The effects of education and fertility on female labour force participation in Malaysia

Malaysia experienced rapid economic growth and an increased standard of living between 1970 and 2010. During this period, female educational attainment has also increased substantially, and the fertility rate declined. Curiously though, the rate of female labour force participation experienced only moderate growth in the span of these four decades. The underutilisation of trained human resources deteriorates the stock of human capital and therefore may be costly to a country. From the Malaysian perspective, understanding the determinants of female labour supply is of particular interest especially for policymakers considering the country’s goal to increase the rate of female labour force participation rate to 57% by the year 2020. The main purpose of this thesis is therefore to identify the key determinants of female labour force participation in Malaysia and their changing impacts over time. This thesis presents three complementary empirical analyses on the issue of female labour force participation with an emphasis on education and fertility using data drawn from the various Malaysia Population and Housing Censuses. In the first empirical chapter, the change in the female labour force participation rate between 1970 and 2000 in Peninsular Malaysia was decomposed into changes in characteristics and coefficients using Fairlie’s (1999; 2005) non-linear decomposition method, which is an extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca (1973) decomposition method. The estimates using Fairlie (1999; 2005) decomposition reveals that the majority of the change in female labour force participation rate can be attributed to the change in characteristics on both the education and fertility variables. The second empirical analysis in this thesis offers new evidence on the causal effect of higher education on female labour force participation. The difference-indifferences strategy shows that a higher education reform in Malaysia increases the tertiary educational attainment among females by 2.7 percentage points. Subsequently, by exploiting the reform in higher education as an exogenous source of variation in education, the results estimated using the instrumental variable strategy establish that higher education has a positive causal effect on female labour force participation. This result points to the fact that investment in education should continue to be the country’s priority. In the third empirical contribution, the instrumental variable strategy was used to identify the causal effect of fertility on female labour force participation. The findings from the instrumental variables strategy indicate that fertility has a larger negative effect on female labour force participation for planned births as compared to unplanned births, at 15.5% and 6%, respectively. The estimates in this analysis, using the multiple births and sibling-sex composition as instrumental variables, are consistent with that in the developed countries, including the US and Australia. In Malaysia, where ethnic heterogeneity is the central focus of any public policy, the causal effect of fertility on female labour force participation by ethnicity is examined. Fertility has a larger negative effect among the Bumiputera than the non- Bumiputera women. Chinese women have strong son preference. However, the causal effect of fertility on female labour force participation, examined using son preference instrument is not significant. This thesis advances the literature in the area of female labour force participation in several ways. First, this is one of the few decomposition analyses exploring the drivers of trends in female labour force participation globally. Second, this is one of few studies that examined the causal effect of higher education on female labour force participation. Third, the causal effect of fertility on female labour force participation is analysed by taking into account the behaviour among females of different ethnicities within the same labour market institutions. Finally, in the local context of Malaysia, this study addressed the issues of endogeneity in education and fertility on female labour force participation, which to date has been limited. The findings in this thesis have important policy implications. While the Malaysian Government should continue to focus on improving access to education, the most pressing issue is to design policies that could improve work-life balance in order to encourage greater growth in female labour force participation in Malaysia

Financial support for tourism development in Liangshan prefecture, China

Liangshan Prefecture is located in southwest China. Liangshan Prefecture uses its unique climate advantages and superior natural conditions, relying on the construction of a seasonal headquarters base, and vigorously builds an international tourist attraction. This article first investigates the current situation of financial support for tourism development in Liangshan Prefecture, and analyzes the plight of financial support for tourism in Liangshan Prefecture; secondly, the VAR model is used to further study the relationship between tourism development and financial support in Liangshan Prefecture. The data uses ADF test (Augment Dichey Fuller test), cointegration test (Engel-Granger test), Granger test of causality, impulse response analysis and variance analysis. Finally, it puts forward the countermeasures and suggestions to improve the financial support for the development of tourism in Liangshan Prefecture, such as increasing government support, strengthening the financial role of policy banks and commercial banks, improving the quality of financial services, and exploring other financial support paths

Study on tourist satisfaction in Liangshan prefecture, China

Liangshan Prefecture, located in southwest China, makes use of its unique climate advantages and superior natural conditions to vigorously create a new four-in-one health industry pattern of "health care and living” committed to building an international health care tourism resort. This paper firstly constructs the index system of tourism satisfaction; secondly, conducts descriptive analysis, reliability test, validity test, factor analysis and regression analysis to further explore the influencing factors of tourist satisfaction. Finally, we put forward suggestions to improve tourism development of Liangshan Prefecture in China

