📜 Research Papers

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS PAPER 

Jahan, A.R.T. (2024). Centralization of Power: Influence of Party Dominance on Economic Outcomes in Parliamentary Democracy. [Accepted to Present]

Abstract: This study explores the impact of centralization on economic outcomes. Some studies find centralization of power has a negative relationship with economic outcomes in parliamentary democracies. However, some of them argue that a positive relationship may also exist in different regions. Thus, the paper aims to reassess the relationship between centralization of power with the key factor of party dominance and economic outcomes. Following the concept of party dominance, the study quantifies the centralization with a power concentration degree through the ratio of governing party seats out of total number of seats in parliamentary democracy. Using this new variable of centralization, I extend the theoretical framework to assess the impact of centralization on gross capital formation and inequality as the proxy variable of investment and well-being indicators. The empirical study uses a panel dataset made from World Development Indicators (WDI) and Election Commission websites of 31 democratic countries from a time frame of 1960 to 2022. The study finds that centralization of power varies across countries in different time periods. However, higher degrees of centralization is negatively related to investment indicators or gross capital formation. Furthermore, as the degree of centralization increases, inequality also increases, with a negative consequence towards the well-being indicators. Thus, the study discusses higher centralization through party dominance is more likely to lower the economic potential in parliamentary democracies. Keywords: Political centralization, power concentration, party seats, parliamentary democracy, investment, inequality, economic outcomes.

BOOK CHAPTER 

Jahan, A.R.T. (2024). A Rights-Centric View on Humanizing Migration from Bangladesh. Handbook of Migration, International Relations and Security in Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8001-7_39-1 

JOURNAL PAPER 

Jahan, A.R.T. & Ullah, AKMA (2024). Remittances and Female Labour Force Participation: Cross sectional study on socioeconomic dynamics. Review of Development Economics. [Under Review]

Jahan, A.R.T. et. al (2022). Relationship between Private Investment-GDP Ratio and Economic Growth during COVID-19. Social Science Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4098093

CONFERENCE PAPER  [Accepted to Present]

Ullah, A. K. M. A., Chattoraj, D., & Jahan, A.R.T. (2025). South Asian refugee crisis: Discourse on inclusive urbanism. In Proceedings of the 20th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration Conference. Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

• Panel will highlight the struggles of refugee groups, including Rohingya, Bhutanese and stranded Biharis in South Asian cities, addressing necessary inclusive urban policies to ensure social cohesion, basic services and rights.

Ullah, A. K. M. A., Jahan, A.R.T. & Chattoraj, D., (2025). Democratic decline and population migration : Looking for the connection in South Asia. In Proceedings of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Conference 2025. Kathmandu, Nepal. 

• Panel will highlight The road to Autocracy: Governance, Accountability and Transparency Deficits in South Asia.