Trade and Linkages Using Input-Output Approach: An Empirical Investigation of Bangladesh

Employing a variant of the open-static Leontief model and a 53-sector input-output table, the paper identifies a variant of the key sectors in the Bangladesh economy in terms of trade linkages. The concepts of gross and net linkages are introduced and the analysis is extended to both current (flow) and capital (stock) accounts. On the gross linkage criterion, only a handful of sectors emerge as key sectors with three or more linkages. These sectors are from within the manufacturing and services categories. This is also the case with sectors having two strong linkages. Agricultural sectors do not feature at all. A transition from gross to net linkages changes the rankings quite significantly. Most agricultural sectors show two strong linkages in the flow account. The findings suggest that Bangladeshi export sector, is typically undiversified in that it relies heavily on agriculture and related industries, with jute and jute textiles accounting for over 70 percent of net export earnings. Not surprisingly, most sectors in the industrial complex are net importers and the domestic production of industrial goods is highly import-intensive.