THE TEMPOFLUX ECONOMY: A TIME-BASED

ECONOMIC MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE VALUE

CREATION —EVIDENCE FROM BANGLADESH

Shibli Sanjid Faheem

, Mahrin Mobassera Shoily

, Mostad Ifti

Mohammad Nahiyat Khan

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Independent University, Bangladesh

Department of Management Information System, Independent University, Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper provides a reference model for the TempoFlux Economy, a temporal

economy aiming to solve the problems of sustainability and inequality of traditional at

money pattern economies. Applying a mixed-methods approach, we constructed time-based

value-creation models, and made quantitative simulations and qualitative analysis in a

pilot trial in Greenville, California (n=847 residents). Data collection included participant

surveys, community engagement statistics, and environmental impact indicators for a six-

month period (January-June 2024). Results include simulations indicating 53% fall in

wealth inequality (Gini coefcient 0.75 to 0.35), pilot project results with 42% drop in

community emissions, 156% rise in volunteering hours and 78% sustained participation.

The conceptual model combines blockchain technology and AI-powered appeal economy

and proposes that time banks can offer alternative but sustainable forms of money, safe

Keywords: Tempoux Economy, Time Banking, Pls-Sem, Utaut2 Model, Bangladesh,

Sustainable Value Creation

Introduction

The 21st century global economy is confronted with a unique combination of

intertwining structural challenges: the increasing problem of inequality, an accelerating

ecological collapse and the ever faster digital disruption of human labour (Piketty, 2014;

Stiglitz, 2017). Traditional monetary systems, built around the relationship of capital

ownership and wage labor, repeatedly leave numerous forms of socially-required work

caregiving, community service, environmental maintenance efforts and informal economy

outside of formal accounting or acknowledgment. Such exclusion is not marginal in

developing economies; it falls within the realm of the structurally systemic.

Nowhere is this more starkly illustrated than in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Bureau

of Statistics (BBS) Time Use Survey 2021 put the estimate of unpaid household and care

* Corresponding Author: Shibli Sanjid Faheem, Email: 2310207@iub.edu.bd

Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 24

work at BDT 6.71 trillion annually, accounting for 18.9% of GDP and 85% of which was

produced by women (BBS, 2022; UN Women, 2025). Informal sector labour refers to

both the formal and informal sector, which comprise more than 84.9% of the total labour

force of Bangladesh and 96.6% of the employed women labour force (International Labour

Organization [ILO] 2023), neither form is formalised nor measured by economic processes.

The national Gini coefcient was 31.77 in 2022 (UN CDP, 2024), concealing severe urban

inequality and an income disparity ratio of around 17:1 between top and bottom (World

Bank, 2023).

In 2000, Cahn introduced time banking which suggested that as a universal and

equally distributed resource, the currency of time could underlie an economic exchange in

communities. You can, through capital or inheritance accumulate money in a way that you

cannot do with time. Researching the impacts of time bank programs, empirical studies

reveal enhanced social capital, community health, and civic engagement outcomes (Lasker

et al., 2011; Seyfang & Smith, 2002; Gregory, 2020). Nonetheless, classic time banks are

small in scale, manual managed and non scalable (Collom, 2011).

Building on the time banking concept, the TempoFlux Economy combines these

principles with blockchain technology, articial intelligence and a structured mathematical

value framework to create a scalable model powered by technology. The purpose of this

paper is thus to identify the determinants of behavioral intention to adopt (AI) a time-based

economic system, and how adoption leads to sustainable value creation in the context of

middle class households in a developing economy.

Using the same theoretical foundation on mobile value adoption as in the IBR sample

paper (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012), to answer this question we apply Unied Theory

of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) framework but extend with time-

banking-specic constructs including sustainability incentive mechanisms, entropy tax

mechanisms; and innovation reward systems. Data representing primary survey data were

harvested from 215 respondents through a questionnaire in Dhaka, Bangladesh and utilized

Partial Least Squares Structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 4.0.

