Dr Syed M Ahsan, Concordia University

Education

Fields of specialization

Public Finance, Economics of Uncertainty, Micro-insurance and Economic Development.

Research interests

Tax Policy and Reform under Uncertainty; Microinsurance, Poverty and Vulnerability; Institutions and Growth; Corruption and Governance; Environmental Health and Poverty

Professional experience

Previously taught at U. of Western Ontario and held a variety of research fellowships and visiting professorships at the University of Bergen, University of Bergamo, BIDS (Dhaka, Bangladesh), University of Bonn, Central European University (Prague), University of Chittagong (Bangladesh), Copenhagen Business School, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA, Bonn), Universita Cattolica del Sacro Coure (Milano), University of Munich, Norwegian School of Economics (Bergen), Seikei University (Tokyo) and University of Tokyo, South Asian University (SAARC), New Delhi, India, and the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China (2010). Held the position of World Bank Institute Resident Advisor/Chief Economist in the Bangladesh Central Bank (2005-7).

Teaching Interests

I have taught at both Grad/UG levels all through my career. I normally teach courses in Microeconomics, International Economics& Policy, Public Economics & Policy, and Economics of Insurance and Uncertainty. In terms of leadership in teaching, I have often developed new courses as circumstances have so demanded. When abroad on a visiting position(e.g., at the Central European University, Prague in 1995 or at the Copenhagen Business School, 1997-99), I had to develop courses that I had never taught earlier(e.g., International Economics, Taxation and International Economic Integration). At BIDS Graduate School in Dhaka,  I had offered courses on Economic Development and Growth and Economics of Institutions, where especially the last needed to be developed from scratch and lecture/reading material readied on short notice.

Current Research

(1)   “Human Development & Public Policy”

Summary:A monograph under preparation that starts off by laying down a broad andholistic conceptual vison of ‘human development’. Individual chapters build onthe theme by exploring issues of (a) Measuring Human DevelopmentMeaningfully, (b) Human Development, Democracy & Human Rights, (c)Eradication of Poverty & Hunger, (d) Achieving Universal Health Care, (e)Nutrition & Human Development, (f) Human Capital Goals & Policy, (g)  Social Cohesion as Human Development, and (g)A Summary of Policy Conclusions. 

(2)   “Long-Term Economic Growth in Bangladesh in the SouthAsian Perspective”

Summary:This monograph undertakes a comprehensive view of the long-term growth prospectof Bangladesh in the South Asian perspective. Individual chapters have been designedto focus on (a) Agriculture, (b) Technology, TFP and Human Capital, (c) LabourForce, Employment, Wages and Migration, (d) Trade and RMG, (e) StructuralChange and Deindustrialization, (f) Inclusivity and the Quality ofInstitutions, (g) Middle Income Trap, (h) Design of a Social Safety Net,(i)  An Enabling Macro PolicyFramework.  

(3)   Financing Healthcare in Developmental Context: This research focusses onboth theoretical and advocacy/implementation issues in health insurance in adevelopmental context mainly focussing on Bangladesh and India.   

(4)   “Inclusive Microinsurance: The Delivery andRegulatory Architecture”

[Abstract:  The paper analyses the choice of theappropriate delivery mechanism(s) relevant to various types of microinsuranceproducts under different institutional contexts typical of a developmentalcontext. A set of regulatory and supervisory directives are then put forwardthat promotes product and process innovations safeguarding the goals of costefficiency, financial viability and client inclusivity.] 

(5)  JurisdictionalRepresentation in a Federation: A Proposal and Illustrations from RecentCanadian and US Elections (CESifo Working Paper # 8676, U Munich, Germany)

This research proposes a novel ideaof jurisdictional-level proportionality specifically targeted at federalsystems. Emphasizing the primacy of jurisdictions (namely provinces and states)within a federation, we use data on the voting pattern in each suchjurisdiction to determine the allocation of elected delegates (or electoralseats for that matter) that would be utilized in the eventual makeup of theruling government. Our design ensures that the mechanism encompass the governancevirtues such as (a) inclusivity and stability of the elected government, (b)accountability of elected delegates and their interface with voters, and (c)and fully conform to the principle of proportionality.

Book

Agricultural Insurance: A New Policy for Developing Countries (284 pp), Gower Publishing Co/Edward Elgar, UK) 1985.

Refereed articles

   "Disease-specificImpoverishment Impact of Out-of-Pocket Payments for Health Care: Evidence fromRural Bangladesh” (with S. A., Hamid & Afroza Begum), AppliedHealth Economics and Health Policy, 12(4), 2014, 421–433.   

