All Research

Muhammad Najit Sukemi · Madeline Berma · Shamsul Amri Baharuddin · Faridah Shahdan ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2018

Affirmative action is a mechanism of conflict resolution in situation of ethnic tensions and socio-economic imbalances. In Malaysia, affirmative action was implemented through a New Economic Policy (NEP) from 1970 to address economic imbalances and wealth inequality among ethnics through the distribution of the equity with the goal of 30% Bumiputerasowned and 40% non-bumiputera owned. After 40 years of implementation, the goal of equity distribution still yet to be achieved. However, does the implementation of affirmative action affects the distribution of wealth for each ethnic groups? Thus, this study aims to evaluate the influence of affirmative policies to the distribution of wealth between ethnic groups in Malaysia. This study will use equity data for ethnicity holdings for a period from 1969 to 2012 and will be tested using the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. The findings show the implementation of affirmative action has significant influence in affecting the distribution of wealth between ethnic groups in the short term and the long term. The study also proves the wealth distribution between ethnic groups was distributed through growing economy rather than through the acquisition of the other ethnic ownership, especially Chinese ethnic was later and transferred to the Bumiputeras.

Mohd Aqmin Abdul Wahab · Hazrul Izuan Shahiri · Mustazar Mansur · Mohd Azlan Shah Zaidi ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2018

This paper looks at the causes of increasing cost of living by studying two (2) main factors; frstly, the slow growth in income as compared to infation, and secondly the unproportional increase in standard of living as compared to income. For the frst factor, a time series regression model was constructred using the data from Household Income Survey report (various years) to compare the fuctutation in income against the infation rate year-on-year. For the second factor, we studied the expenditure elasticity of income for the household. A log-log linear regression model was developed taking into consideration the three (3) main groups of goods that household buys: Food, Transportation and Housing. We have studied the elasticities across income strata (B40, M40, T20) and location (Rural vs Urban) to observe the changes in elasticity with respect to those variables. The result of this study points that income growth has indeed surpasses infation rate from year to year, however the standard of living is increasing at a comparatively fast rate, as evidenced by high expenditure elasticities for several types of goods for B40s and M40s. This suggests that the standard of living, or living styles are the dominant factor that contributes to the problems of increasing cost of living.

Sonia Kumari Selvarajan · Rossazana Ab-Rahim · Nor-Ghani Md-Nor ·Institutions and Economies ·2018 ·JEL: F13; O16; O53

East Asia Pacific has catapulted to be the most dynamic region in the world as a result of economic liberalisation and sustainable growth. This study seeks to investigate if selected East Asian countries are able to converge in terms of trade and investment openness. This paper uses the concept of Phillips and Sul to evaluate trade and investment convergence in East Asia Pacific region during the period 1990 to 2016. The overall results do not support the hypothesis that all countries converge on a single equilibrium in trade and investment liberalisation. However, findings point to the existence of club convergence.

Mahirah Kamaludin · Kuna Sandran · A.A. Azlina ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2018

Water supply is an expensive investment and it is inevitable that the people have to prepare themselves for a universal hike in water prices in order to secure uninterrupted supply in the future. Inexpensive water prices cause the consumers to take water supply for granted and hence, lack of water conservation initiatives prevail. Sufficient funding is needed to implement various programs to improve water services. The costs of these programs should not be incurred by the water companies which are already burdened by the small revenue resulting from low water price. As the collection of revenue is inadequate to cover operating costs, the services rendered to the consumers are often unsatisfactory and the operational efficiency is below par. The last review of water tariff in Terengganu was done in the last two decades. Hence, with the increase in income within the last two decades, a study is needed to assess consumers’ willingness to pay for improved water services. This study employs Double Bounded Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to estimate households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for improvements in water services in Terengganu. Monetary benefits of improved water services for the consumers in Terengganu were determined based on the value of WTP. The findings of this study will be used in identifying the frequent problems and issues faced by the government owned water supplier in Terengganu. Efficient water prices will facilitate efforts in delivering better water services and promoting greater efficiency in the financial and operational management of operators to attain financial sustainability

Nur Syuhada Che Ibrahim · Mahirah Kamaludin · Nur Fatihah Shaari ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2019

Water service is usually taken for granted as important amenities with required levels needed, however little is known about how much consumers are willing to pay for particular water service levels. Improved water services should be based on the understanding built upon consumers’ choice and preferences. Thus, this study aims to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) of consumers in Terengganu, Malaysia for improvement in domestic water services. A choice experiment method was conducted to assess consumer preferences for water service attributes: i.e. water quality, water disruption, water pressure and water price. Primary data were collected using face-to-face interviews of structured questionnaire from a sample of residents in eight districts in Terengganu. A conditional logit model was carried out for data regression. The results showed signifcant willingness to pay (WTP) and the contribution of the level of education, age and income in supporting the specifc attributes of water services improvements. Identifying the attributes and their prices based on consumers’ preferences would help water provider to recognize and deliver preferred water service attributes, effective water tariff policy for cost recovery and water service sustainability to consumers.