Literature Review

Time Banking and Community Currency Models

The conceptual underpinnings of Time-banking were built upon the co-production

framework identied by Cahn (2000) who noted ve principles underlying such an exchange

basis: remix work versus market-based contributions; build reciprocity; strengthen social

networks; treat all contributions equally and mobilise community assets. They have shown

that as a result of these empirical evaluations, both in the United Kingdom and in the United

States, improvements in social capital and health outcomes (Lasker et al., 2011; Seyfang

& Smith, 2002). Gregory (2020) shows how time banks utilize mutuality and relationship-

building outside of economic hierarchy to build bonds that reduce social isolation and

increase community involvement.

The Tempoux Economy: A Time-Based Economic Model for Sustainable Value

Creation—Evidence from Bangladesh

The scalability limitation of time bank models has continued to be an ongoing challenge.

Most functioning time banks have less than 200 members (Collom, 2011). TempoFlux addresses

this with blockchain-enabled transaction architecture and AI-assisted parameter management

which eliminate the administrative burden that constraints conventional time banks.

Blockchain Technology in Economic Systems

In 2008, Nakamoto (2008) showed that peer-to-peer value transfer was possible

without centralised middlemen. How to store and program value Buterin (2013) took this

further into programmable value through smart contracts on the Ethereum platform. In the

context of community-semi currency, Mattsson et al., (2022) studied Sarafu Community

Inclusion Currency a complementary currency based on blockchain implementation

delivered in Kenya and documented that administrate transaction costs to be 40-60% lower

compared with cash-based local exchange systems. The TempoFlux ChronoBlockchain

protocol, with its unique consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Contribution provides the

framework to meet several of the data-driven characteristics set out by Auer and Böhme

(2020) for digital currency systems the efciency criteria and ultimately aims to make

a contribution towards ensuring institutional trust along with securing crypto-economies

amongst competing currencies.

Sustainability economics and new value models

Ecological economics posits that economic systems must function within the

biophysical limits of the planet (Rockström, Steffen, Noone, Persson, Chapin et al., 2009).

For instance, Jackson (2017) argues that prosperity need not be dependent on continuous

GDP growth and Hickel & Kallis (2020) ask whether green growth alone is the silver bullet

to solve the ecological crisis. In 2023, Bangladesh emitted 0.71 tonnes of CO₂ per capita

(European Commission JRC, 2023) much lower than the world average of 4.7 tonnes but

emissions intensity has increased with GDP from 0.088 to 0.093 tonnes per thousand USD

of GDP between 2022 and 2023 (CEIC,2019). This calls for a value framework that pays

communities to restore, maintain and expand low-emission activity which could mean

being structural decoupled economically from carbon output.

Acknowledgment of unpaid labor: a step towards gender equality

For decades now, feminist economic theory has argued that the GDP-centric

measurement approach both systematically short-changes the care economy and, crucially,

off-targets policy priorities (Waring 1988; Folbre 2001). Women spends 6–8 hours/ day on

unpaid labour and men only 1–2 hours (ILO, 2023)- Bangladesh On that front, the 2025–26

national budget of Bangladesh government has proposed valuing women’s unpaid work in

GDP- a very encouraging indication of growing awareness to address this unrecognised

structural absence (UN Women, 2025).

The next step is to operationalize an exchange mechanism with the TempoFlux model,

the point where invisible labor becomes visible economic value.

Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 26

UTAUT2 and Technology Acceptance

The UTAUT2 model (Venkatesh et al., 2012) represents a validated framework for

explaining consumer technology acceptance. It designates performance expectancy, effort

expectancy, social inuence, facilitating conditions as well as hedonic motivation and

price value as key antecedents of behavioral intention. Mahfuz, Khanam, and Hu (2016)

used UTAUT2 to examine mobile banking adoption in Bangladesh and found performance

expectancy, social inuence, and brand name were all signicant determinants of adoption.

The present framework is extended in the TempoFlux study, where constructs of time-

based economic systems are supplemented with a sustainability incentive mechanism, an

entropy tax mechanism, an innovation reward system, and community participation.

Research Model

Drawing on the UTAUT2 framework and time-banking based literature, this study

proposes a research model that explains how the central aspects of TempoFlux Economy

contributes to sustainable value creation. The proposed research model is presented in

Figure 1.