   “Inequityin Formal Health Care Use? Evidence from Rural Bangladesh” (with S. A., Hamid,Afroza Begum & Chowdhury Abdullah Al Asif), J of InternationalDevelopment 27 (1), 36–54, 2015.

   “One Sunshine Doth Not a Harvest Make: AnExamination of the Growth Momentum in Bangladesh” (with S. QuamrulAhsan), Bangladesh Development Studies,41(4), December 2018, 79-139. [Published in June 2020, backdated.]

    “Employment Rank and the Choice of HealthInsurance Benefit Scheme among Bangladeshi Civil Servants” (with Syed A. Hamid,Afroza Begum et al), Asia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, vol. 16(1), 81-122, 2022.

“TheEfficiency Loss of Capital Income Taxation under Imperfect Loss OffsetProvisions” (with Peter Tsigaris), Public Finance Review, November 2009,37(6): 710-731.

    “The Instability of Tax Revenue and theMissing Risk Premium”, (with Peter Tsigaris), Journal of Business &Economics Research, February 2011, 9(2): 61-72.

   “TheUtility Compensated Effects of a Wage Tax on Human Capital and ConsumptionDecisions” (with Peter Tsigaris), Public Finance Review, July 2011,39(4) 571-593.

“Understanding Unemployment in the Arab Countries: Towards a Policy Framework” (with X-F Liu), Journal of Development and Economic Policies, Vol 10, No. 2, July 2008, 119-176.

“Governance, Corruption and Democracy in Bangladesh: An Institutional Perspective”, in S. Ahmed, ed., Transforming Bangladesh into a Middle Income Economy, MacMillan, 2005, 373-412.

“Choice of Tax Base Revisited: Cash Flow vs. Prepayment Approaches to Consumption Taxation”, in M. Ahlheim, H. Wenzel and W. Wiegard, eds, Steurpolitik-Von der Theorie zur Praxis: Festschrift fuer Manfred Rose,  [Tax Policy- Theory and Practice], Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2003, 237-95.

“Institutional Capital and Poverty: A Transition Perspective”, in A. Shorrocks and R. van der Hoeven, Eds. Perspectives on Poverty and Growth, United Nations University Press, Tokyo, 2003, 41-92.  

"The Design of a Consumption Tax under capital Risk" (with Peter Tsigaris), Journal of Economics / Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, 68(1), 1998, 53-78.

"Tax Evasion: The Developing Country Perspective", Asian Development Review, vol. 13(1), 1995, 78-126.

"Public Expenditure and National Income Causality: Further Evidence on the Role of Omitted Variables" (with A. Kwan and B. Sahni), Southern Economic Journal, 58(3), January 1992, 623-634.

"Risk-Taking, Savings and Taxation: A Re-examination of Theory and Policy", Canadian Journal of Economics, 23 (2), 1990, 408-33.

"Choice of Tax Base under Uncertainty: Consumption or Income?", Journal of Public Economics, 40 (1), 1989, 99-134.

"Towards a Theory of Agricultural Insurance" (with A. Ali and N. John Kurian), American Journal of Agricultural Economics, August 1982, 64 (3), 620-629 [Translated into Spanish and published in: Desarrollo Rural En Los Americas, 1983].

"The Marglin-McFadden-Mishan Debate on Public Investment Criteria", European Economic Review, 1980, 133-144.

"A Comment on Consumption Decisions under Uncertainty", Econometrica, 1977, 1289-1290.

"Relative Risk-Aversion and the Demand for Cash Balances", Journal of Finance, 1977, 769-774.

"A Note on Capital Gains Exemption and Risk-Taking", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1975, 151-153.

"Progression and Risk-Taking", Oxford Economic Papers, 1974, 318-328.

