The political economy of the Malaysian subnational governments' fiscal behavior

This article attempts to shed light on the political economy of the Malaysian state governments’ budgetary behaviour by tailoring hypotheses drawn from recent theoretical literature to the Malaysian institutional context and testing them empirically. The main objective here was to examine whether state governments’ fiscal behaviour can partly be explained by the political attributes and the institutional characteristics of the government, and of the legislature. In particular, the study analysed whether the incentives for the state governments to observe a prudent spending behaviour have not been undermined by the fact that they have been able to influence relevant central government decisions regarding their finance. The estimation results showed that states that are over-represented at the executive level tend to have higher spending and deficits. However, no correlation was found between over-representation at the parliament and state governments’ fiscal outcomes. This can be explained by the fact that in Malaysia, as is frequently the case in developing nations, the legislature is peripheral to the executive in terms of decision-making power

The political economics of the Malaysian subnational governments’ fiscal behavior

This paper attempts to shed light on the political economy of the Malaysian state governments’ budgetary behavior by tailoring hypotheses drawn from recent theoritical literature to the Malaysian institutional context and testing them empirically. Our main objective here is to examine whether state governments’ fiscal behavior can partly be explained by the political attributes and the institutional characteristics of the government and of the legislature. In particular, we will try to analyze whether the incentives for the state governments to observe a prudent spending behavior have not been undermined by the fact that they have been able to influence relevant central government decisions regarding their finance. Our estimations results show that states that are overrepresented at the executive level tend to have higher spending and deficits. However, we don’t find any correlation between overrepresentation at the Parliament and states governments’ fiscal outcomes. This can be explained by the fact that in Malaysia as is frequently the case in developing nations, the legislature is peripheral to the executive in terms of decision making power.State governments, Fiscal behavior, Political Economy

The importance of precautionary saving motive among Indonesian households

In the developing world, the population is frequently faced with numerous natural, economic, institutional and market risks. Because of these uncertainties, many individuals and households experience difficult periods of unexpected reduction in income. Using panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), this paper tests the existence of precautionary saving associated with income risk in Indonesia. The results of the estimation show that the uncertainty variable is not significantly related to the growth of consumption which signifies that Indonesian households do not constitute precautionary saving to smooth their consumption. The finding may be explained by the fact that Indonesian households have in their possession other type of support mechanisms based particularly on inter-generational and -communal solidarity.Uncertainty; Income Risks; Precautionary Savings

Understanding Malaysian State Governments Fiscal Behavior: The Role of Intergovernmental Transfers

As of late, several state governments in Malaysia have been identified as having serious difficulty in meeting their financial needs, to the extent of the government being qualified as on the verge of bankruptcy. One of the explanations put forward is that state governments have been acting irresponsibly in managing finances. Thus, the question that ensues is: why do state governments behave in such irresponsible manner fiscally and financially in the first place? In this paper, we relate the financial difficulties faced by these governments within the confines of the institutional and political environment currently in place within the country. We will examine one of the institutional features of the intergovernmental system in Malaysia – the intergovernmental grants systems. More precisely, there are two hypotheses that will be tested in this research.. First, federal transfers may stimulate more spending by state governments which leads them to increase spending beyond the means available to them. Second, financial problems may be the consequence of a state governments’ incapacity to utilize tax capacities to the fullest, which in turn may be explained by the disincentives effects that are embedded (whether intended or not) within the transfer system.State Governments, Fiscal Behavior, Intergovernmental Relations

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRECAUTIONARY SAVING MOTIVE AMONG INDONESIAN HOUSEHOLDS

In the developing world, the population is frequently faced with numerous natural, economic, institutional and market risks. Because of these uncertainties, many individualsand households experience difficult periods of unexpected reduction in income. Using panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), this paper tests the existence ofprecautionary saving associated with income risk in Indonesia. The results of the estimation show that the uncertainty variable is not significantly related to the growth of consumption which signifies that Indonesian households do not constitute precautionary saving to smooth their consumption. The finding may be explained by the fact thatIndonesian households have in their possession other type of support mechanisms based particularly on inter-generational and -communal solidarity.Keywords: uncertainty, income risks, precautionary savings, consumption smoothing

The Study Of Current Earnings Ability To Explain Expected Future Earnings In Relation To Stock Return.