Gary John Rangel · Jason Wei Jian Ng · Thiyagarajan M Murugasu · Wai Ching Poon ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2019

Housing affordability has been an important issue for both developed and developing countries. Prior literature has used the price-income ratio as the main standard to assess housing affordability with the median disposable household income of the sample population commonly used. As such, conclusions drawn from macro-level analyses lack practical policy considerations. This paper attempts to address the problem in greater detail by considering age cohorts, income percentiles and different house types. The results show that for those aged 20-24 and 60-64, housing is severely unaffordable across all house types, except for the 75th income percentile group. The most expensive - semi-detached and detached housing types - remain unaffordable to all income and age groups, except for the 75th income percentile group aged 30 and above. Terrace and high rise housing types are the most affordable across each income percentile. Based on the results, we extend the housing affordability literature through recommendation of several policy measures that may ameliorate the affordability conundrum.

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.

Angayar Kanni Ramaiah ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

The digital economy relies on digital computing technologies and online platforms and its consumer market is based on the internet and the World Wide Web. Its rapid technological progress is very innovative and disruptive. Digital market revolutionized and affected the functioning of the established, often regulated business pattern which includes the market competition and consumer welfare both positively and negatively. Digitalization has transformed the manners consumers purchase the goods or services (i.e. the purchasing pattern) and impacted the choice, safety standard, and price determination methods. The platform-based business model involves multisided markets, network effects, and economies of scale, and rather complex and different from the traditional brick and mortar pattern. It has granted beneficial scientific breakthrough for consumers but the way consumers make their choices (consumer market behaviour) on the online platform, related algorithmic pricing, collusion, data gathering manner, and the anti-competitive merger has caused various concerns among the competition regulators concerning the related harm on consumer welfare. Notably, the conventional consumer protection law is unable to address these issues because it is built upon different underlying theories of harm. The objective of the paper is to study the effect of the digital market on consumer welfare generally and specifically within the scope Competition Act 2010. The study examines based on some recent experience and case study involving digital firm, mainly Uber and Grab to discuss how certain characteristics of the digital economy impacts the competition and consequently the consumer welfare in Malaysia

Kai Chen Goh · Nur Syahidah Said · Hui Hwang Goh · Ta Wee Seow · Sulzakimin Mohamed · Md Asrul Nasid Masrom ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

Tourism industry in Malaysia has experienced continued growth due to Malaysia’s beautiful natural assets over decades. Tourism is largely depending on the clean environment, so the issues of operational hotel waste cannot be ignored. It is expected that customer behaviour while staying at the hotel can produce tonnes of waste. As a result, becoming a green customer is a step to cope with this problem. Green customers are people who committed about going green that will help to create a better environment. This concept is widely used in other countries but “limited” in Malaysia especially on green customers’ intention. Therefore, the theory of planned behaviour has been tested to define which factor is influencing the customer intention to practice green while staying at the hotel. This paper aimed to define which measurement items represent the factors of (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control and overall image). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is used to validate the measurement model. The questionnaires are distributed and 210 respondents are received. The respondents are focussed to hotel customers in Malaysia. Data analysing is using Analysis of Moments Structures (AMOS) to confirm the unidimensional, validity and reliability for measurement model. Findings indicate most respondents perceived positive perception toward participating in green campaign favourably affect to practice green while staying at the hotel while the other factors were found no significantly generalise the finding. This highlighted the finding as to the emerging of group green customer in Malaysia still a long way to go.

Noryati Ahmad · Wan Evva Wan Suriea · Ummu Naziha Mohd Ariffin ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

In Malaysia, the insurance industry is operated by conventional insurance companies and Islamic insurance companies (or better known as Takaful.). Even though the nature of business of these two types of companies is almost similar however at operational and investment level, Islamic insurance companies must be in tune with the Shariah principles. Policyholders, investors and regulators are interested in the performance of these companies. Hence, this study aims to investigate the determinants of investment performance of Islamic and conventional insurance companies in Malaysia. Company-specific factors (company size, solvency margin and liquidity) and macro factors (GDP, interest and profit rates, equity returns and inflation) are independent variables employed in the study. A panel regression was estimated on 11 Islamic and 14 conventional insurance companies in Malaysia from the year 2006 to 2015. Interestingly empirical findings revealed that only liquidity and lagged GDP statistically significant relationship with the investment performance of Islamic insurance companies. On the other hand, in addition to liquidity and lagged GD, the investment performance of conventional insurance companies is also statistically and significantly influenced by interest rate and equity returns. These findings provide policyholders, investors as well as regulators with pertinent information related to an appropriate decision made on Islamic and conventional insurance companies.

