Professor Mir Mustafizur Rahman
Distinguished Fellow
E-mail: mirmustafiz@brainbd.com
Phone: (+88 02) 11223344
Skype: mustafiz-brain
Expertise
Development policy, International trade
Professor Mir Mustafizur Rahman is currently serving as Distinguished Fellow at the BRAIN, a leading think tank in South Asia. He is also a member of Board of Trustees of the PCPD. Earlier he served as Executive Director of PCPD (2002-2017). Professor Rahman taught for twenty-five years at the University of Dhaka before taking voluntary early retirement to work full time at PCPD. He was awarded the prestigious Ibrahim Memorial Gold Medal by the University of Dhaka for excellence in research. Professor Rahman served as a member of the Dhaka University Senate (2005-2013, 2017-2021 and 2021-present). He is a member of Board of Trustees and Syndicate of the BRAC University.
Professor Mir Rahman did his Masters in Economics, with Distinction, from the Kharkov State University, Ukraine and Ph.D in Development Economics from Moscow State University, Russia. Professor Rahman carried out post-doctoral research at several reputed academic institutions including the University of Oxford, UK and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore as a Visiting Fellow, Yale University, USA as a Senior Fulbright Fellow and Warwick University, UK as a post- Doctoral Fellow Professor Rahman has carried out research studies in collaboration with a number of international organisations and institutions including the UNDP, UNCTAD, UNESCAP, The World Bank, USAID, IDRC, ADB, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London, WTO Secretariat, Commonwealth Secretariat, European Commission, the ILO and other reputed organisations.
In recent times Professor Rahman has carried out a number of research works in the areas of public policy analysis, macroeconomic management, and macro-fiscal-monetary performance of Bangladesh economy. Some of his very recent works have focused on implications of the Covid pandemic on the Bangladesh economy, and Bangladesh’s strategies in view of LDC graduation. As part of academic and research careers Dr. Rahman has worked on a diverse range of issues including trade policies and trade reforms, globalisation, regionalisation and regional trading arrangements, connectivity in the Southern Asian region, WTO, multilateral trading system and interests of low income countries, and implementation challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh. Professor Rahman has published widely in professional journals both in Bangladesh and abroad, and has authored books and monographs in areas of interest and expertise. He is a Series Editor of South Asia Economic Policy Studies published by Springer and Member of Editorial Board of the Rising Powers and Global Governance (RPGG).
At different points in time Professor Rahman has served as member of a number of important national bodies and committees set up by the Government of Bangladesh. These include WTO Advisory Committee, National Coal Policy Review Committee, Regulatory Reforms Commission, Committee to review National Sustainable Development Strategy, National Task Force to Monitor the Impact of Global Financial Crisis, Consultative Group of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), Core- committee on Transit and Connectivity and Study Team for BCIM-Economic Corridor. Dr. Rahman was a member of Advisory Committee of National Human Development Report. He has served as a member of the T-20 for G-20 Task Force set up to provide policy advise in view of the Japanese Presidency of the G-20 2019. He is a member of the Core Group of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGS, Bangladesh. Dr Rahman served as member of the Panel of Economists for Bangladesh’s Sixth and Seventh Five Year Plans, and was a member of the Panel of Experts for the First and Second Perspective Plans of Bangladesh (2011-2021, and Vision 2041).
Curriculum Vitae
As a public intellectual, Mir Professor Rahman gives comments in print and electronic media and writes columns on contemporary issues.
Publications
Recent Publications (2005 till date)
- Bangladesh’s Robust RMG Export Performance: The Underlying Drivers published in The Apparel Digest, Year 1, Volume 6, February, 2022.
- সংলাপ সংকলন: অতিমারি অর্থনীতি এবং নাগরিক অধিকার (ed.) Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, 2022.
- বাংলাদেশের বৈদেশিক খাত: বিবর্তন, অর্জন এবং আগামীর চ্যালেঞ্জ in the volume titled বাংলদেশঃ স্বাধীনতা উত্তর পঞ্চাশ বছরে রুপান্তর published by Asiatic Society Bangladesh (ASB). Dhaka, February, 2022.
- Explaining Pro-Women Gender Wage Gap in Bangladesh (with Al-Hasan), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bangladesh and Centre for Policy Dialogue, 2021.
