Structural Changes in the Growth of the Malaysian Manufacturing Sector from 1970-2000

The manufacturing industry has been an important sector in the Malaysian economy for the past three decades. The important role of this sector is due not only to the fact that Malaysia today depends substantially on manufacturing for its foreign exchange earnings, but also because Malaysia is the main exporter of electrical and electronic products. This study examined the sources of structural changes in output growth of Malaysia's economy over the 1978-2000 period, through analysis of the demand side using the 1978, 1991 and 2000 input- output tables. This study also analysed changes in the value-added growth patterns of the manufacturing sector over the period from 1970 to 2000. Two approaches were employed in this study, the econometric approach using UECM (unrestricted error correction model) and the structural decomposition analysis (SDA) approach. The econometric approach was used to determine the long-run relationships between the value-added of manufacturing, per capita income, population and export. The second method, the structural decomposition analysis, was used to analyse the sources of growth and key sectors in the manufacturing industry. Introduction of the export-oriented strategy in the 1970s and 1980s to replace the import substitution strategy gave fresh impetus to industrial growth. This was evidenced in the long-run movement in export and the value-added of the manufacturing sectors. As the results show, most of the industries were non-resource based such as textiles, electrical and electronic products, which was in line with the world's increasing demand for these products. Export followed by domestic consumption is increasingly an important factors of change in the industrial growth patterns for the Malaysian economy. The second part of the study employed the input-output analysis. The analysis computed the compositional structural change as a result of decomposition. The study found that the Malaysian economy had undergone a number of structural changes, caused mainly by the reorientation of industrialization strategies as well as by variations in the composition of domestic demand. The results of the analysis indicate that during the second half of the OPPl (First Outline Perspective Plan) period between 1978 and 1991, domestic demand expansion in the agriculture, light industries, heavy industries, mining and services sectors was the dominant source of growth in the economy. However, in the comparison between domestic expansion and export expansion, domestic demand expansion was still dominating in all these sectors. From 1991 to 2000, the growth in the mining and heavy industries sectors was due mainly to export expansion. Surprisingly, the light industries sector experienced a negative growth during this period, while the agriculture and services sectors showed declining growth trends. For the entire period between 1978 and 2000, export expansion appeared to be the dominant source of growth for the heavy industries and mining sectors, slightly higher in percentage than the domestic demand expansion. The third part of the study employed the Rasmussen (1956) degree of dispersion index using the input-output table. The findings indicate that the key sectors in 1978, 1991 and 2000 were livestock, grain mills, rubber products and basic metal industries. The combined results of the sources of growth and key sectors in the year 2000 reveal that domestic demand expansion accounted for most of the growth of the key sectors

Demographic determinants of women’s fertility decision / Rohana Kamaruddin

Malaysia is an interesting country to study despite a dramatic change in demographic and socioeconomic development. The division of socio-economics among the three ethnicities was influenced by the British colonization, until its independence in 1957. This paper develops an empirical model to investigate the principal determinants of fertility in Malaysia employing panel data extracted from census data from Minnesota Population Centre, Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International, which was provided by Department of Statistics Malaysia. The analyses were based on proxy of four demographical effects: marital status, age, ethnicity and location. The analyses employ binary model using the dependent variable as 0 (no children) and 1 (with children). The results obtained in this study showed that Malaysian women prefer to have children between the age of 30 to 44. As in the case of ethnicity, only two ethnic groups were significant, with higher probability among Malays at 19 percent and second among Indians at 13 percent. The last variable on location was significant, which indicates that urban Malaysians prefer not to have more children at a probability of 8.9 percent. Consequently, these results demonstrate that women’s preference for children are associated with age, marital status and ethnicity

An ARDL Approach in Food and Beverages Industry Growth Process in Malaysia

The study examines the process of growth in the value added of food and beverages industry in Malaysia. The per capita income, population, skill and export are likely to exhibit long run relationship with the value added growth of this industry. Using the newly developed autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) by Pesaran et al, (1995,1997, 1999 and 2000), a long run steady state equilibrium relationship between the independent variables and the growth performances of food industries is detected. Specifically this study has shown that in addition to the size of the population and percapita income, export are closely related to the growth of the value added of food and beverages industry. This empirical result would help Malaysia aspiration of becoming a hub for the halal food industry a reality

Malaysian Spending Patterns Prior to Goods and Services Tax (GST) Implementation

Do Malaysian consumers have fair knowledge about GST, is there a strong association between gender and spending patterns, and do demographic factors strongly influence level of spending among Malaysian consumers were issues addressed in this study. 730 respondents were selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire a week after the implementation of GST. Study findings showed that Malaysian consumers do have fair knowledge about GST and will still give priority to accommodation, followed by groceries, food, transportation, clothing, communications/internet and entertainment. There were no strong association between gender and spending patterns. However, Age and work sectors appeared to significantly influence the pattern. Based on our Logistics Regression Analysis, we predict that people would not spend after GST is implemented, thus, the implementation of GST will not get its desired results. We proposed that the Ministry of Finance, among other measures, should consider adding more products/ services in zero-rated basket

