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Employment Patterns and Income Formation in Rural Bangladesh: The Role of Rural Non-farm Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Mahmud , Wahiduddin

    (Professor of Economics, Dhaka University, Bangladesh)

Abstract

The rural non-farm (RNF) sector in Bangladesh provides employment to a large and growing proportion of the country's labour force. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that the process of labour shift from agriculture to the RNF sector represents a precarious balance of the "push-versus-pull" factors that might have kept rural poverty situation from deteriorating, without making much improvement in the situation either. The expansion of low-productivity self-employment has been the major contributing factor in the sectoral transformation of the rural labour force. While the provision of such non-farm employment has been crucial for absorbing the growing numbers of landless rural workers, the labour shift may have created some degree of overcrowding in the low-productivity non-farm activities, thus undermining the growth of overall productivity and income levels in the RNF sector. In future, if the RNF sector is to play a more dynamic role, there will have to be probably some shift of emphasis towards relatively larger-scale and higher-productivity RNF activities which are better able to respond to income-elastic market demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahmud , Wahiduddin, 1996. "Employment Patterns and Income Formation in Rural Bangladesh: The Role of Rural Non-farm Sector," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 24(3-4), pages 1-27, Sept-Dec.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:badest:0360
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. M. Niaz Asadullah, 2012. "Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in Rural Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(9), pages 1193-1208, September.
    2. Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A. & Ali, Rubaba, 2013. "Does access to finance matter in microenterprise growth ? evidence from Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6333, The World Bank.
    3. G. M. Arif & Hina Nazli & Rashida Haq, 2000. "Rural Non-agriculture Employment and Poverty in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 39(4), pages 1089-1110.
    4. Muhammed Muqtada, 2018. "ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO FULL EMPLOYMENT IN BANGLADESH Role of the Non-farm Sector," CPD Working Paper 116, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
    5. Ahmed, Mansur & Goodwin, Barry, "undated". "Agricultural Mechanization and Non-Farm Labor Supply of Farm Households: Evidence from Bangladesh," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236131, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Sen, Binayak & Dorosh, Paul & Ahmed, Mansur, 2021. "Moving out of agriculture in Bangladesh: The role of farm, non-farm and mixed households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Saha , Bimal Kumar & Shahabuddin, Quazi, 2013. "Poverty Dynamics: A Perception Study of Tenants and Agricultural Labourers in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 36(2), pages 77-108, June.
    8. S. M. Woahid, Murad, 2009. "The trends of labor market in Bangladesh and its determinants," MPRA Paper 32381, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Kabeer, Naila, 2009. "Snakes, Ladders and Traps: Changing Lives and Livelihoods in Rural Bangladesh 1994-2001," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 32(2), pages 1-52, June.
    10. Mustafa K. Mujeri, 2000. "Poverty Trends and Growth Performance: Some Issues in Bangladesh," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 39(4), pages 1171-1191.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment; Population estimates; Agriculture; Censuses; Rural areas; Income distribution; Agricultural population; Agricultural labor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines

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