All Research

Mohammad Sharif Karimi ·International Economic Journal ·2018 ·JEL: C22; O11

In this study, we examine the nonlinear relationship between international tourism arrival and economic growth of Malaysia by using asymmetric models over the periods 2000:1–2015:4. The results show that the tourism arrival is positively related to Malaysia’s economic growth in the long run, but there is no short-run relationship and other traditional growth factors such as trade, exchange rate and Consumer Price Index are important for economic growth in the case of Malaysia. This implies that tourism can be one of the important factors for Malaysia’s economic growth in the long run and development and can be used to stimulate the overall economic growth and hence, policy-makers should pay greater attention towards promoting inbound tourism.

Lindsey Hiebert · Robert Hecht · ShanSoe-Lin · Rosmawati Mohamed · Fatiha H. Shabaruddin · Syed Mukhtar Syed Mansor · Maznah Dahlui MD, MPH · Amirah Azzeri · Scott A. McDonald ·Value in Health Regional Issues ·2019

Background In Malaysia, more than 330 000 individuals are estimated to be chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), but less than 2% have been treated to date. Objectives To estimate the required coverage and costs of a national screening strategy to inform the launch of an HCV elimination program. Methods We designed an HCV screening strategy based on a “stepwise” approach. This approach relied on targeting of people who inject drugs in the early years, with delayed onset of widespread general population screening. Annual coverage requirements and associated costs were estimated to ensure that the World Health Organization elimination treatment targets were met. Results In total, 6 million individuals would have to be screened between 2018 and 2030. Targeting of people who inject drugs in the early years would limit annual screening coverage to less than 1 million individuals from 2018 to 2026. General population screening would have to be launched by 2026. Total costs were estimated at MYR 222 million ($58 million). Proportional to coverage targets, 60% of program costs would fall from 2026 to 2030. Conclusions This exercise was one of the first attempts to conduct a detailed analysis of the required screening coverage and costs of a national HCV elimination strategy. These findings suggest that the stepwise approach could delay the onset of general population screening by more than 5 years after the program's launch. This delay would allow additional time to mobilize investments required for a successful general population screening program and also minimize program costs. This strategy prototype could inform the design of effective screening strategies in other countries.

Basu Govindaraju · John Jeyasingam · Md. Mamun Habib · Uvarani Letchmana · Sasidevi Ratnam ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2019

This empirical study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the impact of sustainable practices on sustainable performance of higher education institutions. Firstly, the sustainable performance survey is designed to investigate its main influencing factors among the pool of constructs includes; economic, environment, social and top management support factors. Secondly, based on the SEM, the levels of sustainable performance of the universities are quantified in accordance with factors. The findings were supported by empirical evidence, as the study established that only economic and environment factors have significant positive relationship and impact sustainability performance. This paper provides a greater understanding of the interactions between key elements of sustainable practices associated with university performance provision.

Md Fauzi Ahmad (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)) · Siti Norziah Ismail (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)) · Mohd Fahrul Hassan (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)) · Chan Shiau Wei (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)) · Norhadilah Abdul (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)) · Ahmad Nur Aizat Ahmad (Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)) · Mohd Nasrun Mohd Nawi · Nor Aida Abdul Rahman ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2019

Green Factory is a management tool for eliminate environment burden such as waste, chemical and pollution. Economic development grew too fast has effected major impact to environment. Carbon dioxide, loss of biodiversity, degradation of natural resources, global warming, ozone layer depletion and deforestation have effected on the environment. Based on world statistics, Malaysia has produced 29 million tonnes carbon dioxide and ranked 26th (0.66%) of the 215 countries in the world. 110 world leaders including Malaysia has agreed to work for reducing carbon dioxide gas in the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit 2009. Five main criteria for Green Factory have been identified; (1) Solar power generation systems, (2) Fuel cells system, (3) Cogeneration systems, (4) Air conditioning units and (5) Recycling system. A study was conducted to manufacturing companies that adopted Green Factory practices to assess its their green practices for minimizing environmental problems. The samples were 300 companies in Malaysia. Finally, 20% response rate has been received, with 60 respondents. Based on descriptive result, recycling shows the highest level of practices, followed by solar power cogenerations system, air conditioning units and fuel cells system. This study result shows Green Factory has significant relationship with environment performance (r=0.684, P<0.05) and business performance (r=0.510, P<0.05). Overall, the survey result shows green factory practices has significant impact on Malaysia manufacturing companies. In conclusion, Green Factory can be used as effective tool for improving not only for environment performance but also for business performance.

