ECONOMICS

GENDER EQUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH A FOCUS ON THE

COASTAL FISHING COMMUNITY OF BANGLADESH

by

Md. Maruf Hossan Chowdhury Mohammed Naim A. Dewan

Mohammed Quaddus Marita Naude

Graduate School of Business

Curtin University

and

Abu Siddique

Business School University of Western Australia

DISCUSSION PAPER 14.10

GENDER EQUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH A FOCUS ON THE COASTAL FISHING COMMUNITY OF

BANGLADESH

Md. Maruf Hossan Chowdhury1, Mohammed Naim A. Dewan1, Mohammed Quaddus1, Marita Naude1, Abu Siddique2

1Graduate School of Business Curtin University

78 Murray Street, Perth, WA6100

2Business School The University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA6009

DISCUSSION PAPER 14.10

ABSTRACT

Sustainable development encompasses achieving economic development while maintaining social solidarity and environmental stewardship. Present studies campaign for the agenda of women empowerment for sustainable development in Bangladesh since women are one of the largest disadvantaged groups in this country. The conditions faced by coastal women are even more deplorable and they represent a substantial proportion of the total number of women in the country. The aim of this research is to determine the indicators of gender inequality in Bangladesh with special emphasis on the coastal fishing communities of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh; and to explore the ways and means of mitigating gender inequality for sustainable development of that area. Data were collected using the semi-structured interviews from the coastal women, NGO members and local government representatives of coastal fishing community of Bangladesh. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) integrated Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is used to analyse the data. The study finds that ensuring education, access to financing and skill development are the most important factors in mitigating gender inequality for sustainable development.

Keywords: Gender inequality, sustainable development, coastal fishing community, AHP

integrated QFD.

1. Introduction

The notion of sustainable development (SD) includes a vision of a new and better world. This

vision paves the way to meet the needs, demands and aspirations of the present generations

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, demands and

aspirations (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). There are multiple

definitions and interpretations for SD (Becker, 2010; Jabbour and Santos 2008; Wallis et al.,

2010). Therefore, to provide consistency of discussion and to use as the theoretical basis for

this paper the authors use a tridimensional approach to SD in which the economic, social and

environmental dimensions are considered (Stead et al., 2004; Byrch et al., 2007; Valezquez,

2011; Elkington, 2006; Hart and Milstein, 2003; Linnenluecke and Griffiths, 2010; UN, 1992;

UN, 1997; WCED, 1987).

It is essential that the status of women as opposed to their male counterparts should be

considered in a tridimensional SD approach because of their relatively poor economic and

social status. Historically, women have been treated unequally and their tasks are often

undervalued (Hatfield, 2002). The Earth Summit findings also trace that SD cannot be

achieved without women’s involvement because women are more likely to be susceptible to

environmental vulnerabilities for their poor social and economic position. Researches on

gender and SD trace the fact that gender inequality is a major obstacle to attain sustainable

development especially in developing and underdeveloped countries (Hatfield, 2002; Kabeer,

2003; Jackson and Jones, 1997).

Moreover, Denton (2002) in his study observes that seventy percent of the 1.3 billion people

in the developing world living below the threshold of poverty are women. Thus, without the

upliftment of such a large marginal group of a society, sustainable development is a far cry.

Empirical evidence from Bangladesh demonstrates that it is possible to enhance the socio-

economic status of women by creating opportunities for them to participate in income

generating activities. For example, women in Bangladesh have made important gains along

with changes in social attitudes towards women’s economic participation (IMF, 2012). More

noteworthy examples include; women’s involvement in ready-made garments manufacturing

industry of Bangladesh (Kholsa, 2009) and women involvement in alternative income

generating activities through micro-financing of Grameen bank, Bangladesh (Hatfield, 2002).

In spite of, limited success in enhancing the status of women in Bangladesh since the 1970s,

significant gender inequality still persists in this country and it is an impediment to the SD

- 1 -

goals of Bangladesh. As a matter of fact, the ‘hard-core’ poor in Bangladesh are largely

women (IMF, 2012). Particularly women belongs to coastal fishing community of Bangladesh

are highly disadvantaged as well as vulnerable to climate change (Kleih et al, 2002). For

examples, daughters of landless fisherman, widows or divorced women, old women and

daughters of poor parents who struggle with dowry to get them married are most vulnerable.

Factors that increase poverty and vulnerability in the fishing community include, declining

fish catches, natural disasters such as cyclones or floods, lack of capital, lack of employment

opportunities, and lack of health facilities, education and skills (Kleih et al, 2002). Efforts

such as education and skill development may help them engage in alternative income

generating activities or efficient operation of existing activities. Our analysis in the previous

section indicates that attainment of sustainable development and reduction in gender

inequality are interlinked. Rabbanee et al (2012) and Osborn and Bigg (1998) observe that

alternative income generating activities reduce the dependence on the exploitation of fishery

and coastal resources and improve the quality of the environment. In particular, increased

participation of women in income generating activities in the fishing community will assist to

eradicate poverty and enhance SD.

Based on the above background this study is a modest attempt to seek answer to the following

questions:

i. What are the determinants of gender inequality in coastal fishing communities of

Bangladesh?

ii. What are the requirements and processes of mitigating gender inequality in coastal fishing

communities of Bangladesh?

iii. What are the most suitable programmes to abate gender inequality and hence enhance

sustainable development of coastal fishing communities of Bangladesh?

This study will be based on both qualitative and quantitative techniques which is quite unique

in this area of research (Tashakkori and Teddlie 2003). It is expected that the findings of the

current research will assist the government policy makers to identify the factors contributing

to gender inequality in the local fishing community of coastal areas and to develop and

implement measures to enhance SD. At a theoretical level the research will contribute

significantly to the existing stock of literature dealing with the Bangladesh coastal

community.

- 2 -

This paper is presented in five sections. The first section discusses the relevant literature

which forms the basis for the arguments in this paper and includes literature related to gender

inequality in Bangladesh, and Sustainable Development (SD) and highlights the links between

gender inequality and SD. The second section includes a theoretical framework that acts as a

structure for the study. The third section provides details on the research methodology (data

collection and data analysis) and the fourth section discusses the findings from the study. As

usual, the paper concludes with a discussion on the policy implications and suggestions for

further research.

2. Literature review

2.1 Gender equality in Bangladesh

Generally, gender equality refers to equality between women and men. More specifically,

equality in terms of gender refers to differences between individuals in a society, particularly

to differences in the positions of power that women and men hold in society. According to

Johnsson-Latham (2007), gender equality in the present context refers to a state of affairs in

which women and men enjoy the same opportunities in all walks of life. It also means the

presence of a gender perspective in decision making of all kinds and that woman’s interests

are given the same consideration as men’s in terms of rights and the allocation of resources.

Gender inequality impedes the development of women in Bangladesh coastal community.

Some of the persistent gender inequalities are: lack of access to resources such as land, credit

and training; limited participation in decision making processes; more dependence on natural

resources; and greater caring responsibilities (UNDP report 2007; Agostino, 2010). Within

the social sciences, there has been a great deal of work addressing the application of gender in

a number of different subjects as a theoretical and practical tool for analysis (Lovenduski,

1998). Agarwal (2002) identifies two forms of gender inequalities mainly: (i) pre-existing

inequalities in private property resources (such as, land and income) and in gendered social

norms and perceptions; and Hamel and Välikangas (2003) identified institutionally created

inequalities (such as, inequalities built into the structure of the governing institution, in

particular in its rules and procedures, which can exclude women, and can make for a highly

gender unequal sharing of costs and benefits). Their study also found that the substantial

gender gap in economic endowments, gendered social norms and perceptions, the rules

governing the institution, and the power of coercion underlying gender relations (at home and

in the community) significantly constrains women’s cooperation in sustainability. Based on a

- 3 -

gender equality perspective a comprehensive index is developed by Johnsson-Latham (2007)

in terms of gender equality, poverty and sustainable development (Table 1):

Based on the most empirical studies of gender inequality and growth (GDP per capita) that

have been conducted at global level, and based on the experiences of both developed and

developing countries, it could be concluded that the role of women is crucial to economic

development and that resources should therefore be used in such a way as to eliminate

existing inequalities (Löfström, 2009). Research also shows that differences in social capital

(individuals’ social and political participation outside the home/family) also affect the growth

of a society (Stotsky, 2006). Further, lack of access to resources, education, health, and

decision making by women also impinge sustainable development (Hatfield, 2002). It was

found that women’s access to capital and resources (for example, micro-credit scheme) in

Bangladesh helped in greater family decision making participation, poverty alleviation, self-

employment, family health and nutrition, and improvement of social status (Hatfield, 2002;

Chant, 1997; Wickramasinghe, 1997).

