Assessing measures implemented by export-oriented RMG firms in an emerging economy during COVID-19.

Manufacturing firms that continued production activities during the COVID-19 have been taking necessary measures to cope with the risks imposed by the pandemic. This study assesses the measures implemented by the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector in Bangladesh. With the increase in COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh, following government order, along with firms in other manufacturing sectors, the RMG firms had to shut-down their production between March 26 and April 25, 2020. Soon after the factories reopened, they had to take necessary actions to ensure employee safety, supply of raw materials, and purchase orders from buyers. Using a semi-structured interview approach, we identify 16 measures that have been implemented in the RMG sector in Bangladesh for the employees, suppliers and buyers. Then, we assess the degree of implementation of these measures using the Bayesian Best-Worst method. We find that providing healthcare safety, bringing previously outsourced activities in-house, and ensuring smooth delivery of existing orders were the three most implemented measures for employees, suppliers and buyers, respectively. On a higher level, the RMG industry professionals prioritised buyer-related measures the most, followed by employee and supplier-related. The analysed measures provide a blueprint for supply chain risk management during future waves of COVID-19 transmission and for other potential large-scale natural disasters.

COVID-19 and the environment: A critical review and research agenda.

The current Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) outbreak has had a substantial impact on many aspects of general life. Although a number of studies have been published on the topic already, there has not been a critical review of studies on the impacts of COVID-19 by and on environmental factors. The current study fills this gap by presenting a critical analysis of 57 studies on the nexus between COVID-19 and the environment, published in nine journals up to May 2020. Majority of the studies in our sample are published in Science of the Total Environment (74%), and studies used mostly descriptive statistics and regression as research methods. We identified four underlying research clusters based on a systematic content analysis of the studies. The clusters are: (1) COVID-19 and environmental degradation, (2) COVID-19 and air pollution, (3) COVID-19 and climate/metrological factors and (4) COVID-19 and temperature. Besides a critical analysis of the studies in each cluster, we propose research questions to guide future research on the relationship between COVID-19 and the environment.