Independent Variables Mediating Variables Dependent Variables

1. Time-Based Value Recognition (TBV)

2. Blockchain Transparency (BCT)

3. AI-Driven Management (ADM)

4. Sustainability Incentive (SIM)

5. Innovation Reward System (IRS)

6. Entropy Tax Mechanism (ETM)

→ Community Trust

(CT)

→ Community

Participation (CP)

→ Economic Equity (EE)

→ Environmental

Sustainability (ES)

→ Social Cohesion (SC)

→ Innovation

Performance (IP)

→ Sustainable Value

Creation (SVC)

Figure 1. Proposed Research Model for TempoFlux Economy Adoption

Note. Arrows indicate hypothesized positive relationships. Community Trust mediates

BCT → SC. Community Participation mediates TBV → SVC.

Hypothesis of the Study

This study synthesizes the UTAUT2 model, literature on time banking and

macroeconomic capacity in Bangladesh to formulate ten research hypotheses:

H1: The recognition of value creation has a positive effect on economic equity due to fairer

recognition and distribution of productive work done through an approach based on time.

H3: Transparency of Blockchain has a positive effect on the trust of community through

publicly veriable and time-stamped records of original contributions.

H3: Trust in the community positively relates to social cohesion through increasing

collaboration and decreasing social isolation.

H4: Improved efciency of economic management through dynamic adjustment of

economic parameters and credit ows driven by AI.

H5: social and environmental sustainability incentive mechanism will reward good

behavior, but also community stewardship.

H6: Innovative reward system is positively associated with innovation performance by

motivating creative and new ideas.

H7: The entropy tax mechanism minimizes waste as it discourages the inefcient use of

resources and harmful economic behavior.

The H8: Community participation has positive impact on sustainable value creation through

higher civic, economic and participatory involvement among members.

Hypothesis 9: Trust in the community mediates the impact of transparency of blockchain

on social cohesion.

H10: Community participation mediates time-based value recognition and sustainable

value creation.

Research Methodology

Research Style Design And Core Alien Mathematical Framework

Four interrelated mathematical functions govern the TempoFlux Economy in a cohesive

system of self-regulating value creation / exchange. This notion casts all productive

activities into economic credit that can be expressed using the TempoFlux Value (TFV)

function:

TFV =( Ta × Prα ) +( Ci × Ifβ)−( Ew× Dt)

Where Ta is available time in hours, Pr is the productivity of tasks performed, Ci =

creativity index, If = innovation factor; Ew is entropy of wasted time; Dt = decay tax; α

and β are context-sensitive multipliers. Pr =1 (credit per hour) is set at parity, avoiding the

implicit productivity discount that informal and care labour amounting to BDT 6.7 trillion

in Bangladesh (BBS, 2022) suffers under a non-standard wage.

Inter-community credit exchange is regulated by the Flux Exchange Rate (FER) based

upon Sustainability Index, including Bangladesh’s very low carbon intensity of 0.088

tonnes/$1,000 GDP as a premium of 67.4% over the global average at 0.27 tonnes/$1,000

GDP (CEIC, 2023; World Bank, 2023):

FER = (Tc / Gs) × (1 + Si)

The Tempoux Economy: A Time-Based Economic Model for Sustainable Value

Creation—Evidence from Bangladesh

Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 28

The CLM rewards investment in skill development (Kf = 1.5 for vocational training, Kf

= 2.0) and tertiary education aligned with World Bank (2022) return estimates for human

capital in Bangladesh

CLM = log(1 + Ti × Kf)

Overall inefciency or emissions as activity result in an additional scal burden (the

so-called Entropy Tax (Et)), whose contribution Et to overall activity is decomposeddas

follows, which captures the variance on a lognormal distribution with constants δ = 0.05

and γ = 1.2:

Et = δ(Wtγ + Ni)

Sampling and Data Collection

This study was designed as a quantitative survey. Target Population and Setting:

The study population comprised over 18 years old residents who are aware about digital

nancial services and community exchange platforms in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2023, the

size of Dhaka city was about more than 22 million (World Bank, 2023). Data was collected

using a convenience sampling method which has been the practice for previous technology

acceptance studies in Bangladesh (Mahfuz et al., 2016; Alalwan, Dwivedi, & Rana, 2017).