Table 1: Gender equality index [adapted from Johnsson-Latham, 2007]

1 Level of income (individually based, taking into account that income is not always shared equally within the family).

2 Maternal mortality.

3 Access to sexual and reproductive health and services.

4 Education, including functional training and ‘legal literacy’.

5 Economic equality between the sexes, right to land, access to credits.

6 Exposure to violence, both structural/traditional such as sexual mutilation, domestic violence, and violence in connection with armed conflict.

7 Mobility, freedom of movement.

8 (Self-) respect, dignity, access to important networks.

9 Time of one’s own and for participating in democratic decision-making, for instance.

10 Amount of unpaid work in the family.

It was agreed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED

1992) that women needed to be involved in decision making at all levels in order for

- 4 -

environmental sustainability to be achieved. There are two main reasons for this: firstly,

women are more likely to be affected by negative environmental impacts than men, because

of their relatively poor social and economic position (closely knotted with their domestic

role); secondly, women are more likely to have a better knowledge of the environment, as

they are more likely to be the main meal providers, primary carers, and the dominant food

producers (Buckingham-Hatfield, 2002). It is also referred as 'embodiment' where women are

more in touch with the environment through the daily exigencies of feeding and clothing the

family, cleaning the home and maintaining family health (Mellor, 1992).

Bangladesh has a per capita income of $735 GDP/capita and it is also one of the densely

populated (151 million) countries in the world. It ranked 112 out of 116 in Gender Inequality

Index (UNDP, 2011) and the overall human development index (HDI) ranking of this country

is 146 (UNSD, 2011). In Bangladesh, like many other developing and underdeveloped

countries gender inequality is a major hurdle to the process of sustainable development

(Hatfield, 2002; Kabeer, 2003). Women here are subjected to inequalities in the family, in the

community, and in the workplace; and it continues throughout the lifecycle (Ferdaush and

Rahman, 2011). They are lagging behind in almost every aspect, such as, the women literacy

rate sits at only 54.8% (BBS, 2010); female child mortality is 20%; 42.1% female child are

underweight (BDHS, 2007); and only 22.9% women are employed (BDHS, 2007). In

comparison with the national average, women in rural areas, such as coastal areas, are

neglected and highly disadvantaged (BBS, 2010; BDHS, 2007).

The coastline of Bangladesh extends about 710 km2 and consists of 1400 coastal villages

with 24 million people or 22% of the total population (Hossain, 2001). Most of the coastal

people are very poor and are culturally and economically marginalised, often having little or

no voice in their local government bodies (Solaiman et al., 2003). Women who are widowed,

divorced, landless, old, or are unmarried girls (who cannot be married under the dowry

system) are the poorest and most disadvantaged in the community (Rabbanee et al., 2012).

They earn their livelihood mainly by fishing. The fishery sector contributes 80% of the

nation’s animal protein intake, nearly 6% of the GDP, 14% of gross agricultural product, and

more than 12% of the total export earnings of the country (Rabbanee et al., 2012). Women in

coastal fishing communities suffer from lack of; physical assets, natural capital, human

capital, and financial capital (Rabbanee et al., 2012). It is found that women of coastal fishing

community are very poor, earning hardly half-a-dollar per day, have a very low literacy rate

(even less than 25%), maintain very low nutritional intake, and facing lack of access to credit

- 5 -

(with a borrowing rate 120%-280% per annum) (Solaiman et al., 2003; Kleih et al, 2002). In

some coastal areas 69% women do not have access to land, 44% do not have access to pure

drinking water, and 61% do not have access to basic sanitation. Gender inequality in the

coastal fishing community is magnified because of the poor socio-economic condition which

is characterised by lack of access to resources, capital, information, lack of employment

opportunities, health, education and skills, discrimination in payment, lack of decision making

power and representation in governance (Kleih, 2002). Moreover, women are more vulnerable

to climate change impacts, such as, declining fish catches, natural disasters, such as, cyclones,

floods, soil erosion and salinity (Kleih et al, 2002; Agostino, 2010). These vulnerabilities

enhance the poverty of the women in these areas.

The UN prescription to national governments to help empower women economically, socially

and environmentally is the promotion of women's literacy, education, skill development

training, nutrition and health, improved access to resources, such as, credit and property

rights, etc. Education, training, and improved access to credit will help coastal women in

economic and social empowerment through engaging in alternative income generating

activities, such as, mollusc farming, crab farming or dairy and poultry farming (Chowdhury,

2006).

2.2 Sustainable development

Societies are increasingly putting pressure on organizations to demonstrate and practice social

and environmental responsibility in addition to financial return. This pressure leads to

increased support for SD (Daub and Scherrer, 2009; Steurer et al., 2005). However, it is

crucial that SD forms part of, and is integrated into, the core business and management

decisions, strategies, processes and procedures of the organization to be most practical and

effective. SD should not be regarded as an add-on to the business operation (Hazlett et al.,

2010; Samy et al., 2010; Epstein et al., 2010; Chuang and Liao, 2010). As there are numerous

definitions for SD and SD means different things to different people, due to different

knowledge, background, perception and values, it creates some confusion and discrepancy

within theoretical discussions and practical implementations (Becker, 2010; Jabbour and

Santos, 2008; Wallis, et al., 2010; Velazquez et al., 2011). Based on these differences and

incompatible interpretations there is no universal agreed upon and implemented definition for

SD (Esquer-Peralta, et al., 2008). Although there is no universal definition, there is growing

- 6 -

consensus that such a definition, understanding and implementation should at least contain

two aspects namely:

• A tridimensional approach which means that economic, social and environmental

dimensions are equally important and valued in any organization (Valezquez, et al., 2011;

Byrch, et al., 2007). Sustainable development increases economic upliftment while at the

same time maintaining social solidarity and environmental stewardship (Elkington, 1999).

This tridimensional approach and view is also consistent with the view of the WCED

(1987) and numerous authors such as Elkington (2006), Jabbour and Santos (2009) and

Bansal (2005).

• Organizations need to work together and also work with both internal and external

communities related to their organization to fulfill the needs and aspirations of the current

generation without compromising the needs and aspirations of future generations. Internal

communities will include, for example, the employees while the external communities

will include, for example, people within the supply chain of the organization (Byrch et al.,

2007; Esquer et al., 2008; Valezquez, 2011; Becker, 2010; Jabbour and Santos, 2008;

Rassafi et al., 2006).

The key challenge for the organization when implementing a tridimensional approach is to

find a balance among and achieve excellence in the economic, social and environmental

dimensions (Baumgartner and Korhonen, 2010; Velazquez, et al., 2011; Jamali, 2006; Epstein

and Buhovac, 2010; Epstein, et al., 2010).

Despite the differences in definitions, interpretations and the challenges there is pressure to

implement SD globally, in the short and long-term and many businesses have responded to

this pressure after periods of denial, anger, bargaining and the finally moved to acceptance

(Nguyen and Slater, 2010). Within the current business context, organizations need to

integrate economic, social and environmental goals, objectives and strategies based on

economic, social and environmental information to ensure effective and efficient leadership

and management decisions, strategies, processes and actions. This approach necessitates a

diverse range of innovative, flexible and creative leadership, management and technological

implementation (Laughland and Bansal, 2011; D’Amato and Roome, 2009).

Sustainability depends on how the people live in the social life to meet their needs (Gunay

and Oguz, 2012). Sustainable development preserves the vitality and quality of the ecosystem,

- 7 -

the physical and mental health of the workforce and the social and structural environment that

hosts the production (Bener and Babaoğul, 2008).

2.3 Research gap and conceptual framework

Results from previous research indicated that it is important to eliminate gender inequalities

in an attempt to increase SD. For example Hatfield (2002) mentions reduction of gender

inequalities may help to improve women empowerment and sustainable development. In an

effort to eliminate gender inequalities, gender-based policy is indispensable. Therefore, there

needs to be specific and relevant strategies targeting women and a reconsideration of all

policies from a gender perspective. Consequently, this requires a detailed examination of the

underlying assumptions about gender differences in rights, responsibilities, and roles which

underlie the definitions and policies aimed at the household, community, entrepreneur, and

farmer, to explicitly include women’s concerns in ‘malestream’ policy (Lemire et al., 2002).