Kean-Siang Ch'ng · Suresh Narayanan ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2019

It is widely held that risk preferences differ between the three ethnic groups in Malaysia with the Chinese having the highest preference for risk and Malays having the lowest. This has been used to explain the Chinese preference for, and success in, business ventures relative to Malays. However, this assumption has never been tested in a controlled environment. Three hundred working adults from the three groups were recruited and participated in two-choice lottery games with real monetary reward and risk. The results were analysed using the framework of cumulative prospect theory. The outcomes indicate that broad generalisations regarding inter-ethnic risk tolerance are inaccurate. Malays were less risk averse than the Chinese or others when facing choices with the possibility of losing but became more risk averse only when facing choices with the possibility of winning. Malays were also more willing to take greater risk to reduce possible loss than to settle for a sure gain, compared to the others.

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.

Ummu Kolsome Farouk · Mok Siew Wing ·Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics ·2019

The purpose of this research is to understand why a co-founder chose to establish a non-governmental organization (NGO) type social enterprise, the challenges he faced in managing its social and financial sustainability, and the initiatives he took to negotiate those challenges. A narrative approach was used in this qualitative single case study to analyse the self-accounts of the co-founder, and the various internal and external information. The primary drivers of the co-founder's establishment of an NGO type social enterprise were his recognition of an opportunity to redress the prevalence of social ills adversely affecting children, his extensive experience on social issues impacting children, and the successful establishment of his first NGO. Primary challenges faced by the co-founder were notably in terms of maintaining the social relevance of his NGO and securing both its financial sustainability and future scalability. The research is limited by the fact that it is a narrative study, based upon the lived experience, of the co-founder of an NGO type social enterprise. Hence, although the generalizability of the findings is compromised, it can still be placed in the context of past research, in the area of social entrepreneurship in general, underpinned by Malaysia’s social entrepreneurship landscape. This paper provides evidence on how the co-founder of an NGO type social enterprise assessed its developmental stage, measured its success, and paved its path toward becoming a centre of excellence.

Rahmah Ismail · Syahida Zainal Abidin · Mohd Nasir Mohd Saukani ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2019

Worker’s quality is very crucial to enhance effciency level in an organisation. Workers of high quality are always associated with high effciency and productivity, which subsequently increase competitiveness of an organization. In the Malaysian context, technical effciency in the manufacturing sector is vital to be observed due to its signifcantly high contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition, this sector has rapidly created employment opportunities and listed under National Key Economic Area (NKEA). Worker’s quality can be measured using several methods, which are generally based on human capital achievement. The measurements that are frequently used in the literature are level of educational attainment and worker’s job category. However, these measurements ignore the role of wages, which refect workers productivity when examine its effect on technical effciency. This paper aims to analyse level of worker’s quality or referred as effective worker using composite measurement and examine its impact on technical effciency for the Malaysian manufacturing frms. Analysis is based on 1077 manufacturing frms in 2009 obtained from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, through the Survey of Manufacturing Industries 2010. The fndings show that level of effective workers and technical effciency for the manufacturing frms are still at the moderate level and even low for the micro-sized frms. The main determinants of technical ineffciency are effective workers, ICT expenditure, training expenditure and R&D expenditure. The results suggest that the manufacturing frms should enhance their human capital investment and increase their expenditure especially on training and R&D in order to increase its effciency.

Muralitharan Paramasua · Evelyn S. Devadason · Pardis Moslemzadeh Tehrani ·Institutions and Economies ·2019 ·JEL: H70; P48; P45

Environmental regulation is a key driver for the growth of environmental goods and services (EGS), while trade facilitates the diffusion of these goods and services. There has been no shortage of initiatives to develop the EGS sector in Malaysia.However, some policy (non-market) failures are already observed in the governance of this sector. This paper identifies the inadequacies in the regulatory framework (environmental institutions and laws) for creating an enabling environment for the EGS sector. The paper also reviews the trade direction for EGS and delineates concerns related to the sectoral approach of policy making for the sector. The findings from the documentary analyses suggest that the laws and policies related to the EGS are fragmented as they come under the purview of different agencies. As a result of this regulatory incoherence, the coordination and enforcement are weak leading to low uptake of EGS. The absence of a national policy for EGS also obscures the trade direction for this sector. The policy priority and generous support accorded to the renewable energy segment, more specifically, are also a concern given the limited and uncertain role that this segment is expected to play in global energy use.