In Bangladesh, corruption remains a daily reality. Against this backdrop, debates over civil service pay take on heightened importance. Economic theory offers cautious support: Better pay increases the costs of losing a job and may discourage misconduct. A particularly striking example comes from China, where repeated civil service pay increases over a decade raised official salaries to more than twice the GDP per capita. Revising civil service pay may be justified on grounds of fairness, dignity, recruitment, and administrative efficiency.