Gender inequality slows down economic development and deepens poverty. Therefore, it is

crucial to recognize that gender equality is one of the overriding issues related to SD and

reduction of poverty (Fedon, 2004). Further, it is proved that alternative income generating

activities in coastal fishing community reduce the dependence on, and exploitation of, fishery

and coastal resources (Rabbanee, et al, 2012). At the same time it improves environmental

quality. There is evidence that when women actively participate in communities, they assist to

eradicate poverty and increase SD (Osborn and Bigg, 1998). Therefore, participation of

women, specifically the women of coastal fishing communities, in income generating

activities will help to reduce poverty and improve social and environmental quality which

ultimately leads to SD. Despite the importance of the relationship between gender equality

and sustainable development, a review of the previous literature evidence that there is a

paucity of empirical research to prove the relationship. It is also identified that to the best of

the researchers’ knowledge the field of sustainable development has not been explored with

special emphasis on gender equality in the context of coastal community of Bangladesh where

gender inequality is a severe problem. These gaps in the literature have propelled the

necessity of undertaking this research.

To identify and reduce gender inequality of coastal fishing communities in Bangladesh a

model of sustainable development has been developed in this paper based on the mitigation

approaches of gender inequality. The model structure will be a Input-Process-Output type.

- 8 -

Contingency theory (Zeithaml et al. 2007) and Resource Based View (Wernerfelt 1984;

Barney 1991) will be used as the basis to structure the model.

The contingency approach (Zeithaml, et al., 2007) expounds the concept of “situational

influences”. Based on general systems theory and open systems perspective contingency

approach involves building three types of variables: contingency variables – represent

situational characteristics and are usually exogenous; response variables – represent

organizational actions undertaken in response to contingency factors; and performance

variables – represent the dependent variables. Our list of the requirements (gender inequality

determinants) will be the contingency variables; mitigation processes will be response

variables; and contributions of mitigation processes to sustainable development will be

performance variables. Sustainable development will be considered in three dimensions;

economic, social and environmental.

The resource-based view (RBV) argues that firms achieve sustainable competitive advantages

by deploying its bundle of resources and capabilities which are unique and internal to the

firm. It is also argued that resource means anything that can be considered as strength of a

firm. It may be tangible, such as, financial reserves, plant and machinery, equipment, stocks

of raw materials, and other physical assets or intangible such as brand names, in-house

knowledge of technology, skilled and trained human resources, managerial capabilities,

organizational culture, social relationship, reputation, trade contacts, effective and efficient

processes, etc. (Wernerfelt 1984; Grant 1991; Barney 1991).

The RBV focuses on internal drivers and reasons for superior performance and competitive

advantage. The emphasis is that possession of key resources and capabilities, effective

development and deployment of these key resources and capabilities provide a unique group

of aspects to develop and maintain a competitive advantage (Clulow et al., 2003; Lopez,

2005). RBV shifted the attention from external market and industry factors as an explanation

for a firm’s competitive advantage to the internal resources and a more intra-organisational

explanation of competitive advantage (Lopez, 2005; Sun and Tse, 2009). In rapidly changing

environments (such as the current business context) companies need resources and

capabilities to survive and grow over both the short and long-term. Firms need to

acknowledge, acquire, develop and retain the needed resources to ensure a competitive

advantage and to then consistently perform better than their rivals (Clulow, et al., 2003).

- 9 -

We argue that RBV can also be applicable at the community level. Women’s access to

resources (for example, skill development of women, women’s participation in decision

making, access to capital, assets, knowledge, etc.) enhances their capabilities which contribute

to women empowerment, and consequently, women empowerment leads to sustainable

development. Based on the contingency approach and RBV the structure of our research

model will be as follows:

Figure 1: Research model

The model exhibits that in the context of existing gender inequalities in coastal communities

of Bangladesh it is important to identify the determinants of gender inequalities. Once the

existing important gender inequalities are identified, actions and resources need to be

developed at a community and organizational level. The actions and resource deployment will

ensure sustainable development as an output.

3. Methodology

Research by adopting a mixed method, combination of qualitative and quantitative methods,

has had popularity in current research streams (Bryman 2006) because it assists in increasing

the quality, accuracy, validity and reliability of data (Creswell 2003; Babbie 2004). In line

with the research objectives, this paper involves a sequential process of qualitative and

quantitative methods. In line with the research questions as outlined in Section 1, the study is

conducted in 3 phases using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Table 2 provides a

summary of the research design corresponding to the research questions.

Determinants of gender inequality

Community level and organizational level actions & resources as par Contingency & RBV, contextualized for coastal community of Bangladesh

Sustainable development

- 10 -

Table 2: Summary of research design

Phases Research question Data collection Data analysis

Phase 1

What are the determinants of gender inequality in Coastal Fishing Communities of Bangladesh?

Literature regarding gender inequality, sustainable development. Semi-structured questionnaire to collect data from individual level and institutional level.

Content analysis of Literature search and analysis of data from field study using AHP

Phase 2

What are the requirements and processes of mitigating gender inequality in Coastal fishing communities of Bangladesh?

Data collected through the Literature search, Web searches and Questionnaires determine the processes of mitigating gender inequality

QFD

Phase 3

What are the most suitable programmes to abate gender inequality and hence ensure sustainable development of coastal fishing communities of Bangladesh?

All the findings from the previous steps determine the most suitable programmes to abate gender inequality, and hence ensure sustainable development

QFD

Population for project

Coastal community of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Sample Individuals, Government representatives, NGOs

A discussion of each of the three phases follows.

Phase 1, Aim: The first phase of the research deals with identifying the determinants of

gender inequality in coastal fishing community of Bangladesh.

Approach: This phase is exploratory in nature.

Data collection: Qualitative research methods are used in this phase and our primary data

collection method is literature review and interviews. Field study is conducted to identify

determinants of gender inequality in coastal community of Bangladesh. Factors and variables

from the literature are used in identifying the determinants of gender inequality. Extensive

literature survey is conducted with respect to SD, livelihood approach and women

empowerment in the specified coastal community to come up with a range of factors and

variables. A semi-structured questionnaire is developed to collect the data from coastal

women at a community level, NGO workers, and government representatives at a

organizational level of the specified study area since they are considered as relevant

stakeholders according to the literature regarding sustainable livelihood and sustainable

development of coastal fishing communities (Hossain et al., 2007). At the first step, one

- 11 -

participant from each category of stakeholders is considered to explore the factors of gender

inequality. Then at the second step the same process is repeated to identify new factors and

realised that new factors have extracted from the coastal fishing women and NGO

representative. However, no factor has emerged from the government representative

stakeholder. Then again, the same process is repeated for the same purpose and found that no

new factor has been explored at all. Thus, saturation level of the data is reached at this stage.

This stepwise procedure is supported by the study of (Francis et al., 2010) which guides us to

select five respondents for exploring gender inequality factors. Further, it is an acceptable

number of respondents because four to eight participants can be considered acceptable for

qualitative interview (Perry 1998). The average interview time was around 60 to 80 minutes.

The interview findings validate the initial research model developed from the literature.

Data analysis: Data analyses have been done via content analysis of the collected literature

and the interview scripts. The extracted determinants have been compared with the literature

and necessary amendment has been made under the dimensions of environmental, economic

and social sustainability. Once the gender inequality determinants have been finalized the

determinants are then rated based on the importance. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has

been used to determine the importance of determinants. AHP was originally developed by

Saaty (1980) which is an established multi-criteria decision making approach that employs a

unique method of hierarchical structuring of a problem and subsequent ranking of alternative

solutions by a paired comparison technique. AHP is frequently used in QFD process, for

instance, Georgiou et al. (2008), Han et al. (2001), Das and Mukherjee (2008), Lu et al.

(1994), Armacost et al. (1994), Park and Kim (1998), Mukherjee (2011), Koksal and Egitman

(1998), Bhattacharya et al.(2005), Hanumaiah et al. (2006), Lam and Zhao (1998), Chan and

Wu (1998), Han et al. (2001), Xie et al. (1998), Wang et al. (1998) and more. In this research

approach, AHP will be used to prioritize the gender inequality determinants and to prioritize

the processes of mitigating gender inequality in line with sustainable outcome.

Respondents have been asked for pairwise comparison among the gender inequality

determinants. A nineteen point scale, developed by Saaty (1980), has been used for pairwise

comparison process. Finally identified determinants of gender inequality have been

considered as basis for QFD (Akao 1990) input.

- 12 -

Phase 2, Aim: This second phase of the research is conducted to gain insights into the

requirements and processes of mitigating gender inequality in coastal fishing communities of

Bangladesh.

Approach: the approach is also exploratory, similar to the first phase.

Data collection: In this phase, the same respondents have been asked about mitigation

approach. QFD tool developed by Akao (1990) is used for gender inequality mitigation

processes.