Kemampuan pendapatan semasa dan maklumat lain yang mencerminkan jangkaan pendapatan masa hadapan seperti ratio PIE, ratio BIP dan ROE menjadi satu isu untuk menerangkan jangkaan pendapatan untuk mssa hadapan dalam hubungkait antara pendapatan-pulangan dalam kajian "ex-ante". Kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa pendapatan semasa mempunyai kemampuan untuk menerangkan jangkaan pendapatan masa hadapan jika ia dihubungkaitkan dengan maklumat kewangan seperti ratio pendapatan sesaham (PIE) dan pulangan keatas equity (ROE) dan nilai buku sesaham (B/P). Kajian ini mengunakan data sekunde daripada Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur dan mengunakan kaedah hubungkait dan regresi. Kandungan pendapatan seperti pendapatan tetap dan sementara memberi sumbangan yang penting untuk menentukan keterusan pendapatan

Combined ultrasound and IVU for the management of childhood urolithiasis: a case report

The incidence of ureteric calculus as a cause for severe abdominal pain in children is mounting, especially in the tropical country. The course of illness may be non-specific but a swift detection via non-invasive imaging modalities singly or in combination may avert unnecessary radiation hazard and futile surgery in a young child. In this paper, we discussed a case of an 11 year-old boy who was presented with a sudden onset of the right side severe abdominal colic whose a bedside ultrasound was positive for hydronephrosis for which localisation of stone was further confirmed via a low dose limited intravenous urography (IVU). It is important to note that data available on the value of a combined ultrasound and the limited IVU in an emergency setting when urolithiais is being suspected in children with abdominal pain are particularly scarce. Hence, this case documented the potential value of a combined ultrasound and a limited IVU study as a unique combined armamentarium used in a suspected childhood urolithiasis in the tropics

Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-14 di Malaysia: Berakhirnya Era Rejim Autoritarian

Pada Mei 2018, Malaysia telah menyaksikan satu gelombang perubahan yang berskala penuh iaitu apabila parti dominan autoritarian Barisan Nasional yang berusia lebih dari 60 tahun telah ditumbangkan dan ditewaskan di dalam proses demokrasi yang dikenali sebagai ‘ibu segala pilihan raya’. Kemenangan yang berpihak kepada parti pembangkang Pakatan Harapan telah membuktikan bahawa gelombang perubahan politik dan proses pendemokrasian itu adalah tidak asing dan ianya mampu direalisasikan dan ianya bersifat inklusif dengan mengambil kira aspek yang merentasi masyarakat majmuk. Kajian ini mempersembahkan satu perbahasan teoretikal dengan menyelitkan pemahaman empirikal demi untuk menelusuri dengan lebih dalam terhadap perbahasan yang berpaksikan perubahan rejim dan pendemokrasian

The importance of precautionary saving motive among Indonesian households

In the developing world, the population is frequently faced with numerous natural, economic, institutional and market risks. Because of these uncertainties, many individuals and households experience difficult periods of unexpected reduction in income. Using panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), this paper tests the existence of precautionary saving associated with income risk in Indonesia. The results of the estimation show that the uncertainty variable is not significantly related to the growth of consumption which signifies that Indonesian households do not constitute precautionary saving to smooth their consumption. The finding may be explained by the fact that Indonesian households have in their possession other type of support mechanisms based particularly on inter-generational and -communal solidarity

Decentralization, Subnational Governments' Behaviour and Macroeconomic Instability: The Case of Malaysia

In the last two decades there has been a worldwide interest in decentralization of government in all parts of the world. There are two main objectives that we tried to achieve through this study. Firstly, we tried to examine empirically the effects of decentralization on macroeconomic stability. Even though there is a huge literature both theoretically and empirically on the impact of decentralization, not many of them seems to be interested on the question of the link between decentralization and macroeconomic stability. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the outcome of a decentralization policy which in short can be defined as the delegation of more powers and responsibilities to lower level governments, depends largely on the behavior of these subnational governments. As such, in the second part of this thesis, we tried to analyze the determinants of subnational governments’ behaviors. More specifically, we tried to look at the relation between the behavior of subnational governments and the institutions in which they evolve and more particularly the incentives that result from these institutions. In order to achieve that, we used Malaysia as our case study