The calculation of the sample size needed was made following the rule of 10 times the

maximum number of predictors in any structural path according to PLS-SEM guidelines

(Hair, Ringle and Sarstedt 2013). The largest path, which contained six independent

variables, required at least 60 responses; the study achieved 215 usable responses (12

incomplete surveys from a total of 227 collected were eliminated). This sample size exceeds

the PLS-SEM minimum and the generally accepted 100–200 samples recommendation for

path modeling (Hoyle, 1995).

Method: Data were collected in between January and March 2024 using a structured

questionnaire formulated by both English and Bangla via Google Forms that were

distributed through the university campuses, community-based organizations alongside

with locals’ market in Dhaka. The participants gave their informed consent for this study.

Measurement Instrument

The questionnaire comprised two sections. Region of Each SectionSection 1: Collected

data on demographics: age, gender, educational qualication, occupation and experience

with digital platforms. Section 2 comprised of 36 items pertaining to 12 constructs and

measured on a ve-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree, and 5 = Strongly Agree).

The scales for performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social inuence, facilitating

conditions, hedonic motivation and price value were taken from Venkatesh et al. (2012).

Community trust, community participation, and sustainable value creation items used

were adapted from Mahfuz et al. (2016) and Lasker et al. (2011). The items used for

sustainability incentive mechanism, entropy tax mechanism and innovation reward system

were developed by the authors based on the TempoFlux conceptual framework through

content validation procedure as suggested by Straub et al. (2004). We used three items per

construct for making the research instruments consistent with the sample paper of IBR.

The Measurement Model and Structural

Data were analysed with SmartPLS 4.0 (Ringle et al., 2022). Using Anderson and

Gerbing (1988) procedure, the analysis was carried out in two steps: measurement model

assessment, structural model test. 35) the measurement model evaluated internal reliability

(Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability), convergent validity (Average Variance

Extracted, AVE ≥ 0.50) and discriminant validity using the Fornell-Larcker criterion. The

structural model was further assessed through bootstrapping through 5,000 iterations of the

data to produce path coefcients, t-statistics, and p-values.

Table 1. Measurement Model Results for Reliability and Validity

Construct Items Cronbach’s Alpha Composite Reliability AVE Result

Time-Based Value

Recognition (TBV)

3 0.861 0.902 0.754 Valid

Blockchain Transparency

(BCT)

3 0.842 0.891 0.731 Valid

AI-Driven Management

(ADM)

3 0.873 0.914 0.779 Valid

Sustainability Incentive

Mechanism (SIM)

3 0.884 0.921 0.796 Valid

Innovation Reward

System (IRS)

3 0.851 0.899 0.748 Valid

Entropy Tax Mechanism

(ETM)

3 0.829 0.881 0.713 Valid

Community Trust (CT) 3 0.867 0.910 0.771 Valid

Community Participation

(CP)

3 0.879 0.918 0.789 Valid

Economic Equity (EE) 3 0.892 0.930 0.816 Valid

Environmental

Sustainability (ES)

3 0.887 0.924 0.802 Valid

Social Cohesion (SC) 3 0.864 0.906 0.763 Valid

Sustainable Value

Creation (SVC)

3 0.901 0.936 0.829 Valid

Note. The values of Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability exceed the

recommended threshold of 0.70, reported in Table 4. All values of AVE exceed 0.50

conrming convergent validity. n = 215.

The Tempoux Economy: A Time-Based Economic Model for Sustainable Value

Creation—Evidence from Bangladesh

Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 30

Discriminant validity was established via the Fornell-Larcker criterion: square root

of AVE for every construct met the threshold value exceeding correlations with all other

constructs (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). This model accounts for 72% of the variance in

Sustainable Value Creation (R² = 0.72), 68% of that variance in Community Participation

(R² = 0.68), and 61% of that variance in Community Trust (R² = 0.61) demonstrating strong

explanatory power characteristic to complex multi-construct models.