QFD was originally developed for high quality product and process design. QFD essentially

translates customer requirements to various strategies to address the requirements and develop

priorities among the strategies (Akao 1990). Now QFD is used in various fields for

determining customer needs (Stratton 1989), developing priorities (Han et al. 1998),

formulating annual policies (Philips, Sander, and Govers 1994), manufacturing strategies

(Crowe and Cheng 1996; Jugulum and Sefik 1998), and environmental decision making

(Berglund 1993). Chan and Wu (2002), and Mehrjerdi (2010) provide a long list of areas

where QFD has been applied. Recently, companies are successfully using QFD as a powerful

tool that addresses strategic and operational decisions in businesses (Mehrjerdi 2010). In QFD

modelling, customer requirements are referred as “WHATs” and how to fulfil the

requirements’ are referred as “HOWs” (See Figure 2). The process of using appropriate

HOWs to meet the given WHATs is represented as a matrix. Six sets of input information are

required in a basic QFD model: (i) WHATs; (Hamel and Välikangas) IMPORTANCE of

WHATs (iii) HOWs; (iv) Correlation Matrix; and (v) Relationship Matrix (Mukherjee 2011).

In recent times the application of QFD has spread from operational to strategies planning

covering applications areas of government, finance, healthcare, education, and research

(Mehrjerdi 2010).

Data analysis: Therefore, QFD analysis is also used in this study. By using QFD required

gender inequality mitigation processes have been identified and their importance has been

determined based on the identified gender inequality determinants in the first phase.

Phase 3, Aim: In the third phase of the research focus is on identifying the most suitable

programmes to abate gender inequality and hence enhance SD of coastal fishing communities

of Bangladesh.

Data collection: The researchers investigate the most suitable processes among the mitigation

processes identified in the second phase to mitigate the gender inequalities as found above in

the first phase. Once the confirmed set of processes is identified, the researchers apply QFD

- 13 -

process to prioritize these processes with respect to the “determinants” of gender inequality.

This phase of the research uses quantitative method. As par QFD, the processes are evaluated

with respect to gender equality for SD; and the processes themselves are evaluated in order to

find the similarities and the overlapping characteristics.

Using the QFD technique the following steps are followed: Step 1, 2, and 3 are covered in the

1st and 2nd phase of the research; and step 4, 5 and 6 are completed in the 3rd phase of the

research.

Step 1: Identification of sustainability barriers that are termed as WHATs;

Step 2: Relative importance ratings of WHATs are determined by using AHP method;

Step 3: Design requirements (HOWs) are generated to mitigate barriers;

Step 4: Correlation between design requirements (HOWs) are determined;

Step 5: Relationships between WHATs and HOWs are determined;

Step 6: Relative importance of HOWs are determined;

Step 7: Based on the rankings of weights of HOWs the design requirements are selected.

Once the determinants of gender inequalities and the relevant processes for inequality

mitigation have been identified in 1st and 2nd phase of the research the respondents have been

asked about the relationship between gender inequalities and corresponding mitigation design

requirement (DR). The relationships are described as Strong, Moderate, Little, or No

relationship which are later replaced by weights (e.g. 9, 3, 1, 0). These weights are used to

represent the degree of importance attributed to the relationship. Thus, as shown in Table 1,

the importance weight of each design requirement can be determined by the following

equation:

𝐷𝑤 = ∑ 𝐴𝑖𝑛𝑖=1 𝑅𝑖𝑤 ∀𝑤, 𝑤 = 1, … … ,𝑚 .... ........ (1)

Where, 𝐷𝑤 = Importance weight of the wth design requirement;

𝐴𝑖 = Importance weight of the ith gender inequality;

𝑅𝑖𝑤 = Relationship value between the ith gender inequality and wth design requirement;

𝑚 = Number of design requirements; and 𝑛 = Number of gender inequality.

According to the QFD matrix the absolute importance of the gender inequality determinants

can be determined by the following equation:

𝐴𝐼𝑖 = ∑ 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝑖=1 𝐷𝑤 ∀𝑤, 𝑤 = 1, … … ,𝑚 ................. (2)

Where, 𝐴𝐼𝑖 = Absolute importance of the ith gender inequality (𝐺𝐼𝑖);

- 14 -

𝑅𝑖 = Importance weight of the ith gender inequality;

𝐷𝑤 = Importance weight of the wth capability design requirement;

Therefore, the absolute importance for the 1st gender inequality (𝐺𝐼𝑖1) will be:

𝐴𝐼𝑖1 = 𝑅𝑖1𝐷𝑤1 + R𝑖1Dw2 + … . . + R𝑖1D𝑤𝑚

Thus, the relative importance of the 1st gender inequality (𝐺𝐼𝑖1) will be:

𝑅𝐼𝑖1 = 𝐴𝐼𝑖1∑ 𝐴𝐼𝑖𝑛𝑖=1

.............. .............. ...... .......... (Hasan et al.)

Where, 𝑅𝐼𝑖1 = Relative importance of the gender inequality (𝐺𝐼𝑖1);

𝐴𝐼𝑖1 = Absolute importance of the (𝐺𝐼𝑖1);

Similarly, the absolute importance and the relative importance of all other gender inequality

can be determined by following the Equations (2) and (Hasan et al.).

Now, the absolute value for the first design requirements (𝐴𝐼𝑑1) will be:

𝐴𝐼𝑑1 = 𝑅𝑖1𝐷𝑤1 + 𝑅𝑖2𝐷𝑤1 + … . . + 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝐷𝑤1

In the same way, the relative importance of the 1st design requirements (𝑅𝐼𝑑1)can be

determined by the following equation:

𝑅𝐼𝑑1 = 𝐴𝐼𝑑1∑ 𝐴𝐼𝑑𝑛𝑑=1

....................... (4)

Table 3: QFD matrix

Gender

inequalities 𝑫𝑹𝟏 𝑫𝑹𝟐 ..... 𝑫𝑹𝒎 A. I. R. I.

𝐺𝐼𝑖1 𝑅𝑖1𝐷𝑤1 𝑅𝑖1𝐷𝑤2 ..... 𝑅𝑖1𝐷𝑤𝑚 𝐴𝐼𝑖1 𝑅𝐼𝑖1

𝐺𝐼𝑖2 𝑅𝑖2𝐷𝑤1 𝑅𝑖2𝐷𝑤2 ..... 𝑅𝑖2𝐷𝑤𝑚 𝐴𝐼𝑖2 𝑅𝐼𝑖2

. . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

𝐺𝐼𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝐷𝑤1 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝐷𝑤2 ..... 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝐷𝑤𝑚 𝐴𝐼𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝐼𝑖𝑛

A. I. 𝐴𝐼𝑑1 𝐴𝐼𝑑2 …. 𝐴𝐼𝑑𝑚

R. I. 𝑅𝐼𝑑1 𝑅𝐼𝑑2 …. 𝑅𝐼𝑑𝑚

Note: A.I.= Absolute importance; R.I.= Relative importance; DR= Design requirements;

- 15 -

4. Findings and Results

From the content analysis it is revealed that women of the coastal fishing community are

subject to different types of discriminations and obstructions which make them vulnerable and

consequently, impedes the process towards SD. More specifically, such types of

discriminations create major hurdles to social upliftment, environmental improvement, and

economic growth. The issues that are highlighted and emphasised by the respondents of the

field study are discrimination in education, discrimination in health care, poor nutritional

intake, lack of assets (e.g. land, machinery), limited access to capital and employment, more

household responsibility, lack of technical skill, lack of freedom in decision making, and

being victims of violence.

Regarding the drop-out from education participant 2 for example, states that “we cannot

continue school as we need to work and take care of household activities”.

Likewise, with regard to health and nutrition participant 3 mentions that “we have very

limited income and a major portion of the income is spent for buying rice. With the remaining

portion of the money we cannot afford good food; and we eat only what is left after feeding

all the family members”.

It can be interpreted from the quotation that the women in coastal fishing community do not

have the opportunity for good nutritional intake. In the rural and coastal areas of Bangladesh

it is a type of custom that the women in the family shall take food after serving all. Because of

this practise they get the leftover of the food in the pot and most often it is very small quantity

to meet their nutritional intake.

Participant 4 says about the limited scope of capital and employment and enumerated that “a

number of women are involved in collection of fish fries which is very harmful as thousands

of other species are killed for few prawn fry. Actually they have no other task to do and they

do not have enough money to start any venture”.

