ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of think tanks in south Asia. Think tanks are normally associated with institutions that focus on policy analysis and dialogue with a view to influencing public policy. Department of Economics of Dhaka University (DOEDU) fulfilled some of the important features of a think tank by influencing the policy debate within the country. In the same way that DOEDU acquired a certain persona in the political arena of Pakistan, other think tanks in India became equally influential. The emergence of think tanks in south Asia as exclusive institutions invested with a primary mission to influence public policy is a more contemporary phenomenon. Center for Policy Dialogueis (CPD) used as a reference point because, its experience captures many of the problems faced by think tanks in south Asia. CPD, as with all other think tanks in Bangladesh throughout south Asia except perhaps for India, suffers from the problem of sustainability.