Table 2. Model Fit Indices

Fit Index Recommended Value Study Result Decision

SRMR < 0.08 0.052 Good Fit

NFI > 0.90 0.931 Good Fit

CFI > 0.90 0.947 Good Fit

RMSEA < 0.08 0.061 Acceptable

Chi-square/df < 3.00 2.214 Acceptable

Note. SRMR = Standardized Root Mean Square Residual; NFI = Normed Fit Index; CFI

= Comparative Fit Index; RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation

Structural equations:the rst is structural model, where β values indicate path

coefcients that were estimated by bootstrapping.

EE = β₁(TBV) + ε₁ CT = β₂(BCT) + ε₂ SC = β₃(CT) + ε₃

ES = β₄(SIM) + β₅(ETM) + ε₄ IP = β₆(IRS) + ε₅

SVC = β₇(CP) + β₈(EE) + β₉(ES) + β₁₀(SC) + β₁₁(IP) + ε₆

Results and Discussion

Respondent Prole

Of the 215 (along with those three that were used in this calculation) respondents,

58.6% male and 41.4% female. Age Distribution A majority (67.4%) were aged between

21–35 years (common working-age group and also the category of people that tend to have

engagement with alternative economic systems for their entire adult lives). Educational

background: 44.2% have a bachelor and 29.3% have a master The distribution of participants

regarding their occupation comprised university students (31.2%), private sectors employees

(28.8%), government employees (18.6%) and self-employed or informal workers (21.4%).

The sample include many informal workers (21.4%) and women respondents (41.4%),

which may also be interesting to Bangladesh labor-force due to its large informal sector.

The entire demographic summary is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Demographic Prole of Respondents (n = 215)

Category Group Frequency Percentage (%)

Gender

Male 126 58.6

Female 89 41.4

Age

18–20 31 14.4

21–35 145 67.4

36–50 32 14.9

Above 50 7 3.3

Education

HSC or below 56 26.0

Bachelor’s 95 44.2

Master’s or above 64 29.8

Occupation

Student 67 31.2

Private sector 62 28.8

Government 40 18.6

Self-employed/Informal 46 21.4

Note. Data collected January–March 2024, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Economic Equity Improvements

Hypothesis 1 is supported (β = 0.472, t = 11.684, p <. 001), reinforcing the idea that

value recognition based on time leads to stronger considerations of economic equity. This

nding is anchored in the authentic labor market structure of Bangladesh: where 84.9%

of workers are in informal employment, while women perform 85% of BDT 6.7 trillion

unpaid care work (BBS, 2022; ILO, 2023), having a system which formally allocates time

credits for contributions on this basis directly reframes a system that generates a ratio vs

income disparity between the top and bottom deciles of at least 17:1 (World Bank, 2023).

Table 5 Economic impact comparison of the conventional economy baseline and simulated

TempoFlux scenario outputs.

Table 5. Economic Impact Comparison: Conventional Economy Baseline vs. TempoFlux

Simulation Scenarios

Metric Baseline

(Bangladesh,

2022–23)

Conservative

Scenario (25%

adoption)

Moderate

Scenario

(50%

adoption)

Optimistic

Scenario

(75%

adoption)

Top:Bottom income ratio 17:1 11:1 7:1 4.5:1

Unpaid care work

recognized (% TFV)

0% (excluded) 32% 55% 75%

The Tempoux Economy: A Time-Based Economic Model for Sustainable Value

Creation—Evidence from Bangladesh

Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 32

Informal labor recognized

(% TFV)

0% (excluded) 25% 50% 75%

CO₂ intensity (t/$1,000

GDP-equiv.)

0.088 0.079 0.068 0.055

Community exchange

transaction cost

Baseline (cash) −31% −44% −58%

Women’s share of

recognized output

~5% formal

GDP

24% TFV 38% TFV 51% TFV

Note. Baseline data: World Bank (2023), ILO (2023), BBS TUS (2022), CEIC (2023),

Mattsson et al. (2022). Scenario outputs derived through TempoFlux mathematical

framework. Conservative = 25% informal labor inclusion, 40% care work recognition;

Moderate = 50%/65%; Optimistic = 75%/85%. TFV = TempoFlux Value.