In this regard it is notable that the easiest way of earning money by coastal women is catching

the young fish for fish hatchery. For this, they use a type of net with very small mash size. As

a result when they try to catch baby prawn (fish fry) other baby fish species are also caught

died. This has the effect of hampering the bio-diversity and fish stock.

- 16 -

In the context of the prevailing gender inequality in coastal fishing communities the same

respondents were asked about the mitigation processes they mentioned about a number of

mitigation techniques (not clear-rewrite). For example, participant 1 addresses that; “School

dropout rate can be reduced if the family members’ attitude towards women is changed. This

can be done by encouraging the family members about women education.”

In line with this it is mentionable that the perception of coastal and rural people is that women

do not need to study more. They shall basically do the household work.

Participant 4 states that “women in coastal fishing community do not have capital and

expertise. If the cooperative venture initiative is taken by them, the gap of capital and skill

will be minimised.”

A summarized picture of the extracted factors and variables regarding gender inequality and

mitigation processes are shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Gender inequality factors identified by participants

WHATs (Gender inequalities) P1 P2 P3 P4 P5

Lack of education y y y y y

Health care - y y y -

Nutrition y - y - y

Lack of asset & income y y y y y

Capital y y y y

More household responsibility - y y - -

Lack of technical skill y - y - y

Lack of freedom in decision making y y y - -

Victim to violence - y - y y

HOWs (Policies)

Encouraging women education y y y y -

Micro financing Y y y y y

Skill development training y - y y -

Cooperative venture - y - y -

Building awareness about health and nutrition y - y - y

Legal protection - y y - -

Once the gender inequality factors are identified, weight of each factor has been calculated by

adopting AHP. These weights then are the further inputs for determining the relative

importance of gender inequality mitigation processes in QFD analysis.

- 17 -

Lack of education 1.23 0.59 0.53 0 0.23 0 0 2.58

Health care 0.49 0.16 0.07 0.07 0.88 0 0.09 1.73

Nutrition 0.33 0.24 0.19 0.11 1.29 0 0.14 2.16

Lack of asset & income 1.23 1.06 0.57 1.06 0 0.33 0.74 4.25

Capital 0.31 1.21 0.31 0.45 0 0.10 0.40 2.38

More household responsibility 0.07 0.09 0.09 0.07 0 0.05 0.12 0.38

Lack of technical skill 0.36 0.27 0.57 0.11 0 0 0 1.31

Lack of freedom in decision making 0.27 0.23 0.16 0.18 0.09 0.13 0.05 1.06

Victim to violence 0.12 0.04 0.04 0.05 0 0.24 0.03 0.50

A.I 4.41 3.89 2.53 2.1 2.49 .85 1.57 16.35

R.I 0.270 0.238 0.154 0.128 0.152 0.052 0.096 1.00

Contribution to SD 9×.25 4.33×.25 3.33×.25 3.33×.25 5×.25 2.33×.25 4.33×.25 7.9125

Contribution to EnD 4.33×

.095 .75×.095

1.67×

.095

.75×

.095 0×.095 0×.095 7×.095 1.1875

Contribution to EcD 7×.655 7×.655 7×.655 5×.655 2.33×.655

1.67×

.655 7×.655 22.48615

Absolute contribution to SSD 7.24635 5.73875 5.57615 4.17875 2.77615 1.67635 6.3325 33.525

Relative contribution to SSD 0.216 0.171 0.166 0.125 0.083 0.050 0.189 1.00

Note: SD= Social development, EnD= Environmental development, EcD= Economic development, and SSD= Sustainable development

Figure 3: QFD Analysis

- 18 -

5. Discussions

In this paper, based on the interview with respondents a number of gender inequality barriers

have been listed. Then the relative importance of the inequality indicators has been identified

by using AHP which is shown in Figure 2. Among the nine inequality indicators the most

important is lack of income and assets (24.5%) followed by education (17.6%), poor nutrition

(14.3%), limited access to capital (13.4%) and so on. These findings are consistent with the

literature regarding gender inequalities in coastal areas of Bangladesh as Rabbanee et al

(2012) and Solaiman et al. (2003) mention that coastal women of Bangladesh have lack of

opportunity of earning, and have very limited access to capital. Further, the inequality

regarding education is related with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS, 2010)

corresponding to backwardness of women education in rural areas in comparison to urban

areas. After determining the gender inequality determinants and their importance, correlation

between the determinants (WHATs) and the inequality mitigation design requirements

(HOWs) was performed. The correlation results have been multiplied with the corresponding

weights of each WHATs. For example, the correlation result of first design requirement is 7

(average correlation score of 9,9,3 according to the opinion of three respondents) is multiplied

by the relative importance of the first WHAT, 0.176. The resultant payoff is 1.23 which is

shown in Figure 3. After determining the correlation between WHATs and HOWs the relative

importance of each design requirements is calculated. Among the relative importance of the

design requirements, the most important design requirement is fostering women education

(27%), followed by creating financing opportunities (23.8%), skill development (15.4%), and

building awareness about health (15.2%). It is obvious that education is very important for

every walk of life and the rural women of Bangladesh are far behind in education which

impinges the development and empowerment of women from many different angles. From

the correlation matrix it is evident that fostering education is highly effective to mitigate a

number of inequalities, for example, mitigating discrimination related to education, health,

nutrition, skill development and others. The roof matrix also indicates that fostering the

education of women is correlated with most of the design requirements leading to the

Figure 4: Priorities with respect to: Goal: Contribution to sustainable development

Social sustainability .250 Environmental sustainability .095 Economic sustainability .655

Inconsistency = 0.02

- 19 -

abatement of gender inequalities.

The importance of design requirements further justified with respect to sustainability outcome

perspective which is related to research question (iii). In this regard at first, the importance of

social, environmental and economic criteria has been determined by AHP which is shown in

Figure 2. Then the respondents were asked to put the importance of each design requirement,

in a scale of 0,1,3,9, corresponding to the contribution to social development, environmental

development, and economic development. Finally, the importance of each design requirement

is multiplied by the importance of social, environmental and economic criteria. For example,

the importance of social criteria is 0.655 and the contribution of 1st design requirement to SD

is 9 (average score of three respondents in a scale of 0,1,3,9); then the payoff result is 5.895

(9×0.655). Thus the score of other payoffs were calculated to justify the importance of the

design requirements with respect to a sustainable outcome. In this regard, the highest

contribution to a sustainable outcome is derived from the design requirement, fostering

education (33.33%). Similarly, Financing, alternative income generation and skill

development account for 30.41%, 29.66% and 29.33% respectively to the goal of SD.

5. 1 Research Implications

This study generates new knowledge in the field of sustainable development by linking

sustainability barrier mitigation and gender equality using the theoretical foundation of

contingency theory and the resource-based view (RBV). The findings of this study contribute

to the body of knowledge on sustainable development and gender studies. Based on the

relevant theories, an approach is developed that identifies important barriers to gender

inequality and the corresponding strategies to mitigate those. This study is based on mixed

method research as it uses content analysis in conjunction with AHP integrated QFD

approach. Such approach is quite new in the field of gender studies and sustainable

development. Therefore, our study is an important addition to the repository of theoretical and

methodological knowledge on sustainable development and gender studies.

5.2 Management and Policy Implications

The outcome of the study offers a number of significant inputs for the policy makers at

different tiers of government bodies. Based on the result and discussion of this study the

authorities, development partners, and the collaborators (NGOs) can identify the vital

indicators of gender inequality and can focus on the prioritized gender inequality mitigation

processes, such as, fostering women education, developing financing opportunities, creation

- 20 -

of alternative income, skill development and training. In addition, the relevant bodies may

design sustainable development planning focusing on eliminating gender inequalities in

coastal communities of Bangladesh.

5.3 Limitations and future research directions

The study has specific limitations which open opportunities for further research. The study is

based on limited sample size which needs an empirical verification by survey research to

prove the external validity of the research outcome. Existing research reveals that gender

inequality mitigation processes contribute to SD (Hatfield, 2002; Johnsson-Latham, 2007) and

empirical research on the relationship between the gender inequality mitigation process and

SD is quite absent. Therefore, further research needs to be carried out to examine the gender

inequality determinants and the mitigation processes by using quantitative research methods

through an empirical survey. Structural equation modelling (Barclay et al., 1995) can be used

to test the relationship between mitigation of gender inequality and SD.