Invited Faculty Seminars & Conference Presentations

Over 100 conferences and invited facultyseminars in many countries including the following: Austria (U of Linz, 1990; U Innsbruck, 2002); U of Vienna, 1986); Bangladesh (ADB Symposium, 1994; Bank of Bangladesh, 2005,2006, 2007 & 2019; BIDS (1989, 2010, and Keynote presentations, 2022-24),Bangladesh Insurance Academy/BIA,1982, BRAC University, 2014, InternationalMicroinsurance Summit,  PKSF, 2004; North South University, 19zz, U of Chittagong, 1983 & U of Dhaka,1979; 2019; World Bank Meeting, 1995); Belgium(FacultésUniversitaires Catholiques de Mons, 1990 & 2000; Université Catholique de Louvain, 1989 & 1990; U de Mons, 2013); Canada (U of Alberta, 1975; BanffCentre, 1977; Brock University; Carleton U, 1990, 1993; Concordia U, 1974; UBC,2008; U of Fredericton NB, 1977; U of Guelph, 1976; U of Halifax, 1982, 199z,CEA; U de Laval, 1975; McGill U, 1979; McMaster U, 1977; Memorial U ofNewfoundland, 1996; U de Montreal, U of Ottawa, 2008; Queen’s U, 1973, 1978,1990; U of Toronto, 199z; U Waterloo, 2000; U of Western Ontario, 1990; U deQuebec à Montréal,  St Thomas U ofFredericton,  & Simon Fraser U, 2008);China (U of International Business& Economics, Beijing, 2010); Czech Republic (Central European U,Prague, 1994); Denmark (CopenhagenBusiness School, 1997 & 1998; Technical U of Denmark, 1987); Egypt (API, Cairo, 2008); Finland (U of Helsinki, 1990, 1993;WIDER-United Nations U (2001, 2002 & 2003) & ETLA, 1990), France (Audencia Nantes  School of Management, 2015); Germany (U of Augsburg, 1989; U ofBamberg, 1995; U of Bonn, 1995; Brandenburg U of Technology, 2002; U ofCologne, 1989; U of Dortmund, 1989; U of Frankfurt, 1991; U of Hamburg, 1978; Uof Heidelberg, 1989 & 1995; U of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, 2003; Humboldt U,Berlin, 2009; IZA (Institute of Labour Economics, Bonn, 2003); U of Kiel, 1990;U of Mainz, 2006; U of Munich, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2009 &2016; U of Wurzburg, 1998); Hong Kong(Chinese U of HK, 1996 & HK U of Science andTechnology, 1996); Hungary (U Budapest, 1986); India(Aligarh Muslim University, 2016; Chandigarh U, 2018; Delhi School ofEconomics, 1997; Indian Econometric Society, Hyderabad, Jan 2023; Institute ofEconomic Growth-Delhi, 2015; IFMR Business School, 2015; Indian StatisticalInstitute-Delhi, 1982 and 1998; Indian Institute of Insurance/College ofInsurance-Mumbai, 2016; Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, 1985; JadavpurU, 2006; Jamia Milia Islamia, 2015; Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), 2017; JindalGlobal University (JGU)-Sonipet, 2017 & 2018; Ramanujan College-U of Delhi,2014; Shyam Lal College-U of Delhi, 2015; South Asian University (Delhi), 2019;St Stephen’s College, 2018; TISS-Mumbai, 2017; U of Pondicherry, 2009, 2010& 2011; & XLRI-Jamshedpur, 2014); Indonesia(IAEA^[1],Jakarta, 1982); Iran (Tehran, 2009);Italy (IFAD-Rome, 2008; U ofBergamo, 1990, U Bologna, 1988; U Brescia, 1990; U Cattolica del Sacro Cuore-Milan, 2008; UTrento, 1990 & ; U "CàFoscari" di Venezia, 1990 & U Verona, 1990); Japan (Keio U, 1992; KyotoU, 1978; Osaka U, 1992; Osaka City U, 1978; Tohoku U, 1996; Seikei U, 1996& 2005; U of Nagoya, 1978; U of Tokyo, 1978 & United Nations University-Tokyo,2005); Korea (Korea Institute ofPublic Finance, Seoul, 1996); Lebanon(ERF Conference, 2002 & American U of Beirut, 2004); Morocco (ERF^[2],Marrakkesh, 2003); Netherlands (U ofTilburg, 1990); Norway (U Bergen,1978, 1990; Norwegian School of Economics, 1998; & U of Oslo, 1978, 1998;Christian Michelson Insititute, 2013; U of Agder, Kristiansand, 2013); Portugal (IIPF, Lisbon, 1995); Singapore (National U of Singapore,1982); Slovenia (Ministry ofFinance, Otočec, 2003); Spain (IAAE, Barcelona,1985); Sweden (U of Goteborg, 2003;U Lund, 1978; U of Stockholm, 1978 & U Uppsala, 1999); Switzerland(ILO, Geneva, 2008), Tanzania (ILOConference, May 2012) Thailand(Mahidol U, 2011); Tunisia (IEA^[3], Tunis,1995), UK (Cambridge U, 1991; U ofCardiff, 1978; U of Warwick, 2003; Oxford U, 1997); USA (Denison U, 1992; Notre Dame University, 1982; StanfordUniversity, 1973; U of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 1990; the World Bank, 1978;1991, 1992) & Zimbabwe (IAAE,Harare, 1994).