All Research

Mohamad Fazli Sabri · Eugene Cheng-Xi Aw · Husniyah Abdul Rahim · Nik Ahmad Sufian Burhan · Mohd Amim Othman · Megawati Simanjuntak ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2021 ·JEL: G41, G53

This study aims to identify the factors determining financial vulnerability among Malaysia households. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted using multi-stage sampling technique. In total, 578 useable responses were collected and data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling. The empirical results revealed that i) financial literacy positively influenced financial behavior, ii) financial behavior negatively influenced financial vulnerability, iii) financial behavior mediates the relationship between financial literacy and financial vulnerability, iv) gender moderates the relationship between financial behavior and financial vulnerability. This study enriches the theoretical foundations of financial vulnerability through the exploration of mediation and moderation mechanism. Implications and future research suggestions are discussed.

Harn Shian Boo ·Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities ·2021

This article explores how gender norms rooted in culture and religion influence gender inequality among Malay couples in Malaysia. Studies on the unbalanced division of unpaid domestic work are pivotal because they negatively affect women’s economic status, wellbeing and life. Many studies have indicated that gender inequality in the division of household labour persists even after accounting for paid work time and resources, suggesting that gender norms lead to the unequal division in unpaid domestic work. By using gender perspective as the theoretical perspective, this study explores how men and women behave according to cultural and religious defined gender roles and are expected to behave as such. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Malay couples in Malaysia. The study suggests that women shoulder a disproportionate amount of housework and childcare due to the cultural and religious gender norms that foster the prescribed roles, emphasising men’s role as the primary breadwinners and women’s role as the homemakers. This study highlights that gender norms rooted in culture and religion plays vital roles in creating gender inequality among Malay couples. Moreover, this study adds support to the gender perspective that not only gender role ideology matter, but also highlights that religiosity matters when accounting for gender norms in Malay society. This study implies that recognising the importance of cultural and religious gender norms around domestic work as women’s work is crucial in narrowing the gender gap in unpaid domestic work.

Qian Long Kweh · Norazlin Ahmad · Irene Wei Kiong Ting · Cheng Zhang · Hasahudin Hassan ·Institutions and Economies ·2019 ·JEL: G34; L21

This study investigates the influences of board gender diversity and board independence on firm performance. Ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares and generalised method of moments are employed to test the relationships among board gender diversity, board independence, and firm performance in firms listed on Bursa Malaysia between 2010 and 2015. The regression results indicate that female directors and independent directors significantly and negatively affect firm performance, respectively. However, the interaction term of board gender diversity and board independence is statistically insignificant. Overall, managers must consider that board gender diversity and board independence may not have an interactive effect on improving the performance of their firms.

Kean-Siang Chng · Suresh Narayan ·Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy ·2021

The presence of a beauty premium in the labor market has been convincingly demonstrated in developed countries, although studies examining this issue in other countries have been few. Additionally, two related issues remain unclear: (i) Does the beauty premium have the same effect on the preferences of male and female personnel in charge of hiring? (ii) Does the interaction of attractiveness with creativity influence their evaluation differently? This study investigates the issues above in the context of a non-western country. A field experiment was conducted and the data were analyzed using regressions to test the interaction of the three factors (attractiveness, creativity and gender). We found that in common with findings elsewhere beauty is still used to decide who to hire, when no additional information is available, regardless of the gender of the hiring personnel. However, when information on creativity becomes available, male hirers give priority to it while female hirers continue to emphasize good looks. The reasons for this difference and whether or not this finding is unique to Malaysia are worth investigating in future studies.