6. Conclusion

The existing research lacks empirical studies integrating gender equality and SD. This paper

determines the indicators of gender inequality of coastal fishing communities of Cox’s Bazar,

Bangladesh; and explores the ways and means of mitigating gender inequality for SD of that

area. There are a number of implications of this study. Firstly, significant gender inequality

determinants for SD are identified. Secondly, the study suggests the corresponding design

requirements to mitigate those inequalities to ensure SD in coastal fishing communities of

Bangladesh. Thirdly, it shows the contribution of the inequality mitigation processes to the

SD of the community. Fourthly, it introduces a new technique by adopting a mixed method

research in gender studies. Finally, the findings of the research will help the government

policy makers and NGOs to identify acute gender discrimination issues as well as gender

inequality reduction measures for SD. These findings can be applied in the fishing

communities of coastal areas but also generalised to the national level.

- 21 -

References:

Agostino, A. (2010). Gender equality, climate change and education for sustainability. Equals Newsletter, (24), 1-3.

Akao, Yoji. (1990). Quality Function Deployment (QFD): Integrating customer requirements into Product Design. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press.

Armacost, R. L., P. J. Componation, M. A. Mullens, and W. W. Swart. (1994). An AHP framework for prioritizing customer requirements in QFD: An industrialized housing application IIE transactions 26 (4): 72-79.2012/02/10).

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). (2010). Report on the Bangladesh Literacy Survey, 2010, Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning, Available online: http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/userfiles/Image/Survey%20reports/Bangladesh%20Literacy%20Surver%202010f.pdf

Bansal, P. (2005). “Evolving sustainability: a longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development”, Strategic Management Journal, 26: 197-218.

Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of management, 17(1), 99.

Baumgartner, R.J. and Korhonen, J. (2010). “Strategic thinking for sustainable development”, Sustainable Development”,18: 71-75.

Becker, J. (2010). “Use of backcasting to integrate indicators with principles of sustainability”, International Journal of Sustainable Development World, 17: 189-197.

Barclay, D., Higgins, C., & Thompson, R. (1995). Partial Least Squares Approach to Causal Modeling: Personal Computer Adoption and Use as an Illustration. Technology Studies, 2(2), 285-324.

Berglund, R. L. (1993). QFD: A critical tool for environmental decision making. In 47th Annual Quality Congress of the ASQC. Boston, MA.

Bhattacharya, Arijit, Sarkar, Bijan, & Mukherjee, Sanat Kumar. (2005). Integrating AHP with QFD for robot selection under requirement perspective. International journal of production research, 43(17), 3671-3685. doi: 10.1080/00207540500137217

Byrch, C., Kearins, K., Milne, M. and Morgan, R. (2007). “Sustainable “what”? A cognitive approach to understanding sustainable development”, Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 4: 26-52. Bhattacharya, A., B. Sarkar, and S. K. Mukherjee. (2005). Integrating AHP with QFD for

robot selection under requirement perspective. International journal of production research 43 (17): 3671-3685.2012/02/10).

Chan, L.-K., and M.-L. Wu. (2002). Quality function deployment: A literature review. European Journal of Operational Research 143 (Hasan et al.): 463-497.

Chan, L. K., and M. L. Wu. (1998). Prioritizing the technical measures in Quality Function Deployment. Quality engineering 10 (Hasan et al.): 467-479.2012/02/10).

Chant, S., 1997, ‘Women-headed households: poorest of the poor? Perspectives from Mexico, Costa Rica and the Philippines’, IDS Bulletin, Vol 28 No 3: 26–48

Chuang, C. and Liao, H. 2010. “Strategic human resource management in service context: taking care of business by taking care of employees and customers”, Personnel Psychology,63: 153-196.

Clulow, V., Gertsman, J. and Barry, C. (2003), ‘The resource-based view and sustainable competitive advantage: the case of a financial services firm’, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 220-232. Crowe, T. J., and C.-C. Cheng. (1996). Using quality function deployment in manufacturing

strategic planning. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 16 (4): 35-48.

- 22 -

D’Amato, A. and Roome, N. (2009). “Leadership of Organizational change. Toward an integrated model of leadership for corporate responsibility and sustainable development: a process model of corporate responsibility beyond management innovation”, Corporate Governance, 9: 421-434.

Das, D., and K. Mukherjee. (2008). Development of an AHP-QFD framework for designing a tourism product. International Journal of Services and Operations Management 4 (Hasan et al.): 321-344.

Demographic, B. (2009). Health Survey (BDHS) 2007. Published: March. Daub, C., and Sherrer, Y.M. (2009). “Doing the right thing right: The role of social research

and consulting for corporate engagement in development cooperation”, Journal of Business Ethics, 85: 573-584.

Denton, D. Keith. (1994). Enviro-management: How smart companies turn environmental costs into profits. N.J.: Prentice Hall

Elkington, John. (1999). Triple bottom-line reporting: Looking for balance. Intheblack, 69(2). Elkington, John. 2006. “Governance for sustainability”, Corporate Governance, 14: 522-529. Epstein, M.J., Buhovac, A.R., and Yuthas, K. (2010). “Implementing sustainability: The role

of leadership and organisational culture”, Strategic Finance, 91: 41-47. Epstein, M.J. and Buhovac, A.R. (2010). “Solving sustainability implementation challenges”,

Organizational Dynamics, 39: 306-315. Esquer, J., Velazquez, L. and Munguia, N. (2008). “Perceptions of core elements for

sustainability management systems (SMS)”, Management Decision, 46: 1027-1038. Fedon, P. 2004. Gender ineqaulity hampers Phillipine economic development. Finance Wire. http://search.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/467111986/fulltext/13D529CDA0

5756DBEB1/4?accountid=10382 Georgiou, A. C., K. Gotzamani, A. Andronikidis, and G. N. Paltayian. (2008). 11th QMOD

Conference: Quality Management and Organizational Development Attaining Sustainability From Organizational Excellence to SustainAble Excellence, A Combined QFD, AHP and ANP Approach for Quality Improvement and Capacity Expansion in the Greek Banking Sector: Some Preliminary Results. Helsingborg, Sweden: Linköping University Electronic Press, Linköpings universitet.

Grant, R. M. (1991). The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation (pp. 114-135). California Management Review, University of California.

Han, C. H., J. K. Kim, S. H. Choi, and S. H. Kim. (1998). Determination of information system development priority using quality function development. Computers & Industrial Engineering 35 (1–2): 241-244.

Han, S. B., S. K. Chen, M. Ebrahimpour, and M. S. Sodhi. (2001). A conceptual QFD planning model. The International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 18 (8): 796.

Hanumaiah, N., B. Ravi, and N. P. Mukherjee. 2006. Rapid hard tooling process selection using QFD-AHP methodology. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 17 (Hasan et al.): 332-350.

Hart, S. L., & Milstein, M. B. (2003). Creating sustainable value. The Academy of Management Executive, 17(2), 56-67.

Hazlett, S.A., McAdam, R., and Murray, L. (2007). “From quality management to socially responsible organisations: the case for CSR”. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 2: 669-82.

IMF Country Report No. 12/293, Bangladesh: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. October 2012

- 23 -

Jabbour, C.J.C. and Santos, F.C.A. (2008). “The central role of human resource management in the search for sustainable organizations”. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19: 2133-2154.

Jamali, D. (2006). “Insights into triple bottom line integration from a learning organization perspective”. Business Process Management Journal, 12: 809-21.

Palmer-Jones, R., & Jackson, C. (1997). Work intensity, gender and sustainable development. Food Policy, 22(1), 39-62.

Jugulum, R., and M. Sefik. (1998). Building a robust manufacturing strategy. Computers & Industrial Engineering 35 (1–2): 225-228.

Kabeer N. (2003). Mainstreaming Gender in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals. Commonwealth Secretariat and IDRC: London and Ottawa

Khosla, Nidhi (2009). The Ready-Made Garments Industry in Bangladesh: A Means to Reducing Gender-Based Social Exclusion of Women? Journal of International Women's Studies, 11(1), 289-303.

KLEIH, U. (2002). Visit to Bangladesh on PHFRP Project'Fish distribution from coastal communities-market and credit access issues. 17 January-1 February 2002. Back to Office Report. Natural Resources Institute (NRI), Chatham, UK.

KLEIH, U., ALAM, K., DASTIDAR, R., OUDWATER, N., & WARD, A. (2002). Report of workshop on'Poverty alleviation and livelihood security among the coastal fish communities-market and credit access issues'. 27-28 March 2001. Natural Resources Institute (NRI), Chatham, UK and Community Development Centre, Chittagong, Bangladesh.[2 days].

Köksal, G., and A. Eğı̇tman. (1998). Planning and design of industrial engineering education quality. Computers & Industrial Engineering 35 (3–4): 639-642.

Lam, K., and X. Zhao. (1998). An application of quality function deployment to improve the quality of teaching. The International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 15 (4): 389-413.