- Income and employment situation in COVID times: How the people are coping? (with Khan T.I, Kamal M. and Alam, M.) Policy Brief prepared and published under a project by Oxfam in Bangladesh and CPD, and funded by the EU. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
- Effective delivery of social protection in Bangladesh: Twelve takeaways from experiences during COVID times (with Khan T.I, Kamal M., and Alam, M.) Policy Brief prepared and published under a project by Oxfam in Bangladesh and CPD, and funded by the EU. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
- Delivery of Efficient Social Protection: Recommendations in view of Implementing Five Programmes in Bangladesh (with Khan T.I, and Kamal M.) Policy Brief prepared and published under a project by Oxfam in Bangladesh and CPD, and funded by the EU. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
- Bangladesh Economy in FY2020–21: Interim Review of Macroeconomic Performance, Published by CPD, September, 2021, Dhaka
- Policy recommendations for budget FY22 published in Financial Express on 1 June 2021
- Rahman, Mustafizur & Wirtz, Veronika & Kaplan, Warren & Thrasher, Rachel & Gallagher, Kevin. (2022). Policy Space for Building Production Capabilities in the Pharmaceuticals Sector in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Globalization and Development. 12. 10.1515/jgd-2021-0009. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360219481_Policy_Space_for_Building_Production_Capabilities_in_the_Pharmaceuticals_Sector_in_Low-_and_Middle-Income_Countries_Evidence_from_Bangladesh
- COVID-19 and Employment Related Adjustments: Findings from Household Survey in Bangladesh (with Khan T.I, Kamal M., Nawar, N., Alam, M. and Hossain Md. S.). A paper prepared and published under a project by Oxfam in Bangladesh and CPD, and funded by the EU. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
- Delivering SDGs at the Local Level – Efficiency of Social Protection Programmes in Bangladesh (with Khan T.I, Kamal M. and Nawar, N.). A paper prepared and published under a project by Oxfam in Bangladesh and CPD, and funded by the EU. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2021
- Graduating in the Shadow of the Pandemic: Implications and Required Actions, a Position Paper on Trade for the LDC Gradation Trajectory of Bangladesh and COVID-19 Implications Under the Support to Sustainable Graduation Project [A Japan funded DRGA-CF project], Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, GoB.
- Prospects of Developing Value Chains Towards Greater Integration in BIMSTEC Region (with Estiaque Bari). RIS, New Delhi
- An Estimation of the Implementation Costs and Financing Options for Introducing a Universal Pension Scheme in Bangladesh (with Khan T.I., Sabbih M.A.). South Asia Economic Journal. 2021;22(1):110-131.
- Least Developed Country Graduation: Can South‐South Cooperation Have a Positive Impact on Trade and Finance? (paper prepared under the project South-South Global Thinkers- A Global Coalition of Think Tank Networks for SSC for UNDP and UNOSSC), 2021 [Forthcoming]
- Bangladesh External Sector Performance: Past Achievements and Next Challenges. in the volume titled Bangladesh: 50 Years of Transformation Since Liberation published by Asiatic Society Bangladesh (ASB). Dhaka, April, 2021.
- Sustainable Graduation: International Support Measures for Graduating LDCs (With Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya), published by Commonwealth Secretariat, London, September 2020.
- SDG implementation progress: What does the Asian experience reveal? (with Khan TI and Sadique, M.Z.), SV Occasional Paper Series No 67, Southern Voice, July, 2020.
- CPD’s Recommendations for the National Budget FY2020-21, CPD Working Paper 134, Dhaka, June, 2020
- In Preparation for WTO MC 12: Safeguarding Trade Interests of LDCs and Securing Trade Interests of Graduating LDCs (With Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya), published by UNESCAP, Bangkok, May 2020.
- Four years of SDGs in Bangladesh: Non-state actors as delivery partners. Edited by Mustafizur Rahman. Published by Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, February 2020. Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- Four years of SDGs in Bangladesh: Measuring progress and charting the path forward. (With Khatun, F., Bhattacharya, D., Moazzem, K. G., Khan, T. I., Sabbih, M. A. and Saadat, S. Y. Published by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Citizen’s Platform for SDGs. February 2020. Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- Dimensions of Informality in Bangladesh Labour Market and the Consequent Wage Penalty (with Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya and Md. Al-Hasan) in South Asia Economic Journal volume: 20 issue: 2, page(s): 224-247, India, September 2019.
- Making the Most of Bangladesh–India Trade, in East Asia Forum, September 2019.
