Research

Dissertation Chapters:

“Animal-source food price and labor supply under market failure: Evidence from rural Bangladesh” [Job Market Paper] Link

Abstract: This paper examines how changes in prices of animal-sourced food (ASF), specifically chicken and eggs, affect labor allocation in rural Bangladesh. As ASF has become increasingly important in both consumption and production, rising ASF prices are expected to raise shadow wages and reallocate labor toward livestock activities through a substitution effect. At the same time, higher ASF prices may generate income effects for ASF-producing households, potentially reducing labor effort. These responses are likely to be strongly gendered, reflecting differences in social norms, household roles, and labor-market access for men and women. Using panel data from three rounds of the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (2011/12, 2015, 2018/19) and exploiting spatial and temporal variation in chicken and egg prices, the study estimates gender-specific shadow wages and household shadow income within a non-separable agricultural household framework, and evaluates labor supply responses using instrumental variables. The results reveal clear gender differences. Increases in ASF prices, especially egg prices, raise women's shadow wages more than men's, reflecting women's central role in poultry production. Women’s labor supply responds strongly to higher own shadow wages, particularly in livestock activities, indicating dominant substitution effects; although income effects reduce female labor supply, the net impact remains positive and sizable. For men, both own and cross (female) shadow wages increase participation in livestock, suggesting production complementarity. However, total male working hours remain largely unchanged, implying sectoral reallocation rather than overall labor expansion. These findings highlight how output market conditions shape intra-household labor allocation through gender-differentiated substitution and income effects.

“Impacts of illness and job loss on households within economy-wide shocks: Coping through labor markets”

Abstract: Economy-wide shocks are increasingly common and embody both perturbations shared across all households and individual or household-specific disruptions. This paper investigates the heterogeneous impacts of COVID-19-related illness and job loss on rural households in northeastern Bangladesh, utilizing a two-wave panel dataset and applying difference-in-difference methods with matching techniques. The analysis assesses the effects of household-specific shocks amid a community-wide crisis on key outcomes, including income, expenditure, asset ownership, food insecurity, and labor force participation. Findings reveal significant income losses and heightened food shortages among households experiencing illness and job loss. Moreover, results indicate that households employ diverse coping strategies, including utilizing financial assets and adapting to the labor market. Heterogeneity analysis shows a more significant reliance on financial assets among higher-income households, while lower-income households exhibit higher rates of labor market engagement for coping. Finally, the paper sheds light on the differential impacts of illness and job loss on rural households. It underscores the need for targeted interventions such as cash transfers, food aid, access to credit, and public works programs to enhance resilience in the face of crisis.

“Son preference and women’s mental health and well-being in India” with S. Anukriti, C. Herrera-Almanza, and M. Karra. [Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Development Economics]

Abstract: We document the relationship between son preference and women's mental health and well-being using data on mothers-in-law and their co-resident daughters-in-law from rural India. We leverage exogenous variation in the sex of the daughter-in-law's firstborn child to analyze the effect of a firstborn (grand)son on the (grand)mother's mental health and the relationship between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. Mothers-in-law with firstborn grandsons experience an 18 percent reduction in the risk of anxiety or depression compared to mothers-in-law with firstborn granddaughters. We find no impact of a firstborn son on daughter-in-law mental health. The birth of a grandson also increases mother-in-law approval of her daughter-in-law working outside the home and using family planning, as well as the daughter-in-law's labor force participation and modern contraceptive use. Our findings highlight the costs of gender-biased norms and the need for interventions that jointly address gender equity and mental wellness to improve women's well-being.

Non-reviewed Publications:

1. Minot, Nicholas; Hossain, Shahadat; Kabir, Razin; Dorosh, Paul A.; and Rashid, Shahidur. 2024. “Assessing the impact of rice price stabilization policies in Bangladesh: Results from a stochastic spatial equilibrium model”. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2252. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141799

2. Minot, Nicholas; Hossain, Shahadat; Kabir, Razin; Dorosh, Paul A.; and Rashid, Shahidur. 2021. “Rice price stabilization in Bangladesh: Assessing the impact of public farm-gate and consumer price stabilization instruments on the overall grain market and developing orientations with a greater role for the private sector”. IFPRP Working Paper 11. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134539

3. Dorosh, Paul A.; Minot, Nicholas; Kabir, Razin; and Hossain, Shahadat. 2021. “Private sector rice stocks in Bangladesh: Estimates from the Bangladesh Millers’ and Traders’ Survey (MATS) 2018”. IFPRP Working Paper 6. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134538

Outreach articles:

Hossain, S. and J. Janzen. “The Impact of Long-Run Declines in Gasoline Use on the US Corn Market.” farmdoc daily (12):195, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, December 27, 2022. Link

Work in Progress:

1. “Determinants of Coverage and Content Errors in the Population and Housing Census of Bangladesh 2022” with Mohammad Yunus

2. “Population Pressure and Livelihood Dynamics in Bangladesh” with Mohammad Yunus and Shahidur Rashid