Shui Ling Wong · Saliza Ibrahim · Norazlin Abdul Kadir · Salbiah Mohd Salleh ·Applied Health Economics and Health Policy ·2019

Background High medicines prices are a barrier to medicines access, and their impact is greater in developing countries. Objective This study assessed the availability, prices and affordability of medicines in public and private sectors in Malaysia to understand the pharmaceutical environment and guide policy recommendations. Methods This nationwide cross-sectional study adapted the World Health Organization/Health Action International (WHO/HAI) methodology. A total of 87 premises from both public and private sectors participated in this study. Data on 50 medicines were collected to analyze availability, prices and affordability. Medicine prices were compared against the international reference prices (IRPs), and affordability was assessed by daily income level. Results In the public sector, the average availability of generics (74.8%) was higher than that of the originator brand name products (19.4%). However, in the private sector, the availability of originator brands was higher (52.2%) than generics (49.1%). Procurement prices in the public sector were up to 1.5 times the IRPs, but up to 8.4 times in the private sector. The study also observed large price variation across medicines in the private sector. Median retail mark-ups in private hospitals (generics 166.9%; originators 51.0%) were higher than in retail pharmacies (generics 94.7%; originators 22.4%). Generics were generally affordable, but originator brands were unaffordable. Conclusion Current policies on generic medicines need to be strengthened to improve the availability and use of generics in the country. High medicine prices and large price variation in the current free market suggest that coherent pricing policies and regulations are needed to safeguard the accessibility and affordability of medicines for the people.

Muhamad Azhar Nor Sabli · Mohd Fahmy-Abdullah · Lai Wei Sieng ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2019

This aim of this study is to measure the technical efficiency score and identify the factors that affect the technical efficiency in plastic manufacturing firm in Malaysia for the year 2015 using the two stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The first stage involves calculating the efficiency score through the DEA using firm-level data, provided by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. In the second stage, Tobit Regression Analysis was used to identify the significant factors affecting the efficiency of the plastic industry. The determining factors are the labor-ratio, training expenses, educational level ratios, wage rates, information and communications technology expenses and firm size. The results show that average efficiency score is moderate rate. Information and communication technology (ICT) expenditure, wage rate, research and development expenditure and education level are significant factors of the efficiency factor of a plastic product manufacturing firm. The implication of this decision suggests that firms need to emphasize significant factors to enhance firms' efficiency.

Habib Ahmed · Ahmed H. Elsayeda ·Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance ·2019

This study examines the decoupling hypothesis between Islamic and conventional capital markets by analysing the dynamic interdependencies among conventional stock, Islamic stock, bonds and sukuk markets in Malaysia over the period January 3, 2007 to March 31, 2017. Empirical findings on the total spillover index show that, on average, one third of the total forecast error variance attributed to spillovers has affects across four markets, indicating that conventional and Islamic markets are highly interconnected. The conventional stock and bond markets are considered to be the main net transmitters of spillovers towards other markets, whereas the sukuk market is a net receipt of modest levels of return shocks from conventional, Islamic and bond markets throughout the sample period. The interlinkages and connectedness between sukuk and conventional bonds are robust compared with other markets but show variations in the spillovers over the period. While one way to explain the differences in the spillovers between the conventional bond and sukuk indices can be attributed to external factors such as the financial crisis, changes in the legal regime and political uncertainties, another explanation may lie in the differences in the contractual structures of these instruments.