- Ensuring food security in Bangladesh: Issues Beyond Production and Challenges Ahead (with Towfiqul Islam Khan), in Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Food Security in South Asia, Edited by Nagesh Kumar, Joseph George, Published by Routledge, India, 2019.
- SAARC Food Bank: Raising Operational Efficacy (with Estiaque Bari and Sherajum Monira Farin), in Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Food Security in South Asia, Edited by Nagesh Kumar, Joseph George, Published by Routledge, India, 2019.
- Graduating LDCs in an Evolving WTO: Options and Strategies (with Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bangladesh and Centre for Policy Dialogue, 2019.
- Brexit and Bangladesh: Implications for Trade and Market Access (with Towfiqul Islam Khan and Sherajum Monira Farin), in Journal of Bangladesh Studies, 19(1 & 2), 11-24.
- “Male–Female Wage Gap and Informal Employment in Bangladesh: A Quantile Regression Approach,” (with Md. Al-Hasan), South Asia Economic Journal, 2019, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 106–123.
- Pathways to Bangladesh’s sustainable LDC graduation: prospects, challenges and strategies (with Estiaque Bari), in Bangladesh’s Graduation from the Least Developed Countries Group: Pitfalls and Promises, Edited by Debapriya Bhattacharya, Published by Routledge, Oxford, UK, 2019.
- Returns to Schooling in Bangladesh Revisited: An Instrumental Variable Quantile Regression Approach (with Md. Al-Hasan), in Volume XLI(2), The Bangladesh Development Studies, Published by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 2018.
- Improving Trade Facilitation: An Emerging Urgency in South Asia, in Putting Consumers First: Essays in honour of Pradeep Mehta, published by CUTS International, Jaipur, India, April 2018.
- The Legacy of Rana Plaza: Improving Labour and Social Standards in Bangladesh’s Apparel Industry (with Khondaker Golam Moazzem) in Governing Corporate Social responsibility in the Apparel Industry After Rana Plaza, Edited by Anil Hira and Maureen Benson-Rea, Palgrave Macmilan, New York, 2017.
- Regional Integration in South Asia: Essays in Honour of Dr. M. Rahmatullah (co-editor with Dr. Prabir De), KW Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, 2016.
- The Political Economy of Change – Escaping the Middle-income Trap: Perspectives from Bangladesh (with Estiaque Bari), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh Office, 2016.
Leveraging Migration and Remittances towards Graduation of the LDCs (with Md. Zafar Sadique) in Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs (2011-2020): Monitoring Deliverables, Tracking Progress – Analytical Perspectives, LDC IV Monitor, published by Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2014.
Addressing the Trade Facilitation Deficit: Raising Export Competitiveness in the Indian Market (with Khaleda Akhter) in Bangladesh: History, Politics, Economy, Society and Culture, Essays in honour of Professor Alamgir Muhammad Serajuddin, Edited by Mahmudul Huque, University Press Limited (UPL), Dhaka, April, 2016.
Bangladesh: perspectives on deepening cross-border links, in Connecting Asia: Infrastructure for Integrating South and Southeast Asia (with Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Mehruna Islam Chowdhury and Farzana Sehrin), Edited by Michael G. Plummer, Peter J. Morgan, Ganeshan Wignaraja, published by Asian Development Bank Institute and Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2016.
Towards Regional Integration in South Asia: Promoting Trade Facilitation and Connectivity, Edited by Mustafizur Rahman, Published by CPD, November, 2015, Dhaka.
Second-generation Cooperation Agenda: Opportunities and Challenges of Enhanced Integration among the Asian Subregions (with Hosna Jahan), in South Asia Economic Journal, Vol: 16:1, March, 2015, New Delhi.
Cross-Border Transport Infrastructure (Chapter 3) in Connecting South Asia and Southeast Asia (with Khondaker Golam Moazzem), published by Asian Development Bank Institute, 2015.
Trade and Transport Facilitation in Bangladesh: An Audit of the State of Play (with Khaleda Akhter and Naimul Gani Saif). CPD Working Paper 110, Dhaka, April, 2015.
Non-tariff Barriers in South Asia: Nature and Modalities to Address the Attendant Issues (with Mohammad A Razzaque) in Regional Integration in South Asia: Trends, Challenges and Prospects, Edited by Mohammad A Razzaque and Yurendra Basnett, published by Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2014.