Comparative Analysis of Socio-Economics Determinants of Fertility: Malaysia and United Kingdom

Abstract: The divergence between the literature on fertility decision making and the differences factors on determinants signifies the importance of this study. The study will conduct empirical analysis from the perspective of demographical dimension, socio-economics, intergenerational factors and microeconomics factors that is associated with fertility decision making from the theoretical perspective of quality vs. quantity of children. Order Probit model was employed using the selected sample of female at the age 15 to 49. The finding revealed educated women in Malaysia and UK decision on the number of children based on their fertility preference and career advancement. The other explanation is based on the relative price change by Becker's demand of children cost of child-rearing activities, urbanization, opportunity costs of child-bearing. Keywords: Fertility-decision, socio-economics, demographical, intergenerational, microeconomic

Welfare incentives and socio-demographic determinants of self-rated well-being in Malaysia / Ahmad Izzam Mohd Fimi and Rohana Kamaruddin.

Malaysia, among other countries around the world investing immense sum of money to improve social welfare systems by offering social safety net for the deserving ones that exposed to global uncertainties due to economic slowdown. As part of the government initiative to boost the well-being, this study focus on BRIM (1Malaysia Peoples’ Aid), KRIM (1Malaysia People’s Grocery Store), BBIM (1Malaysia Book Voucher) and KIM (1Malaysia Clinics) under Government Transformation Programme (GTP). Specifically, the motivation of this study to identify the most effective and preferred welfare incentives as well as the most significant incentives together with socio-demographic determinants using self-rated well-being by employing logistic regression analysis. Findings discov-ered that K1M has the highest mean (4.94) while the most preferred welfare incentives were BR1M (42%). As for logistic regression analysis, the finding shows that BR1M, KR1M and K1M were significant to influence well-being of people. As comparison, the most significant welfare incentive was BR1M as it has the most significant value at p-value 0.004 and the highest odds ratio at 4.689. Overall, these results suggest that people perceived BR1M as instant relief towards high cost of living and can affects their well-being without considering the socio-demographic backgrounds

Acceptance towards Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Quality of Life: Antecedent and outcome using partial least square method

The good and service tax (GST) in Malaysia was implemented in 2015 as a tax reform program to generate a stable source of revenue. This study explores the respondents’ behaviour towards GST, a week post-implementation. The partial least square (PLS) modelling was used to establish the relationship between acceptance, knowledge and feelings towards GST as well as the household quality of life. There is a positive relationship between the antecedents and the quality of life. Acceptance of GST exerts a significant relationship towards feelings and quality of life. The study concludes that Malaysians, in general, accept GST that ensures a better quality of life in the future.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: GST; acceptance; knowledge; quality of lif

Enhancing the Quality of Life by Adopting IBS: An Economic Perspective on Mechanisation and Automation

AbstractIncorporating mechanisation and automation in the construction process is necessary to reduce production time and costs, improve working conditions, avoiding dangerous works, allow work to be performed where people cannot do, and eventually will increase performance, and product quality. This paper discusses a preliminary study on enhancing the quality of life by adopting Industrialised Building System (IBS) focusing on the economic perspective on the use of mechanisation and automation. The sustainability principles in the IBS have always maintained the harmony between environment and construction, improve human self-respect and encourage economic development to strive for a better quality of life

Socio-Economic Status and Parental Savings for Higher Education among Malaysian Bumiputera Families

Socioeconomic status of a family is a benchmark for a student in Malaysia to get financial aid in education, on top of their academic performance. As the number of students obtaining good grades in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination increases, entry to public universities become more competitive and the chances to get a full education financing become smaller. Most students resort to loans provided by PTPTN as many still do not have any form of saving to finance their higher education. This study attempts to explore on parental saving for children’s higher education among Bumiputera across different socio-economic groups. A survey was conducted in UiTM and six of its affiliated colleges, with the total respondents of 371. Questionnaires to parents were distributed through the students. The results of the study reveal that only 15% of the students sampled received a form of financial aid from the government. The findings also show high correlation between the socio-economic status of parents and the level of awareness towards saving for their children. The findings are hoped to create awareness in the society that saving incentives for higher education can be utilized by all low and middle-income families in all communities

Sources Of Growth In The Manusfacturing Sector In Malaysia: Evidence From Ardl And Structural Decomposition Analysis

The manufacturing industry has been an important sector in the Malaysian economy for the past three decades. The important role of this industry to the Malaysian economy today is not only because Malaysia depends substantially on manufacturing for its foreign exchange earnings, but also because Malaysia is the main exporter of electrical and electronic products. This study examines the structural changes in the Malaysian economy by utilising two economics tools, namely, the econometric approach using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and the input-output approach using Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA). These two approaches are used to analyse the sources of growth in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia. From both economic approaches, ARDL and IO, the results agreed on the importance of the domestic consumption effect as a source of growth in the economy. The empirical results from this study are very useful guide to the manufacturing industry for the need to generate more domestically oriented products