Development Plan, a diagnostic of human capital and jobs programs and policies in terms of gender equity is timely for informing future needs. In addition, a review of Türkiye’s experience will equally help provide global knowledge for other countries facing similar challenges. This note aims to assess human capital utilization in terms of inclusive jobs and gender equity in Türkiye towards broadening economic resilience following shocks.
  • Publication
    ICT Use, Competitive Pressures and Firm Performance in Mexico
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) Pereira-Lopez, Mariana; Iacovone, Leonardo; Schiffbauer, Marc
    This paper presents a set of stylized facts on the relation between information and communications technology (ICT) use, firm performance, and competition. Taking advantage of a novel firm-level data set on information and communications technology for Mexico, the study finds that firms facing higher competition appear to have more incentives to increase their use of information and communications technology. Accordingly, although there is indeed a positive relation between information and communications technology use and firm performance, this effect is greater for firms that face higher competition pressures, which is consistent with the theoretical predictions of the trade-induced technical change hypothesis.
  • Publication
    Learning or Leaning
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03) Davies, Ronald B.; Lamla, Michael J.; Schiffbauer, Marc
    Using firm-level data for Jordan, the paper estimates the extent to which growth spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) to local firms stem from persistent learning externalities (i.e., they endure even after foreign investment leaves as knowledge has been transferred to local firms) or from transitory effects (e.g., demand increases that evaporate following disinvestment). The paper find that spillovers have a significant transitory nature, with employment and capital growth declining when FDI falls, particularly in downstream industries supplied by locals. This suggests that if FDI-attracting policies are intended to promote sustainable growth, it may be more effective to attract and retain FDI via long-term structural policies, for instance, through low corporate tax rates rather than temporary tax holidays or through policies that strengthen the domestic absorptive capacity and linkages between foreign and local firms.
  • Publication
    Pyramid Capitalism
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-07) Diwan, Ishac; Keefer, Philip; Schiffbauer, Marc
    This paper uses an original database of 469 politically connected firms under the Mubarak regime in Egypt to explore the economic effects of close state-business relations. Previous research has shown that political connections are lucrative. The paper addresses several questions raised by this research. Do connected firms receive favorable regulatory treatment? They do: connected firms are more likely to benefit from trade protection, energy subsidies, access to land, and regulatory enforcement. Does regulatory capture account for the high value of connected firms? In the sample, regulatory capture as revealed by energy subsidies and trade protection account for the higher profits of politically connected firms. Do politically connected firms hurt aggregate growth? The paper identifies the growth effects of the entry of politically connected firms by comparing detailed 4-digit sectors where they entered, between 1996 and 2006, and sectors that remained unconnected. The entry of connected firms into new, modern, and previously unconnected sectors slows aggregate employment growth and skews the distribution of employment toward less productive, smaller firms.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    South Africa Policy Package, Priority 1
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-25) Watkins, Joanna; Baduel, Benedicte; Morisset, Jacques; Baez, Javier
    The new political context emerging from the May 2024 elections provides a unique opportunity for South Africa. The alignment of economic and political incentives, in the sense that improving the economy is essential for gaining political power, offers a platform to launch a decisive transformation process, even if there is not yet an agreement on which economic reforms to implement. Such alignment was key behind the successful economic transformation of China in the early 1980s, Vietnam in the late 1980s and 1990s, Poland in the 2010s, and India in the early 2020s. Those successes were anchored on a development bargain, whereby the country’s elites shifted from protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based future. This report offers pragmatic policy options, tailored for South African policymakers who want to obtain short-term results, while creating momentum for structural reforms, resume growth, and improve the overall welfare of their citizens, especially the most disadvantaged.
  • Publication
    South Africa Policy Package, Priority 2
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-25) Aritua, Bernard; Aldayarov, Mirlan; Baez, Javier; Morisset, Jacques
    The new political context emerging from the May 2024 elections provides a unique opportunity for South Africa. The alignment of economic and political incentives, in the sense that improving the economy is essential for gaining political power, offers a platform to launch a decisive transformation process, even if there is not yet an agreement on which economic reforms to implement. Such alignment was key behind the successful economic transformation of China in the early 1980s, Vietnam in the late 1980s and 1990s, Poland in the 2010s, and India in the early 2020s. Those successes were anchored on a development bargain, whereby the country’s elites shifted from protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based future. This report offers pragmatic policy options, tailored for South African policymakers who want to obtain short-term results, while creating momentum for structural reforms, resume growth, and improve the overall welfare of their citizens, especially the most disadvantaged.
  • Publication
    Beyond the AI Divide
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-24) Mandon, Pierre
    This paper examines global disparities in artificial intelligence preparedness, using the 2023 Artificial Intelligence Preparedness Index developed by the International Monetary Fund alongside the multidimensional Economic Complexity Index. The proposed methodology identifies both global and local overperformers by comparing actual artificial intelligence readiness scores to predictions based on economic complexity, offering a comprehensive assessment of national artificial intelligence capabilities. The findings highlight the varying significance of regulation and ethics frameworks, digital infrastructure, as well as human capital and labor market development in driving artificial intelligence overperformance across different income levels. Through case studies, including Singapore, Northern Europe, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Rwanda, and emerging demographic giants like China and India, the analysis illustrates how even resource-constrained nations can achieve substantial artificial intelligence advancements through strategic investments and coherent policies. The study underscores the need for offering actionable insights to foster peer learning and knowledge-sharing among countries. It concludes with recommendations for improving artificial intelligence preparedness metrics and calls for future research to incorporate cognitive and cultural dimensions into readiness frameworks.
  • Publication
    Thailand Economic Monitor, February 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-25) World Bank Group
    The economy is estimated to have grown by 2.6 percent in 2024, surpassing expectations due to an unexpected surge in activity but the recovery continued to lag behind peers. The latest gross domestic product (GDP) release showed that growth picked up at 3.0 percent year-on-year in 2024 Q3. In Q3 2024, the current account surplus rose to 1.5 percent of GDP as the trade balance benefited from robust global demand. Inflation edged up due to the removal of diesel subsidies but remained among the lowest in ASEAN due to remaining energy subsidies and weak domestic demand. Thailand’s financial system remained stable, but credit conditions have tightened amid government efforts to tackle high household debt. Despite the recent rollout of the cash transfer scheme, the fiscal stance turned less expansionary as capital spending slipped due to the delayed budget. The economy is set to gain momentum in 2025, driven by stronger domestic demand and fiscal stimulus, while external factors will slow slightly. With the planned fiscal stimulus and accelerated budget execution, the expansionary fiscal stance will support the economic recovery.
  • Publication
    Zambia Poverty and Equity Assessment 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-25) World Bank
    Zambia is simultaneously amongst the poorest and the most unequal countries in the world. In 2022, 64.3 percent of the population - about 12.6 million individuals - was living on less than US$2.15 a day. This level is not only the 6th highest in the world but it is also misaligned with the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita level. In four of the five poorer countries, GDP per capita is between one-quarter and one-half of Zambia’s GDP per capita. The remaining country is South Sudan, which is immersed in a protracted fragility and conflict situation. At the same time, consumption inequality is high, even when compared with the sub-group of highly unequal resource-rich countries. In 2022, the Gini index stood at 51.5 - significantly above the World Bank’s newly adopted high-inequality threshold of 40. This places Zambia as the country with the 4th highest inequality in the region and the 6th highest globally. Resource-rich countries with similar or higher inequality have substantially lower poverty levels.