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.

在这项研究中，我们调查了纺织品和服装 (T&G) 出口对孟加拉国收入不平等的影响。仅关注占该国总出口 90% 以上的 T&G 出口，我们假设一个国家的出口部门集中在单一行业会扩大收入不平等。基于 1991-2015 年期间的时间序列数据，自回归分布滞后 (ARDL) 协整边界检验方法表明变量之间存在长期关系。从长远来看，T&G 部门的出口似乎对收入不平等有统计上的显着影响，因此 T&G 出口的高度集中加剧了孟加拉国的收入不平等。这一结果意味着有必要制定出口多样化政策，以便在其他部门工作的人也可以从事出口创收活动。我们的结果还表明，收入不平等在经济增长的初始阶段会加剧。然后，在达到增长的门槛水平后，收入不平等就会下降。这一结果证实了库兹涅茨假设在孟加拉国的情况下的有效性。