Laughland, P. and Bansal, P.(2011). “The top ten reasons why business aren‟t more sustainable”, Ivey Business Journal, Jan/Feb: 12-19.

Linnenluecke, M.K. and Griffiths, A. (2010). “Corporate sustainability and organizational culture”, Journal of World Business, 45: 357-366.

Lopez, S.V. (2005), ‘Competitive advantage and strategy formulation. The key role of dynamic capabilities’, Management Decision, Vol. 43, No. 5/6, pp. 661-669. Lu, M. H., C. N. Madu, C.-h. Kuei, and D. Winokur. (1994). Integrating QFD, AHP and

Benchmarking in Strategic Marketing. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 9 (1): 41-50.

Mehrjerdi, Y. Z. (2010). Applications and extensions of quality function deployment. Assembly Automation 30 (4): 388-403.

Mukherjee, K. (2011). House of sustainability (HOS) : an innovative approach to achieve sustainability in the Indian coal sector. In Handbook of corporate sustainability : frameworks, strategies and tools, ed. M. A. Quaddus and M. A. B. Siddique, 57-76. Massachusetts, USA: Edward Elgar.

Nguyen, D.K. and Slater, S.F. (2010). “Hitting the sustainability sweetspot: having it all. Journal of Business Strategy, 31: 5-11.

Osborn, D., & Bigg, T. (1998). Earth summit II: outcomes and analysis. Earthscan Publications Ltd.

Park, T., and K.-J. Kim. (1998). Determination of an optimal set of design requirements using house of quality. Journal of operations management 16 (5): 569-581.

- 24 -

Philips, M., P. Sander, and C. Govers. (1994). Policy Formulation by Use of QFD Techniques: A Case Study. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 11 (5): 46-58.

Rabbanee, F. K., Yasmin, S., & Haque, A. (2012). WOMEN INVOLVEMENT IN DRY FISH VALUE CHAIN APPROACHES TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research Vol,1(12), 42-58.

Rassafi, A.A., Poorzahedy, H. and Vaziri, M. (2006). “An alternative definition of sustainability using stability and chaos theories”, Sustainable Development Journal, 14: 62-71.

Saaty, T. L. (1980). AHP: The Analytic Hierarchy Process. New York: McGraw-Hill. Samy, M., Odemilin, G. and Bampton, R. (2010). “Corporate social responsibility: a strategy

for sustainable business success. An analysis of 20 selected British companies”, Corporate Governance, 10: 203-217.

Stead, W.E., Stead, J.G. and Starik, M. (2004). “Sustainable Strategic Management”, ME Sharpe, New York, NY.

Steurer, R., Langer, M.E., Konrad, A. and Martinuzzi A. (2005). “Corporations, Stakeholders and Sustainable Development 1: A theoretical exploration of business-society relations”, Journal of Business Ethics, 61: 263-281.

Stratton, B. (1989). The refined focus of automotive quality. Quality progress 22 (10): 47-50. Sun, M. and Tse, E. (2009), ‘The Resource-based view of competitive advantage in two-sided markets’, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 45-64. Tashakkori, A., and C. Teddlie. 2003. Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research: Sage. United Nations. (1992). United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio

de Janeiro, 14 June, Agenda 21, 1992. Geneva: United Nations. http://www.unep.org/. United Nations. (1997). United Nations Earth Summit +5, New York, 23-27 June, 1997.

Geneva: United Nations. http://www.un.org.esa/earthsummit/ United Nations Development Program. (2008). Human development report 2007/2008:

fighting climate change: human solidarity in a divided world. Palgrave Macmillan. United Nations Development Program (UNDP). (2011). Sustainability and equity, a better

future for all. Human Development Report 2011. United Nations Statistics Division. Demographic yearbook 2009–2010. New York, NY: United Nations. (2011). Available from:

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2009-2010.htm Velazquez, L.E., Esquer, J., Munguıa, N.E. and Moure-Eraso, R. (2011). “Sustainable

learning organizations”, The Learning Organization, 18: 36-44. WCED. (1987). Our common feature- World commission on Environment and Development.

Oxford: Oxfor University press. Wallis, A.M., Kelly, A.R. and Graymore, M.L.M. (2010). “Assessing sustainability: a

technical fix or a means of social learning?”, International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 17: 67-75.

Wang, H., M. Xie, and T. N. Goh. (1998). A comparative study of the prioritization matrix method and the analytic hierarchy process technique in quality function deployment. Total Quality Management 9 (6): 421-430.2012/02/10).

Wernerfelt, B. (1984). A Resource-Based View of the Firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5, 171-180.

Wickramasinghe, A. (1997). Women and minority groups in environmental management. Sustainable Development, 5(1), 11-20.

- 25 -

World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). “Brundtland Report”. http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Sustainability/Older/Brundtland_Report.html; 1987.

Xie, M., T. N. Goh, and H. Wang. (1998). A study of the sensitivity of ‘‘customer voice’’ in QFD analysis. International Journal of Industrial Engineering 5 (4): 301-307.

- 26 -

Editor, UWA Economics Discussion Papers: Ernst Juerg Weber Business School – Economics University of Western Australia 35 Sterling Hwy Crawley WA 6009 Australia Email: ecoadmin@biz.uwa.edu.au The Economics Discussion Papers are available at: 1980 – 2002: http://ecompapers.biz.uwa.edu.au/paper/PDF%20of%20Discussion%20Papers/ Since 2001: http://ideas.repec.org/s/uwa/wpaper1.html Since 2004: http://www.business.uwa.edu.au/school/disciplines/economics

ECONOMICS DISCUSSION PAPERS 2012

DP NUMBER AUTHORS TITLE

12.01 Clements, K.W., Gao, G., and Simpson, T.

DISPARITIES IN INCOMES AND PRICES INTERNATIONALLY

12.02 Tyers, R. THE RISE AND ROBUSTNESS OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM IN CHINA

12.03 Golley, J. and Tyers, R. DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDENDS, DEPENDENCIES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN CHINA AND INDIA

12.04 Tyers, R. LOOKING INWARD FOR GROWTH

12.05 Knight, K. and McLure, M. THE ELUSIVE ARTHUR PIGOU

12.06 McLure, M. ONE HUNDRED YEARS FROM TODAY: A. C. PIGOU’S WEALTH AND WELFARE

12.07 Khuu, A. and Weber, E.J. HOW AUSTRALIAN FARMERS DEAL WITH RISK

12.08 Chen, M. and Clements, K.W. PATTERNS IN WORLD METALS PRICES

12.09 Clements, K.W. UWA ECONOMICS HONOURS

12.10 Golley, J. and Tyers, R. CHINA’S GENDER IMBALANCE AND ITS ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

12.11 Weber, E.J. AUSTRALIAN FISCAL POLICY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

12.12 Hartley, P.R. and Medlock III, K.B. CHANGES IN THE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF NATIONAL OIL COMPANIES

12.13 Li, L. HOW MUCH ARE RESOURCE PROJECTS WORTH? A CAPITAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

12.14 Chen, A. and Groenewold, N. THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF A REDUCTION IN CARBON EMISSIONS AND AN EVALUATION OF OFFSETTING POLICIES IN CHINA

12.15 Collins, J., Baer, B. and Weber, E.J. SEXUAL SELECTION, CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

- 27 -

12.16 Wu, Y. TRENDS AND PROSPECTS IN CHINA’S R&D SECTOR

12.17 Cheong, T.S. and Wu, Y. INTRA-PROVINCIAL INEQUALITY IN CHINA: AN ANALYSIS OF COUNTY-LEVEL DATA

12.18 Cheong, T.S. THE PATTERNS OF REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN CHINA

12.19 Wu, Y. ELECTRICITY MARKET INTEGRATION: GLOBAL TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE EAS REGION

12.20 Knight, K. EXEGESIS OF DIGITAL TEXT FROM THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT: A COMPARATIVE EXPLORATORY TEST

12.21 Chatterjee, I. COSTLY REPORTING, EX-POST MONITORING, AND COMMERCIAL PIRACY: A GAME THEORETIC ANALYSIS

12.22 Pen, S.E. QUALITY-CONSTANT ILLICIT DRUG PRICES

12.23 Cheong, T.S. and Wu, Y. REGIONAL DISPARITY, TRANSITIONAL DYNAMICS AND CONVERGENCE IN CHINA

12.24 Ezzati, P. FINANCIAL MARKETS INTEGRATION OF IRAN WITHIN THE MIDDLE EAST AND WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD

12.25 Kwan, F., Wu, Y. and Zhuo, S. RE-EXAMINATION OF THE SURPLUS AGRICULTURAL LABOUR IN CHINA

12.26 Wu, Y. R&D BEHAVIOUR IN CHINESE FIRMS

12.27 Tang, S.H.K. and Yung, L.C.W. MAIDS OR MENTORS? THE EFFECTS OF LIVE-IN FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS ON SCHOOL CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN HONG KONG

12.28 Groenewold, N. AUSTRALIA AND THE GFC: SAVED BY ASTUTE FISCAL POLICY?

- 28 -

ECONOMICS DISCUSSION PAPERS 2013

DP NUMBER AUTHORS TITLE

13.01 Chen, M., Clements, K.W. and Gao, G.

THREE FACTS ABOUT WORLD METAL PRICES

13.02 Collins, J. and Richards, O. EVOLUTION, FERTILITY AND THE AGEING POPULATION

13.03 Clements, K., Genberg, H., Harberger, A., Lothian, J., Mundell, R., Sonnenschein, H. and Tolley, G.

LARRY SJAASTAD, 1934-2012

13.04 Robitaille, M.C. and Chatterjee, I. MOTHERS-IN-LAW AND SON PREFERENCE IN INDIA

13.05 Clements, K.W. and Izan, I.H.Y. REPORT ON THE 25TH PHD CONFERENCE IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

13.06 Walker, A. and Tyers, R. QUANTIFYING AUSTRALIA’S “THREE SPEED” BOOM

13.07 Yu, F. and Wu, Y. PATENT EXAMINATION AND DISGUISED PROTECTION

13.08 Yu, F. and Wu, Y. PATENT CITATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS: AN ANALYSIS OF CHINESE PATENTS REGISTER IN THE US

13.09 Chatterjee, I. and Saha, B. BARGAINING DELEGATION IN MONOPOLY

13.10 Cheong, T.S. and Wu, Y. GLOBALIZATION AND REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN CHINA

13.11 Cheong, T.S. and Wu, Y. INEQUALITY AND CRIME RATES IN CHINA

13.12 Robertson, P.E. and Ye, L. ON THE EXISTENCE OF A MIDDLE INCOME TRAP

13.13 Robertson, P.E. THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF CHINA’S GROWTH

13.14 Hanaki, N., Jacquemet, N., Luchini, S., and Zylbersztejn, A.

BOUNDED RATIONALITY AND STRATEGIC UNCERTAINTY IN A SIMPLE DOMINANCE SOLVABLE GAME

13.15 Okatch, Z., Siddique, A. and Rammohan, A.

DETERMINANTS OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN BOTSWANA

13.16 Clements, K.W. and Gao, G. A MULTI-MARKET APPROACH TO MEASURING THE CYCLE

13.17 Chatterjee, I. and Ray, R. THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS IN THE INCIDENCE OF CRIME AND CORRUPTION

13.18 Fu, D. and Wu, Y. EXPORT SURVIVAL PATTERN AND DETERMINANTS OF CHINESE MANUFACTURING FIRMS

13.19 Shi, X., Wu, Y. and Zhao, D. KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE BUSINESS SERVICES AND THEIR IMPACT ON INNOVATION IN CHINA

13.20 Tyers, R., Zhang, Y. and Cheong, T.S.

CHINA’S SAVING AND GLOBAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

13.21 Collins, J., Baer, B. and Weber, E.J. POPULATION, TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND THE EVOLUTION OF INNOVATIVE POTENTIAL

13.22 Hartley, P.R. THE FUTURE OF LONG-TERM LNG CONTRACTS

13.23 Tyers, R. A SIMPLE MODEL TO STUDY GLOBAL MACROECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE

- 29 -

13.24 McLure, M. REFLECTIONS ON THE QUANTITY THEORY: PIGOU IN 1917 AND PARETO IN 1920-21

13.25 Chen, A. and Groenewold, N. REGIONAL EFFECTS OF AN EMISSIONS-REDUCTION POLICY IN CHINA: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT FINANCING METHOD

13.26 Siddique, M.A.B. TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND THAILAND: 1990 TO 2011

13.27 Li, B. and Zhang, J. GOVERNMENT DEBT IN AN INTERGENERATIONAL MODEL OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENDOGENOUS FERTILITY, AND ELASTIC LABOR WITH AN APPLICATION TO JAPAN

13.28 Robitaille, M. and Chatterjee, I. SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONS AND INFANT MORTALITY IN INDIA: THE ROLE OF PARENTS’ STATED SON PREFERENCE

13.29 Ezzati, P. ANALYSIS OF VOLATILITY SPILLOVER EFFECTS: TWO-STAGE PROCEDURE BASED ON A MODIFIED GARCH-M

13.30 Robertson, P. E. DOES A FREE MARKET ECONOMY MAKE AUSTRALIA MORE OR LESS SECURE IN A GLOBALISED WORLD?

13.31 Das, S., Ghate, C. and Robertson, P. E.

REMOTENESS AND UNBALANCED GROWTH: UNDERSTANDING DIVERGENCE ACROSS INDIAN DISTRICTS

13.32 Robertson, P.E. and Sin, A. MEASURING HARD POWER: CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND MILITARY CAPACITY

13.33 Wu, Y. TRENDS AND PROSPECTS FOR THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR IN THE EAS REGION

13.34 Yang, S., Zhao, D., Wu, Y. and Fan, J.

REGIONAL VARIATION IN CARBON EMISSION AND ITS DRIVING FORCES IN CHINA: AN INDEX DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS

- 30 -

ECONOMICS DISCUSSION PAPERS 2014

DP NUMBER AUTHORS TITLE

14.01 Boediono, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia

THE CHALLENGES OF POLICY MAKING IN A YOUNG DEMOCRACY: THE CASE OF INDONESIA (52ND SHANN MEMORIAL LECTURE, 2013)

14.02 Metaxas, P.E. and Weber, E.J. AN AUSTRALIAN CONTRIBUTION TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE THEORY: THE DEPENDENT ECONOMY MODEL

14.03 Fan, J., Zhao, D., Wu, Y. and Wei, J. CARBON PRICING AND ELECTRICITY MARKET REFORMS IN CHINA

14.04 McLure, M. A.C. PIGOU’S MEMBERSHIP OF THE ‘CHAMBERLAIN-BRADBURY’ COMMITTEE. PART I: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

14.05 McLure, M. A.C. PIGOU’S MEMBERSHIP OF THE ‘CHAMBERLAIN-BRADBURY’ COMMITTEE. PART II: ‘TRANSITIONAL’ AND ‘ONGOING’ ISSUES

14.06 King, J.E. and McLure, M. HISTORY OF THE CONCEPT OF VALUE

14.07 Williams, A. A GLOBAL INDEX OF INFORMATION AND POLITICAL TRANSPARENCY

14.08 Knight, K. A.C. PIGOU’S THE THEORY OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND ITS CORRIGENDA: THE LETTERS OF MAURICE ALLEN, ARTHUR L. BOWLEY, RICHARD KAHN AND DENNIS ROBERTSON

14.09

Cheong, T.S. and Wu, Y. THE IMPACTS OF STRUCTURAL RANSFORMATION AND INDUSTRIAL UPGRADING ON REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN CHINA

14.10 Chowdhury, M.H., Dewan, M.N.A., Quaddus, M., Naude, M. and Siddique, A.

GENDER EQUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH A FOCUS ON THE COASTAL FISHING COMMUNITY OF BANGLADESH

14.11 Bon, J. UWA DISCUSSION PAPERS IN ECONOMICS: THE FIRST 750

14.12 Finlay, K. and Magnusson, L.M. BOOTSTRAP METHODS FOR INFERENCE WITH CLUSTER-SAMPLE IV MODELS

14.13 Chen, A. and Groenewold, N. THE EFFECTS OF MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF PROVINCIAL OUTPUT IN CHINA: ESTIMATES FROM A RESTRICTED VAR MODEL

14.14 Hartley, P.R. and Medlock III, K.B. THE VALLEY OF DEATH FOR NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

14.15 Hartley, P.R., Medlock III, K.B., Temzelides, T. and Zhang, X.

LOCAL EMPLOYMENT IMPACT FROM COMPETING ENERGY SOURCES: SHALE GAS VERSUS WIND GENERATION IN TEXAS

14.16 Tyers, R. and Zhang, Y. SHORT RUN EFFECTS OF THE ECONOMIC REFORM AGENDA

14.17 Clements, K.W., Si, J. and Simpson, T. UNDERSTANDING NEW RESOURCE PROJECTS

- 31 -