Exports and Inequality: Evidence from the Highly Concentrated Textile and Garment Sector of Bangladesh

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the effects of textile and garment (T&G) exports on income inequality in Bangladesh. Focusing on T&G exports alone, which contribute more than 90% of the country’s total exports, we hypothesize that the export sector of a country being concentrated on a single industry widens income inequality. Based on time series data over the period 1991–2015, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration indicates that there is a long-run relationship between the variables. It seems that exports from the T&G sector have a statistically significant effect on income inequality in the long run, such that the high concentration of T&G exports contributes to widening income inequality in Bangladesh. This result implies that policies oriented toward export diversification are necessary so that people working in other sectors can also engage in income generating activities from exports. Our results also demonstrate that income inequality rises in the initial stages of economic growth. Then, after reaching a threshold level of growth, income inequality falls. This result confirms the validity of the Kuznets hypothesis in the case of Bangladesh.