Informatics Publishing Limited

Md. Animul Haque Bhuyan ¹, Keramat Ali Shah ¹, Sukanta Saha ¹, Rownak Jahan ¹, Rezaul Karim ¹

Affiliations
1 Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, BD

Abstract

Malnutrition has been a major public healtin problem in Bangladesh and children are one of the most adversely affected groups. Children belonging to different socio-economic groups are however affected differently. Children in lower socio-economic stratum are generally the worst affected. Both stunted and wasted children are found more in the poorest group (17.3%) than in the richest group (5.1 %).

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Sukanta Saha ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Economics, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, West Bengal, IN

Abstract

The present study is an effort to explore the female dominated informal business of street trading activity by Gujarati migrants in West Bengal. In this, a two-fold transaction is observed in which exchanges of used clothes against new utensils with middle-class housewives is a barter activity while the re-selling of the used clothes to consumers of low-income group and petty traders is purely a monetary transaction. In other cases of re-selling or re-cycling activities which are commonly observed such as old newspapers or old furniture - buying and selling involve purely monetary transaction with two dispersed sets of individuals. However, the second-hand garments market dominated by the Gujarati migrants in West Bengal inherits both barter and monetary transactions in the two sides. The success of this female-dominated trading activity has explored their inherent business idea and skill successfully which has entitled them decision-making ability within the family. The present paper is a mere attempt to investigate whether the Harold Hoteling’s “Principle of Minimum Differentiation” and William J. Reilly’s “Law of Retail Gravitation” are able to explain the spatial clustering of the informal sales outlets of this particular street-trading activity in Kolkata. The micro-level field surveys, sampling design and data analysis of the study conducted are based upon the standard model approach to avoid spatial homogeneity.

Keywords

Informal Sector, Cluster, Location, Mobility.

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Sukanta Saha

Abstract

The present study attempts to focus on concentration of specific geographical clustersin two specific sites in West Bengal: namely Domjur Gems and Jewellery industry and Panchla Zari and Embroidery industry which are considered to be the sole “growth poles” in West Bengal as per Arjun Sengupta Report. The two sites of the study have been selected on the basis of their importance to the map of Bengal informal industries and migration destinations. The study objects to detect the factors that determine the difference in the formation of location of these two informal industries in their specific sites in Domjur and Panchla. To reveal these, the study is confined to identify the specificity of the two spaces that contributes to their cross-sectional growth. The study confines that the formation of informal localization is influenced by almost the same set of economic factors as derived from the classical and new economic geography school, however, the difference lies in hierarchical labour migration that is influencing cross-sectional industrial growth and the pattern of linkages of the two destinations- the inference of the factor is not referred in the previous studies. The logical argumentation of the study is based on literature support specifically of the classical and new economic geography school, case studies conducted, and the primary survey results. The micro-level field surveys, sampling design and data analysis of the study conducted is based on the standard model approach in order to allow spatial heterogeneity.

Keywords

Informal sector, Cluster economy, Economies of scale, Location, Mobility.

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Sukanta Saha

Abstract

The present paper aims to focus on: how small firms of an informal localized industry get access to new economic knowledge production, i.e. innovation. It is often observed that several informal localized industries are agglomerated in specific spatial clusters in particular geographical horizon. Several factors determine the location of these informal businesses and industries. The present study is confined to stress a particular factor, namely innovation. The large firms of the industry get access to this innovation through their own R&D. However, small informal firms cannot execute this R&D due to their insufficient fund. The present study is, therefore, confined to explore: how small firms of any informal industry access to this new economic knowledge production thereby ensure their survival and contribute to industrial growth. To reveal this, the present study selects a single industry, the Gems and Jewellery industry in West Bengal. The selection has been based on the simultaneous existence of small, informal and big formal production units in spatial clusters incorporating high growth potential, large employment opportunities, and increasing volume of industrial exports. The micro-level field studies, sampling design and data analysis of the study are based on the standard model approach in order to accept spatial heterogeneity.

Keywords

Informal sector, cluster economy, externality, location

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