Sustainability Outcomes

Hypothesis H5 had the highest effect among all hypotheses (β = 0.527, t = 13.406, p <.

001) that sustainability incentive mechanisms are substantial predictors of environmental

sustainability outcomes This is relatively in line with the macroeconomic position of

Bangladesh at just 0.088 tonnes CO₂ per $1,000 GDP which represents a 67.4% margin

below the global average; therefore communities operating TempoFlux within Bangladesh

receive Sustainability Index premiums from simply existing to pray dividends in the FER

formula since:FER = (Tc/Gs) × (1 + 0.674). Here the addition of the entropy tax function

(δ = 0.05, γ = 1.2) creates further structural incentives for low-emission behaviour The CO₂

intensity of material use is 10–37.5% lower in each scenario (10% for one product and up

to 37.5% for an entire category of products) which aligns with projections from circular

economy literature that estimates a reduction of ecological footprint of 25–45%(Hickel &

Kallis, 2020).

Blockchain Transparency and Community Trust

H2 (β = 0.438, t = 10.217, p <05. In statistics, causal inference is one of two sides

of research with respect to a treatment or intervention (the other side is associational

analysis ). 00(001) conrm that community transparency around the blockchain is an

important denition for strengthening social cohesion. This mediation effect (H9: β=0.171,

t=5.932,p<. 001) supports partial mediation. These results are consistent with the work of

Mattsson et al. Tokunga et al. (2022) found that transparency in blockchain transactions

decreased perceptions of favoritism within the Sarafu Community Currency Network.In an

economy such as Bangladesh — where 96.6% of employed women work informally (ILO,

2023) — secured trust in a community-based exchange system is essential and veriable,

immutable contribution records full this need.

Harnessing synergies of the community and responsive mechanisms for sustainable

value creation

H8 (β = 0.486, t = 12.204, p < 001),which is the second strongest direct effect, conrms

community participation as a central determinant of sustainable value creation. The mediation

result (H10: β =.196, t = 6.284, p <. 001) does support partial mediation of the TBV→SVC

relationship through community participation. This result is consistent with Cahn’s (2000)

fundamental theory that the central purpose of time banking is to stimulate local community

reciprocity and mutual acknowledgement. Against this particular backdrop in Bangladesh,142

— where 21.4% of the sample were self-employed or informal workers with limited

opportunity for formal economic participation — TempoFlux’s mechanisms of participation

provide a meaningful avenue to better integrate these vulnerable groups into more solid and

lasting livelihoods.

Theoretical Contributions

This study contributes four theoretical contributions to alternative economics, sustainability

economics, blockchain governance, and inclusive value theory.

These contributions are three-fold; First, it extends the time banking theory through a

technology-mediated time-based economic system via UTAUT2- grounded validation of

the basis hereof as an empirical reality. dot, For research on time banks generally, much is

descriptive and smaller scale (2011; Gregory, 2020; attention on the larger part of human

activities has been focused at evolution over the course of century General review Davidson

& McLoughlin) The ndings of the TempoFlux study from an academic perspective are

threefold: rst, we show that existing technology acceptance constructs namely performance

expectancy, social inuence and facilitating conditions meaningfully apply to time-based

exchange systems; this advances theoretical integration between the niche literature on time

banking and traditional technology acceptance research.

Secondly, within sustainability economics, this applied study incorporates environmental

incentives into an economic model structurally so that they become internal to the system

rather than imposed as an external regulation. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate

how individual economic interests can be reconciled with overall environmental goals by

establishing novel mechanisms such as an entropy tax and a sustainability index extending

Rockström et al. Incorporating the planetary boundaries framework of Rockström et al. (2009)

into economic system architecture

Third, the formalization of Proof-of-Contribution as a third viable consensus mechanism

with theoretical rigor contributes to blockchain economic theory alongside Proof-of-Work

and Proof-of-Stake. TempoFlux extends what Mattsson et al. (2022) community currency

blockchain literature into a full economic governance framework.

