Bordering neighbours: Testing for border effect on Malaysia's northern states and Southern Thailand

Economists agree that countries that are close together may experience common shocks that affect growth; that a country’s growth rate depends not only on domestic investment but also on the investment of its neighbouring countries. On the negative point, common shock such as wars and political instability can also have an adverse effect on growth of neighbouring countries. First, regional instability disrupts trade flows. Second, regional instability forces increases in military outlays, and will have a negative effect on economic performance. The purpose of the present study is to determine whether the growth rate of the neighbouring provinces of Southern Thailand has an effect on the economic growth of the Northern states of Malaysia. Using annual data from 1983 to 2003, our results using the long-run Granger causality in the vector error correction model setting suggest that Songkhla and Yala Granger cause Kedah; Songkhla Granger cause Perlis; and Narathiwat Granger cause Kelantan. On the other hand, while Perak and Yala indicate Granger cause in both direction, Perlis and Satun are independent of each other.Granger causality; Malaysia; Thailand; economic growth

Borders and economic growth: The case of Sabah and her neighbours

Disparity in income across states and regions in Malaysia continues to be a matter of concern. The purpose of the present study is to investigate empirically the question of whether the economic development of the state of Sabah has an impact on her neighbouring countries or vice versa, the growth of her neighbouring countries have causal effect on the growth of the state of Sabah. Using annual data for the period 1983 to 2003, our results from employing the ARDL bounds testing approach indicate that the growth of the state of Sabah is affected by the growth of Brunei Darussalam, Sarawak, and Kalimantan Timur. Further, the growth of the state of Sabah has an impact on her neighbouring states, country and provinces during the period under study.economic growth; Sabah; granger causality

Effect of mergerson efficiency and productivity: Some evidence for banks in Malaysia

This study is undertaken to investigate the extent to which mergers lead to efficiency by which services are provided to the public and the productivity of Malaysia’s banking institutions sector. The data cover the period 1993 to 2004, which includes the pre-merger years and the post-merger years. This study attempts to evaluate technical efficiency, efficiency change, technical change and productivity of commercial banks, finance companies and merchant banks using a non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Index approach as the framework for the analyses. It is found that: (1) that on average, productivity across banking institutions increased at annual rate of 5.8% over the study period 1993 to 2004; (2) the results also indicated that almost all of the productivity growth comes from technical change (or innovations in banking technology) rather than improvement in efficiency change, which contributes for 6.1% of productivity growth, while the latter accounted for 0.2% decline; (3) the merger process led to productivity improvements whereby, it is observed that the productivity of Malaysia’s banking sector has been improved (in terms of efficiency) after the implementation of merger program for domestic banking institutions in 1999. This might be due to the utilization of their scale economies to improve their efficiencies. However, the productivity of banking institutions has been affected by certain economic conditions in year 2001 and 2004 (such as the September 11 tragedy and the process of capital rationalization that merged entities have undergone).Banking sector, Mergers, DEA and Malmquist index,Malaysia

Has Kelantan grown faster than other states in Malaysia? A panel data analysis

Kelantan has been the poorest state in Malaysia for the past five decades. Despite the various Malaysian Development Plans for the past several decades, regional disparity between states remains in Malaysia. Thus, the objective of the present paper is to address the question whether Kelantan has been narrowing their income gap with other states in Malaysia. Using annual data for the period 1961 to 2003, our panel unit root test result suggest that (i) Kelantan converges towards Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Perlis and Selangor.; (ii) Kelantan is catching-up to Johor, Melaka, Penang, Sabah, Terengganu and Wilayah Persekutuan; and (iii) Kelantan show divergence with Sarawak. In this respect, the government has an important role to play in enhancing growth by continuously providing stable economic environment for investment and other productive economic activities. This will ensure full convergence can take place in the future.regional disparity; malaysia; panel data analysis

Defense spending and economic growth in Asian economies: A panel error-correction approach

