Army Institute of Business Administration

Savar Cantonment, Dhaka

Term paper on

Research proposal of “Disaster Capitalism Used by Private

or Corporate Sector for Profit Maximization during COVID
19 Situations- A study of Bangladesh’s perspective”
COURSE TITLE: Business Research Methodology
COURSE CODE: Bus 3601

Submitted to: Prepared by:

Md Enamul Hasan Name ID

Lecturer
Army Institute Of Business Administration, Savar Md. Modasser (B7200B049)
Islam Emon
Disaster Capitalism Used by Private or Corporate Sector for profit maximization
during COVID 19 Situations- A study of Bangladesh’s perspective

1. Theoretical Background

Disasters present opportunities: for some, this may mean bringing about constructive social
change; for others, it may be the perfect opportunity to make money, extract resources, or
maintain the status quo as usual. This research will explain how catastrophe capitalism,
which is pervasive in both the public and private sectors, emerges as a result of the
interaction between neoliberal policies, practices, and disasters. In the academic paper the
role of private sectors will be depicted which will fill the gap and offer a preliminary
assessment of the root cause about why opportunity seeker companies wait for disasters to
come and then creating an artificial demand of products and lastly making people pay extra

for products. Since the publication of Klein’s book (2007), several academics have taken

up the task of defining and investigating disaster capitalism, applying methodological

frameworks from a variety of fields such as anthropology (Schuller & Maldonado, 2016),
development studies (Paudel & Billon, 2020), humanitarian aid (Donini, 2008), and the role
of local authorities and local elites (Imperiale & Vanclay, 2020). Authors find common
ground in seeing that disasters are conceived by private and public actors alike as ‘windows
of opportunity’ to introduce radical political reforms and/ or for economic profiteering.
According to Klein, the aforementioned "windows of opportunity" are crucial because "only
a crisis, genuine or perceived, creates meaningful change. The decisions made during that
crises depend on the ideas that are floating about. Friedman (1962), as cited on page 6 of
Klein (2007). According to Klein, it is vital to note that although supportive social actors are
occasionally less prepared to act, profiteers and advocates of neoliberal ideals appear to be
waiting for a catastrophe to "shock" them.

In this study the aim is to present the scenario of Bangladesh during COVID 19 pandemic
and how the big corporate houses have used the disastrous situation that the modern world
has never seen. Through the study I tend to prove that the corporate houses have uses their
materials, equipment and various necessary health products to make extra profit and how
 they have increased the price of those necessary commodities while the pandemic. But there
was opportunity to help mass people in that problematic situation. The report also depicts and
analyses the tendency to make extra profit during disaster times which will be compared to
the pre disaster and post disaster situation

2. Theories and questions: According to American economist Hawley, profit is reward for the
risk taking in business. Every business that is related to making high profit is also related to high
percentage of risk and loss in business. Another theory by Prof Frank H Knight says that, non-
insurable risks like demand fall or government intervention does gives better profit margin.
Companies that takes non insurable risks tends to get better profit margin.
With these theories to measure the disaster level we can use tend analysis of previous disaster
losses. There will a questionnaire which is a matrix to detect risk analysis. Then at last we will
see if there is any level of making profit related with risk and disaster.

There can be various questionnaires about finding the raw data about the problem. For example:

a) Root causes: Why did the COVID 19 disaster happened and how capitalism occur?
What are the necessary conditions?
b) Behaviors: What neoliberal reforms and practices are adopted before and after a
disruption? How the people’s behavior was before buying products like Mask, sanitizer,
hand wash? How the behavior changed after the pandemic situation?
c) Outcomes: What happened in the end? Who profited and how? Is there resistance
against disaster capitalism? How people are now paying for the products stated above?
How the vaccine and the medicines have caused people to look relentlessly in the
market?

With the questionnaires there can be more customized questions at the times of need.

The proposed hypothesis for the paper is:

H0: Disaster capitalism played the role of creating havoc in consumer market during
COVID 19 pandemic

H1: Disaster capitalism didn’t played the vital role to create havoc in consumer market
during COVID 19

3. Effectiveness of this paper while fighting hard times or disasters

The possible research will ensure that how market has been destabilized during COVID
pandemic by the private sectors. This will help to fight lack of governance during disaster.

Again profitability and quality of products has relationship which is effecting the consumer
rights and thus the consumer’s right protection will be strengthen too.

The findings will help to create a better business plans for the private sectors so that they don’t
have to use illegal methods of making profit and thus they can stay legal and work in the welfare
of the people.

4. The methods of the project ( proposed)

 Data collection and the range of sample: Sample will normally be top manufacturing
pharmaceutical and group of companies that have manufacturing plant of disinfectant
product, sanitizer, mask, primary medicine etc. The time range of those sample will be
about 5 years, 2 years before pandemic, 1 year during pandemic and 2 years after the
pandemic. The availability of the data will depend on the transparency of those
company’s audit report, manufacturing data and tax return report. The audit report and
manufacturing report can be found from the firms, the tax report can be found from NBR.

The basic model will be:

Profitability= Risk+ Governance+ Other factors

Profitability calculation: Profitability here is a dependent variable which will be measured by

Profit margin, ROI and Gross Profit during the time frame of different companies. This
dependent variable will be calculated to find out the result of profitability.

Risk determination: Risk here is an independent variable but it is dependent on various factors
like disaster, instability of economy, high rate etc. This will be the independent variable to
calculate the main result of the purpose.

Other factors: There are other factors too which are related to this purpose. With the calculation
method we will find either other factors are effecting more than risk factor of disaster. Thus we
will come to a conclusion. These are also called controlled variables such as governance of the
firm.
5. Expected result: Despite having several other factors it is thought that the disaster factor
will find a positive relation with the profitability factors. Thus we can find how much the
systematic and capitalism has effected the profitability margin during the COVID pandemic.
This will also help to prevent further havoc in the market and stabilize in times of disaster
whether it is natural or human made.
6. Research time frame:

1st Year Preparing exact questionnaire and collecting data

Consult with the supervisor.
2nd Year Initiating fundamental analysis and consult with
supervisor and field experts.
Attending seminar and address expert's opinion to
improve the acceptability.
Interview with NBR or other government organization
3rd Year Main framing and writing off the research.
Taking supervisors help to formulate the research.
Publication in a top journal based on finance.

7. Reference

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Klein, Naomi (2008) Paperback. (2022).

BBC News. (2020, December 9). Rich countries hoarding Covid vaccines, says People’s

Vaccine Alliance. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55229894

Blundell, R., Costa Dias, M., Joyce, R., & Xu, X. (2020). COVID-19 and inequalities. Institute

for Fiscal Studies IFS. http://doi.org/10.1920/BN.IFS.2020.BN0291

Knight, F. H. (2012). Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit: Chapter 7: The Meaning of Risk and

Uncertainty.

Pelling, M. (2003). Natural Disasters and Development in a Globalizing World. Routledge.

Sen, A. (1981). Ingredients of Famine Analysis: Availability and Entitlements. The Quarterly

Journal of Economics, 96(3), 433. https://doi.org/10.2307/1882681