Research Hotspots and Trends in Sustainable Livelihood: A Bibliometric Analysis

Sustainable livelihood is a hot topic of study among scholars. Based on the Web of Science (SCI-Expanded, SSCI) database, this article conducts a bibliometric analysis of sustainable livelihoods research from the perspectives of document quantity, authorship, journals, and keyword clustering. The study found that scholars' research on this field has gone from inception to explosion and then to stability over the past few decades. The highest number of publications came from China, the USA, and England, and the journal with the most publications was "Sustainability". Co-authorship trends among sustainable livelihood authors were quite obvious. Articles have been highly cited, with a total of 31,635 citations and an average citation frequency of 20 times per article. Through the analysis of the keyword clustering network and emerging keywords, the research hotspots and trends of sustainable livelihoods can be roughly divided into theoretical and methodological approaches, policy and management, ecological environment, and rural livelihoods

Determinants of Japanese direct investments in selected BIMP-EAGA countries

This paper uses panel data analysis to identify how Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) allocate their investments in the selected BIMP-EAGA countries (i.e. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines). The paper hypothesizes that the following six elements would influence the inflow of Japanese Direct Investments (JDI) into the area: country?s market size, growth rate of market size, per capita income, trade deficit, inflation rates and political condition. The main findings from the panel data analysis are that there is a significant relationship between Japanese direct investments and political condition in the recipient countries. The inflows of Japanese investment tend to decrease as the political risk increases. It means that Japanese MNCs tend to allocate more investments into the countries with better political condition

What are the determinants of health care expenditure? Empirical results from Asian countries

This paper uses panel data to identify the determinants of health care expenditure in twelve Asian countries (i.e. Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) for the period of 1995-2008. The empirical results indicated that only two independent variables (GDPit and POP65it) have significant relationship with health care expenditure in these countries. These two variables are positively correlated with the amount of health care expenditure. In other words, when the countries’ income is larger, the amount of health care expenditure is larger. When the share of ageing population in the total population is higher, again the amount of health care expenditure is larger

Soft skills attributes and graduate employability: A case in Universiti Malaysia Sabah

This study aims to investigate the relationship between graduate’s soft skills attributes and employment status among students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). A total of 200 respondents were surveyed using data from the feedback form on the tributes of UMS trainee who are currently undergoing industrial training in the year 2015 and the Graduate Tracer Study 2015. Using the Chi-square test, the results reveal that the attributes examined (knowledge, ICT skills, technical skills, problem solving, communication skills, team work, leadership, professionalism and ethics) have no significant relationship with the employment status of the graduates

Empowering single mothers in Sabah

Life can be challenging for single mothers. They are viewed as the most vulnerable social groups in society who often lack educational attainment, skills and social networks; thus limiting their opportunities to compete in the labour market. Consequently, single mothers struggle to achieve financial independence and to support the well-being of their family. To help single mothers build a better life, it is crucial to provide single mothers with solid institutional support programmes. This paper explores the extent to which the institutional support programmes designed for single mothers are in accordance with the needs and expectation of the single mothers in Sabah. The views obtained from the leaders of the single mother associations show that the support programmes are useful for single mothers; however, the programmes are still inadequate to lift them out of poverty. Suggestions for improvement of the institutional support programmes for single mothers are highlighted

COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the labour market in ASEAN countries

This paper aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market in ten ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Lao PDR Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. A flu virus first detected in China later affected neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. Although the pandemic has varying implications and at varying levels, it has a negative impact on the ASEAN economies. The labour market is affected as economic activities came to a halt when ASEAN governments-imposed lockdowns or restricted movement. Job losses continue to escalate amid the pandemic, vulnerable workers such as those working in informal sectors, self-employed workers, gig workers, migrant workers, and micro, small and medium enterprises are facing a tough labour market and also at risk of losing livelihood due to lockdown. Post-COVID-19, ASEAN region sees the need for collective action to build the economy, leveraging on technology and digital trade. The pandemic may reshape ASEAN’s digital landscape in the labour market especially on the way work is done in the future

The factors affecting older people’s participation in the labour market: Policy implications

The growing proportion of older people in many nations has sparked policymakers' interest in issues impacting older people's well-being, including concerns addressing support for older people, economic security, and familial living arrangements. This study looks at the relationship between intergenerational transfers, co-residence, and labour participation among 4,059 Malaysians aged 60 and above, using data from the Fifth Malaysian Population and Family Survey 2014 (MPFS-5). Determinants of older Malaysians participating in the labour market were identified using binary logistic regression after controlling for major demographic, health, socioeconomic and intergenerational support variables. The findings of this study have a number of key implications for future practices, with the goal of supporting the government in developing labour market regulations aimed at older people. This is to ensure older people's economic independence in old age, notwithstanding the fact that not all older people are able to participate in the labour market due to health issues. To guide present and future labour market strategies, a comprehensive, holistic, and interdisciplinary strategy embracing all aspects of ageing such as gender, health, education, and family is essential. Policies must also consider the nation's multi-ethnic society, including the needs of the elderly in all segments. It is timely to promote active and productive ageing while honouring family values in caring for the elderly as Malaysia prepares to become an ageing nation in the near future