Hoping to contribute to the existing pool of literature, this paper examines the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in selected Asian countries for the period 1989 to 2004. Our panel unit root test suggests that real GDP per capita and military expenditures are )1(I processes, while the Larsson et al. (2001) panel cointegration test indicates that economic growth and military expendirues are cointegrated. Finally, applying the panel error-correction technique proposed by Pesaran et al. (1999), our empirical results show that defense spending and economic growth in the Asian countries under the period of study are not related.Military expenditure; Economic growth; Panel unit root; Panel cointegration; Panel error-correction; Asian economies

Borders and economic growth: The case of Sabah and her neighbours

Disparity in income across states and regions in Malaysia continues to be a matter of concern. The purpose of the present study is to investigate empirically the question of whether the economic development of the state of Sabah has an impact on her neighbouring countries or vice versa, the growth of her neighbouring countries have causal effect on the growth of the state of Sabah. Using annual data for the period 1983 to 2003, our results from employing the ARDL bounds testing approach indicate that the growth of the state of Sabah is affected by the growth of Brunei Darussalam, Sarawak, and Kalimantan Timur. Further, the growth of the state of Sabah has an impact on her neighbouring states, country and provinces during the period under study

Borders and economic growth: The case of Sabah and her neighbours

Disparity in income across states and regions in Malaysia continues to be a matter of concern. The purpose of the present study is to investigate empirically the question of whether the economic development of the state of Sabah has an impact on her neighbouring countries or vice versa, the growth of her neighbouring countries have causal effect on the growth of the state of Sabah. Using annual data for the period 1983 to 2003, our results from employing the ARDL bounds testing approach indicate that the growth of the state of Sabah is affected by the growth of Brunei Darussalam, Sarawak, and Kalimantan Timur. Further, the growth of the state of Sabah has an impact on her neighbouring states, country and provinces during the period under study

Bordering neighbours: Testing for border effect on Malaysia's northern states and Southern Thailand

Economists agree that countries that are close together may experience common shocks that affect growth; that a country’s growth rate depends not only on domestic investment but also on the investment of its neighbouring countries. On the negative point, common shock such as wars and political instability can also have an adverse effect on growth of neighbouring countries. First, regional instability disrupts trade flows. Second, regional instability forces increases in military outlays, and will have a negative effect on economic performance. The purpose of the present study is to determine whether the growth rate of the neighbouring provinces of Southern Thailand has an effect on the economic growth of the Northern states of Malaysia. Using annual data from 1983 to 2003, our results using the long-run Granger causality in the vector error correction model setting suggest that Songkhla and Yala Granger cause Kedah; Songkhla Granger cause Perlis; and Narathiwat Granger cause Kelantan. On the other hand, while Perak and Yala indicate Granger cause in both direction, Perlis and Satun are independent of each other

Testing nonlinear convergence in Malaysia,1965-2003

The purpose of the present paper is to examine income convergence in Malaysia by using the nonlinear unit root test due to Kapetanios et al. (KSS, 2003) and extended by Chong et al. (CHLL, 2008) to permit the test of long-run convergence and catching-up hypotheses. We apply the KSS-CHLL nonlinear unit root for the test of nonlinear convergence between thirteen states with respect to Wilayah Persekutuan (the riches state) of Malaysia for the period 1965 to 2003. Generally, our results suggest that out of the thirteen states, only Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Perlis and Selangor support the long-run convergence hypothesis while Johor, Kelantan, Melaka, Pahang and Penang suggest catching-up. Lastly, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu indicate income divergence from Wilayah Persekutuan.nonlinear convergence; income; Malaysia

Has Kelantan grown faster than other states in Malaysia? A panel data analysis

Kelantan has been the poorest state in Malaysia for the past five decades. Despite the various Malaysian Development Plans for the past several decades, regional disparity between states remains in Malaysia. Thus, the objective of the present paper is to address the question whether Kelantan has been narrowing their income gap with other states in Malaysia. Using annual data for the period 1961 to 2003, our panel unit root test result suggest that (i) Kelantan converges towards Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Perlis and Selangor.; (ii) Kelantan is catching-up to Johor, Melaka, Penang, Sabah, Terengganu and Wilayah Persekutuan; and (iii) Kelantan show divergence with Sarawak. In this respect, the government has an important role to play in enhancing growth by continuously providing stable economic environment for investment and other productive economic activities. This will ensure full convergence can take place in the future