Zeinab Jannoo · Bee WahYap · Naushad Mamode Khan · AlessioFarcomeni ·Value in Health Regional Issues ·2019

Objectives To validate, from a psychometric perspective, the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) questionnaire in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from Malaysia. Methods A total of 497 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited from public hospitals in the state of Selangor through convenience sampling. Construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency of the instrument was tested by Cronbach α. Criterion validity and discriminant validity were also used. Results The PAID instrument consisted of 3 factors: social support problem, food-related problem, and emotional distress problem. The Cronbach α values of the 3 factors showed adequate internal consistency with α values greater than 0.90. The present confirmatory factor analysis model achieved a good fit with a comparative fit index value of 0.923. Satisfactory criterion validity was also demonstrated because there existed positive significant association between glycated hemoglobin A1c and diabetes duration. Conclusions The PAID questionnaire in Malaysia was found to be a reliable and valid instrument exhibiting good psychometric properties.

Raja Nor Firdaus Kashfi Raja Othman · Nurfaezah Abdullah · Amiruddin Ahamat · Nor Aishah Md Zuki · Fairul Azhar Abdul Shukor · Kasrul Abdul Karim ·Journal of Open Innovation: Technology Market and Complexity ·2019

In the last few years, the monstrous fan has gained attention in this country for large space buildings and areas. The continuity of this product technology is important to allow it to be able to survive in the current and future market. However, there are limited studies on the present and future scenario of the monstrous fan, especially in Malaysia. Thus, the objective of this paper is to forecast its present technology, evaluating the market demand and future of the monstrous fan. For these reasons, an online survey was used to obtain feedback from suppliers and manufacturers to forecast the future of this product. In conclusion, the monstrous fan has been discussed and predicted, which can be beneficial for various parties including policy makers, government, business and technology players by representing a specific knowledge on the technical specificities of monstrous fans in Malaysia.

Meng-wai Lee · Kim-leng Goh ·Economics Bulletin ·2019

In Malaysia, infrastructure financing requirements can be served through domestic bond markets, including its corporate bond markets. However, financial crises have exacted a heavy toll on government debts, which are often funded by issuance of government bonds. Persistent fiscal deficits and growing issuance of government bonds can become a double-edged sword and result in crowding-out of private bond markets. This paper represents a first attempt to analyze the potential determinants of the domestic corporate bond market in Malaysia to facilitate a closer examination of the possibility of crowding-out on the Malaysian corporate bond market. This paper finds no evidence of crowding-out effects on Malaysia's domestic corporate bond market from the country's growing government debt. Importantly, findings strongly suggest that the well-functioning Malaysian government bond market has served as a strong foundation for the growth of its domestic corporate bond market.

Ahmad Fakrul Ramli · Zarina Ab Muis · Wai Shin Ho · Ahmad Muzammil Idris · Aminullah Mohtar ·Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy ·2019

The energy sector has grown significantly over the years, causing an increase in carbon emission that has led to serious global warming problems. Consequently, electric vehicles (EVs) have become a favourable solution in the transportation sector due to their green technology attributes. This paper aims to apply the Carbon Emission Pinch Analysis (CEPA) method to the transportation sector in Iskandar Malaysia. The modified CEPA method is applied by constructing a composite curve for transportation modes and the total carbon emission was plotted in order to study the minimum electricity requirement that needs to be generated to implement the use of EVs. Road and rail transportation were considered in the transport composite curve based on the current policies available and to achieve the new carbon emission target by the year 2025. The alternatives available to reduce carbon emission in Iskandar Malaysia include increasing public transport modal share; fuel switching from petrol and diesel to natural gas and biofuels; and increasing transport efficiency via plug-in hybrid and EVs. Four scenarios were established and evaluated based on economic and environmental aspects. As a result, Scenario 4 which considered all policies available (transport management, fuel switching and fuel efficiency) have showed the most promising fuel mix for future transportation demands. An estimated total amount of 0.25 TJ of electricity is needed for EV implementation with a total estimated cost of RM 1.3 billion. The total carbon emission for this scenario is 1101.96 kt-CO2. This research can benefit the Government, town planners, or policy makers, for preliminary energy planning.

