Research

Rusmawati Said · Ng Kar Yee · Normaz Wana Ismail ·Institutions and Economies ·2019 ·JEL: J81; J83; J61; R15

This paper investigates the impact of foreign labour standards on domestic labour standards in ASEAN countries. The study employs a set of cross-sectional time series data that covers the period from 1995-2008 for its empirical analysis. Three different labour standards indicators, namely numbers of strikes and lockouts, cases of occupational injuries, and trade union density rates–are used as a proxy for labour standards. The results evince a race to the bottom for labour standards, represented by cases of injuries. In contrast, the effect of trade partners’trade union density rate is negative and significant; however, the number of strikes and lockouts has an insignificant effect. The findings of the study suggest that there may be a race to the bottom in terms of working conditions among ASEAN countries, but not on the standards that measure the rights of workers.

Rusli Latimaha · Zakaria Bahari · Nor Asmat Ismail ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2019

In this paper, the authors use dynamic panel data in order to assess the linkages between the cost of living, income inequality, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, population and unemployment rate with respect to the street crime rate in Malaysia. More specifcally, the investigation considers whether the following could be capable of generating any difference in the crime rate observed across many types of street crime. The F-test, Breusch-Pagan Lagrange Multiplier test and Hausman tests affrm the most preferred model to explain criminal behaviour is by using Fixed Effects Model almost for all types of street crime. The fndings of the estimated coeffcients reveal that the cost of living is negatively related to all street crime types and not signifcant as well as unemployment rate. There is a motivation towards street crime not to earn a living or jobless, but other motivating push factors that relate to the personalities of the offenders such as drug addiction. Moreover, income inequality is only signifcant in terms of total street crime and unarmed robbery gang estimation models as well as GDP per capita and population in snatch and theft estimation models. Interestingly, we extend the by changing the defnition of crime into percentage and the results show that the cost of living is signifcant with the correct sign and has a positive relationship with all types of street crime rates except for snatch and theft estimation models. The GDP per capita is also a main infuencer on all types of street crime rates and has a negative relationship. Finally, the unemployment rate is only signifcant in the unarmed robbery estimation models and has a positive relationships as well as income inequality variable in total street crime and unarmed robbery gang estimation models. This street crime has been shown to be sensitive to the change in unemployment rate and income inequality and also have positive linkages.

Mongi Lassoued ·Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance ·2018 ·JEL: G18; G21; G32; G33

The study of credit risk is a great interest and the debate over the relative credit risk of Islamic banks remains open. The study aims at addressing this key question: Do Islamic banks (IBs) have higher credit risk than conventional banks (CBs) in Malaysia? Accordingly, some papers tried to answer this question but they were performed using cross-country data. The cross-country data should have been treated more cautiously since every country has its own developmental backgrounds and regional resulting in different characteristics of banking industry. Moreover, different financial systems that give support or limit the operation of Islamic banks will also make more difficult to compare the data of each country. For that reason, it is suggested to take suitable control for heterogeneity across countries to obtain consistently good conclusions about the credit risk. Different from the cross-country works, this study will focus on the country-level data of Malaysia. A panel data model was applied and it was used the generalized least squares (GLS) model and a yearly bank level data to evaluate the credit risk of 22 conventional banks and 17 Islamic banks in Malaysia. In addition, the study period, which lasted from 2005 to 2015, seems to be representative since it encompasses the period of the sub-prime crisis. This project is an extension of the study begun by Čihák and Hesse (2008) that used cross-country bank data such Malaysia. The results are particularly interesting and do not confirm the results generated by these researchers. The main contribution that this work will hopefully make is to show the reasons which account for the Islamic banks' higher degree of credit risk, and particularly to provide additional insights and complement the existing cross-country studies on Islamic bank stability.

Cosimo Magazzino · Marco Mele · Nicolas Schneider ·Journal of Economic Studies ·2021 ·JEL: O41, C32, E10

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the economic convergence that operate between five selected Asian countries (namely Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia). In particular, it seeks to investigate how increased economic integration has impacted the inter-country income levels among the five founding members of ASEAN.