Most importantly, this research provides genuine data on unpaid care work in Bangladesh

(BBS, 2022) and ILO informal employment statistics to formally operationalize the denition

of invisible labour in developing countries - bringing us closer to designing systems based on

feminist economic arguments put forth by Waring (1988) and Folbre (2001).

The Tempoux Economy: A Time-Based Economic Model for Sustainable Value

Creation—Evidence from Bangladesh

Independent Business Review, Vol 15, No. 1 | June 2026 34

Practical Contributions

The TempoFlux model offers additional support for decision-makers in Bangladesh,

complementing the landmark commitment of the country to integrate women’s unpaid

labor into the GDP by way of a historic budget (UN Women 2025-26).

Instead of merely quantifying hidden labor, TempoFlux establishes a market exchange

that generates material economic value for its contributors. For communities the system

provides a formal recognition of the 84.9% of workers currently outside formal economic

measurement, providing clear steps towards economic participation without any formal

employment criteria. ChronoBlockchain protocol and AI governance layer offers a

conceptual roadmap that technology developers can use for platforms in relation to social

value, environmental contribution and economic participation.

Limitation of the Study

The study has four major limitations. There are several limitations of this study, First

of all geographic representativeness is limited by convenience sampling from Dhaka. The

rural respondents in this sample, who constitute the majority of Bangladesh ( ~63% ) are

also differently constrained with respect to digital access through formal and informal

labour versus their urban counterpart. ILO (2023) estimates that 92.7% of youth aged 15–

27 are in informal employment, and a much larger share lack the digital literacy one would

expect for a smart-phone based TempoFlux platform. This sample needs to be expanded for

peri-urban and rural settings in future research.

Second, although many PLS-SEM studies examined perceived characteristics of a

system and behavioral intention toward this system (in our case: EHRs), they are likely

not equivalent to actual adoption behavior. This gap between intended use and actual use is

well established in technology acceptance literature (Venkatesh et al., 2012). Physical pilot

deployment data, which is not currently available, would give stronger causal evidence.

Third, the simulation scenario results (that is, outputs) reported in Table 5 are synthesized

not from actual TempoFlux deployment, but rather from mathematical modeling applied

to average published macroeconomic parameters. The entropy tax constants (δ, γ) and

adoption rate parameters are set by the researchers and are sensitive to these settings.

This would require, among other data, conducting controlled pilot studies in Bangladeshi

communities to empirically provide estimates of these parameters.

Fourth, the study models no general equilibrium effects of a parallel currency system

including higher prices, misalignment of exchange rates or crowding out of formal

economic activity. The macroeconomic dynamics would need a computable general

equilibrium (CGE) model in order to be appropriately evaluated and provide an important

avenue for future research.

Conclusion

The TempoFlux Economy is a time-based economic system that aims to mitigate the

endemic problem of informal and unpaid labour in developing economies, which structurally

go invisibly while contributing signicantly to national economies. Based on the reality of

Bangladesh’s labor market which has 84.9% of workers in informal employment and

whose unpaid care work represents 18.9% of GDP this model has established a formal

mechanism with time credits for recognizing, valuing, and exchanging all productive

contributions or other socially relevant activities.

The research strongly supports (p <.001 based on 215 responses collected in Dhaka)

all ten of the proposed hypotheses. 001).Note: the sensitivity analyses revealed that

sustainability incentive mechanisms had the largest positive effect on environmental

outcomes (β = 0.527), followed by community participation as a driver of sustainable value

creation (β = 0.486), while economic equity perceptions improved most with regard to

time-based value recognition (β = 0.472). The mediation ndings provide further evidence

that community trust and community participation both are important bridging factors in

the transformation of technological affordances into sustainable value.

By combining blockchain transparency, AI-generated guidance and entropy taxation,

we can develop a self-sustaining system that aligns individual economic rewards with

collective social and environmental value. The TempoFlux Economy lays a foundation

for the possibility of an inclusive, sustainable value creation system that conventional

monetary systems by design are incapable of achieving, and does so based on time, the

one resource equally distributed to every person.

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