CIRJE-F-986

"Infrastructure and Well-being: Employment Effects of Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh"

Author Name

Mahmud, Minhaj and Yasuyuki Sawada

Date

August 2015

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Remarks  
Abstract

We evaluate the impact of the Jamuna multipurpose bridge, the largest physical infrastructure in Bangladesh, on employment opportunities. We particularly focus on labour market integration effects using survey data that provides information on current and retrospective assessments of household situation in two adjacent districts connected by the bridge. Using a quasi-experimental framework of the canonical difference-in-difference regression methodology, we analyse the impact of this infrastructure on employment and job transition patterns. We find that, along with decreasing household unemployment, the bridge construction facilitated farm to non-farm shift of employments. Also the treatment effects are heterogeneous across age, gender and education level.