Bangladesh : searching for a workable development path

Despite substantial increases in per capita income in the 1990s, Bangladesh accomplished less poverty reduction than would have been expected, due to a worsening of the distribution of income. The authors link this deterioration of income distribution to increasing rural- urban migration, and show that the pressures for such migration will increase for at least the next two decades. While conceding that numerous other development challenges face Bangladesh in its attempt to sustain economic growth rates and accelerate poverty reduction, a focus on a cluster of issues surrounding migration and migration incentives is justified by the claim that appropriate policy measures could turn this challenge into an opportunity to both increase growth and improve income distribution.