Emile Kok-Kheng Yeoh · Le Chang · Yemo Zhang ·The Chinese Economy ·2019

With trade volume registering more than US$10 billion in recent years, Malaysia has already been China’s largest Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trading partner since 2008 and its third biggest Asian trading partner after Japan and South Korea. It is expected that China–Malaysia bilateral trade with an 8% annual growth rate will continue to expand, and this strong bilateral tie is set to be strengthened in the face of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s efforts to enhance regional connectivity and especially maritime linkage by proposing the “One Belt One Road” (OBOR) construction. Malaysia is well placed, probably even better than most of its ASEAN neighbors, to embrace the opportunities brought about by the surge of infrastructure development and trade deals that is going to come with the progress in constructing the ocean-based Maritime Silk Road (MSR), one of the two initiatives of OBOR, the other being the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt. With Malaysia’s traditional linkage with China’s southeastern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, and as the holder of the Strait of Malacca, Malaysia is occupying a key strategic location that can serve well as China’s gateway to the ASEAN Economic Community. A statement made by the Malaysian transport minister has declared that a few ports in Malaysia has been identified to be part of the MSR. The close ties between both countries have resulted in cooperation in the transportation field such as railway projects and purchasing of trains from China. Indeed, Malaysia is in the process of developing inter–port city collaboration between China’s Qinzhou Port and Malaysia’s Kuantan Port. In recent years, China’s Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group has bought a 40% stake in Malaysia’s Kuantan Port Consortium from the construction group IJM Group for a total of US$102 million. It is in such context and with due consideration of such developments that this paper will explore the prospects and challenges facing China–Malaysia cooperation within the overall framework of China–ASEAN strategic relations.

Muhammad Syafiq Abdul Latif · Mohd Fahmy-Abdullah · Lai Wei Sieng ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2019

— Machinery manufacturing industry has been introduced since the beginning of the industrial era from European countries and developed until today. However, major challenges in machinery industry still driven by traditional production factors such as capital and labour that caused the industry still left out. Thus, the objective of the study are to analyse the level of TE and identifying determinant factors influenced to technical efficiency in the machinery manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The study was conducted by using the method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) two stages. The first stage involves the calculation a score of efficiency through the DEA by using firm’s data while the second stage Regression Tobit Analysis used to identify significant factors influencing to technical efficiency in machinery industrial. This firm’s data are categorized into 3 subindustry 3-digit according to the Malaysian Standard Industrial Classifications which are consists of Manufacture of General-Purpose Machinery, Manufacture of Special Purpose Machinery and Manufacture of Installation Machinery Industrial and Equipment. A total of 636 machinery industry firms were involved in this study. Results showed the average efficiency score is at the medium level while the determinant factors were significant are wage rates, the standard of education and research and development (R&D). The implications of this study show that the machinery industry should focus their attention to the significant factors to improve the level of technical efficiency of the machinery industry.

Nur Ainna Ramli · Hengky Latan · Grace T.Solovida ·Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance ·2019 ·JEL: G14; G10; M41

We examine the impact of capital structure determinants on firm financial performance together with the mediation effect of firm leverage in Malaysia and Indonesia over the period of 1990–2010. Our results show that certain of the capital structure determinants directly affect firm financial performance. We also observe that only the Malaysian sample has a positive significant correlation between firm leverage and firm financial performance. Malaysian firms use external financing instead of internal financing to heighten performance. Our results also show that firm leverage plays a mediating role in Malaysia but not for the Indonesian sample. The asset structure, growth opportunities, liquidity, non-debt tax shield and interest rate are the attributes that were indirectly influenced by firm leverage on firm financial performance. Further analysis for multi-group analysis (MGA) in PLS was also used to test the equality of the parameter estimates. We observe that certain attribute coefficients in the determinants of capital structure and firm financial performance are significantly different between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Christine Nya Ling Tan · Adedapo Oluwaseyi Ojo · Ramayah Thurasamy ·Young Consumers ·2019

Purpose This study aims to investigate the factors, which may potentially influence green product buying decision among young consumers in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A perceived lack of intention to buy green products observed among the Malaysian Generation Young consumers has sparked the interest to carry out this study. With the aid of structured questionnaires, data were collected from a total of 217 respondents, between 18 and 25 years of age. Findings The results of data analysis indicated that environmental consciousness, eco-label, price and advertising were significant predictors of green product buying behaviour. Contrary to the hypothesis, attitude was not a significant predictor of green buying behaviour among young consumers. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are outlined at the end of this paper. Originality/value This study offers empirical insights from the perspective of an emerging economy on the determinants of green products buying behaviour among young consumers.