Member of Faculty, Economics, Business School, Independent University, Bangladesh   

Editor At Large, South Asia Journal

“Research for Development”— this is the motto I keep close to my heart when analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, assessing present conditions, locating disparities, generating hypotheses, and suggesting remedial measures and policies. Over the course of my career, I have developed a high-level of proficiency in data analysis software and an encyclopedic knowledge of Economics, Politics, Markets, and International Affairs, the combination of which has made me an efficient researcher, as evidenced in my publications, conference papers, invited talks and Op-Eds / newspaper columns. I am a strong believer in the need for and power of economic research to tackle structural inequalities and make the world a better place. If you have gotten this far and are interested to know more, do not hesitate to reach out! Background: I came from such a country that is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious. Such diversity creates layers of meanings to life, society and state. I tried to decipher these multiple meanings. It made me curious and motivated me to delve into the ground realities of what is visible from outside. That’s why, I opted for a degree in Social Science for the bachelors and then Economics for Master’s. I always wanted to be better equipped in research skills and accordingly, I pursued my MA and PhD in Economics from the two world class universities in England (see the cv). The thrust was to know more about the society and the state, and to be equipped with research skills to decipher meanings of life, society and state. That’s why, I took a lot of short courses outside these two universities: Development Economics at London of School of Economics, International Political Economy taught by 5 Nobel Laureate Economists (George Akerlof, Eric Maskin, Dale Mortensen, William Sharpe, Michael Spence) at I.S.E.O. (Italy) and Field Experiment in Economics conducted by Professor Dean Karlan from Yale and Professor John List from Chicago at American Economic Association Continuing Education, San Francisco. Being a citizen of a developing country and with very limited resources, all these efforts reveal my indomitable thirst for knowledge about the society and the state. Past research: I always tried to understand any issues that touch the human life. The first term paper I did for my Master’s degree in Dhaka University under the guidance of Dr. Reza Kibria, an oxford Graduate, was on the Impact of the Structural Adjustment Programme on the Bangladesh economy. In it I measured the effects of the deregulation and free market policy advocated by the World Bank and IFM. I wanted to see how these policies impacted the life of my people. When I went to Leeds University, an intense debate going on whether the impact of immigration on the British economy was positive or negative. On these perspectives, I conducted a new study on this issue and found positive effects of immigration on the British economy, which I disseminated in many seminars and conferences. It influenced public opinion and policy makers at least to some extent. My country, Bangladesh is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. I, therefore, decided to work on the corruption issue. I examined the impact of corruption on growth— one specific to Bangladesh and another in a cross-country setting. Initially, I carried out the study using World Bank data but I wanted to know more about the mechanism how bribery takes place and the overall corruption scenario in Bangladesh. With this aim, I collected data by all by myself from firm owners, and elicited many hidden stories about bribery. Thus, I was able to grasp the corruption issue very well. I worked as Research Associate in Human Development Research Centre, a leading consultancy firm in Bangladesh for almost 9 years where I was involved in many studies on the basis of which many organizations made their policies. I was involved in some studies where we had done cost-benefit analyses. Later, at Leeds University I took a course titled ‘Welfare Economics and Cost-Benefit Analysis’ underpinning my theoretical knowledge on the subject. Then I carried out the role of Assistant Program Manager and Data Analyst for the ‘International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project’ run by Waterloo University of Canada. It was a major policy issue. On the basis of our findings, we negotiated with government for increasing taxes on tobacco for the sake of public health. As the Chief Researcher at Siberian Federal University, I conducted the two projects— one on corruption and another on well-being. In doing that I gathered a lot of new experiences in the Russian society while trying to collect data through enumerators and through Focus Group Discussions. Even after my last official position that I held at Siberian Federal University, I kept collecting data through survey monkey and in person, and analysed data on various issues. The course that I took on Field Experiment in Economics at American Economic Association Continuing Education has been helpful in my experimental research. Research interests and future goals: I have a background of Economics. I took a specialized course on Welfare Economics & Cost-Benefit Analysis. I have worked on governance issues, corruption in particular. I gained mastery in Applied Econometrics and Quantitative Research Methods with the aid of Stata, which includes Meta Analysis, Randomized Experiments. I had training also on Qualitative Research Methods with the aid of NVivo and Field Experiment. Therefore, combining all my knowledge and skills, I would be interested to carry out research in the areas of Public Policy and Business Cycles, Environmental Policy and Governance, and Program Evaluation (Welfare Economics & Cost-Benefit Analysis vividly discusses Project Appraisal, which would be an extra advantage for me). When I don’t have enough data, I can adopt analytical methods and explain the pros and cons of Public Policy. I am also interested to examine the government policy regarding immigration, their impact on the economy, policies on how immigrants may be integrated into the Canadian society and then suggest new policies.