Professor Hossain conducted a study in order to analyze the effects of primary constraints such as credit, utilities (e.g., water, electricity usage), skills and many other factors on the productivity and efficiency of the micro-enterprises in Bangladesh. He was interested to identify the relative importance of each constraint. The results clearly reveal that of the many primary constraints faced by microenterprises in Bangladesh, credit and utilities have the highest detrimental effects on both productivity and efficiency. Between credit and utilities, the adverse effect of the utility constraint is found to be more than that of credit suggesting that policy makers need to address the utility constraint first to improve the productivity and efficiency of the microenterprises in Bangladesh. The study demonstrates clear policy suggestions about what to be done to improve productivity and efficiency of the microenterprises in Bangladesh.

His research entitled “Productivity and Efficiency of Micro Enterprises in Bangladesh: Relative Importance of the Constraints” has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Strategic Management.