Testing the Effectiveness of Monetary Policy in Malaysia Using Alternative Monetary Aggregation

The capability of monetary aggregates to generate stable link with fundamental economic indicators verifies the effectiveness of monetary targeting. However, traditional monetary aggregates have become flawed when financial reforms take place. As official monetary aggregates fail to maintain stable link with crucial economic indicators in Malaysia, monetary targeting has been substituted by interest rate targeting. Therefore, Divisia monetary aggregates, which are considered more superior than the simple sum counterparts are used in the investigation for the case of Malaysia. The findings imply that Divisia M2 money demand is stable and is capable to generate appropriate coefficients with correct signs for the variables included. Thus, Divisia money has shed new light on the usefulness of monetary targeting in formulating monetary policy in Malaysia.Divisia money; Money demand; Error-correction model

Asymmetric Stock Price Responses : Does Inflation or Interest Rate Matter?

Macroeconomics significantly impacts economic activities and stock market performance given the inextricable link of the stock market to the Indonesian economy. The non-linear autoregressive distributed lags (NARDL) model between 1997 (Q1) and 2021 (Q4) was employed to investigate the asymmetric co-integration of the aforementioned rates by examining the asymmetry inflation model and asymmetry interest rate model. The NARDL specification bounds test implied the existence of co-integration among the study variables. Resultantly, asymmetries existed in the long- and short-run asymmetry interest model but were absent in the inflation counterpart. Under the asymmetry interest rate model, a high interest rate potentially instigates a low stock price while a low interest rate could depress the stock price. Economic developments and exchange rates also demonstrated a positive and significant impact on stock prices in the short run. Examining the implications of multiple asymmetric variables on the stock market proved intriguing as not all macroeconomics variables are globally asymmetric. Notably, the current research supports the presence of an asymmetric influence between interest rates and the stock market in Indonesia. The examination of asymmetry responses to inflation and interest rates in two distinctive models depicted their novel implications on the Indonesian stock market

Revisiting money demand in Malaysia : simple-sum versus divisia monetary aggregates

BNM has discarded the use of monetary targeting due to the speeding up of financial reforms as the relationship between money and important macroeconomic indicators in Malaysia has weakened. However, the implementation of the interest rate targeting requires the authorities to alter the policy rate recurrently. Alternatively, the authorities may consider monetary targeting, which provides the ease of control of monetary aggregates, provided that a stable demand for money function can be derived. Nevertheless, financial liberalization has greatly affected the stability of money demand. Thus, this study estimated the demand for money function in Malaysia by considering the effect of the financial development in which a Divisia monetary aggregate has been constructed as an alternative measure of money and a monetization variable has been included in the function. The Johansen and Juselius cointegration test and error correction model are utilized to estimate the demand for money function. The empirical findings indicate that a plausible demand for money function is derived using Divisia M2. Furthermore, monetization appears as an important variable that contributes to a stable money demand. The presence of a stable Divisia M2 money demand has reassured the usefulness of monetary aggregate as the indicator for monetary policy purposes. Monetary targeting provides alternative policy target choice for the conduct of monetary policy. Divisia monetary aggregates can also serve as the alternative money measurement apart from the conventional money supply

Testing the Effectiveness of Monetary Policy in Malaysia Using Alternative Monetary Aggregation

The capability of monetary aggregates to generate stable link with fundamental economic indicators verifies the effectiveness of monetary targeting. However, traditional monetary aggregates have become flawed when financial reforms take place. As official monetary aggregates fail to maintain stable link with crucial economic indicators in Malaysia, monetary targeting has been substituted by interest rate targeting. Therefore, Divisia monetary aggregates, which are considered more superior than the simple sum counterparts are used in the investigation for the case of Malaysia. The findings imply that Divisia M2 money demand is stable and is capable to generate appropriate coefficients with correct signs for the variables included. Thus, Divisia money has shed new light on the usefulness of monetary targeting in formulating monetary policy in Malaysia

Testing the Effectiveness of Monetary Policy in Malaysia Using Alternative Monetary Aggregation

The capability of monetary aggregates to generate stable link with fundamental economic indicators verifies the effectiveness of monetary targeting. However, traditional monetary aggregates have become flawed when financial reforms take place. As official monetary aggregates fail to maintain stable link with crucial economic indicators in Malaysia, monetary targeting has been substituted by interest rate targeting. Therefore, Divisia monetary aggregates, which are considered more superior than the simple sum counterparts are used in the investigation for the case of Malaysia. The findings imply that Divisia M2 money demand is stable and is capable to generate appropriate coefficients with correct signs for the variables included. Thus, Divisia money has shed new light on the usefulness of monetary targeting in formulating monetary policy in Malaysia

Revisiting Money Demand In Malaysia: Simple-Sum Versus Divisia Monetary Aggregates

This paper attempts to determine whether Divisia Monetary Aggregates is a superior monetary instrument in Malaysia where monetary targeting has been replaced by interest rate targeting due to the inadequacy of the monetary aggregates in predicting imperative economic activities. Is there any discernible evidence to suggest that Divisia monetary Aggregates possess significant relationship with the macroeconomics indicators? The empirical results in this study indicate that Divisia M2 performs excellently in the money demand function of Malaysia that incorporated the financial reform and financial development variables. The significance of Divisia money validates the usefulness of monetary targeting to formulate monetary policy in Malaysia

Predicting mobile network operators users m-payment intention

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the intention of using mobile payment (m-payment) services in Sarawak, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 194 online payment users were selected to respond to the structured questionnaire. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data by assessing the measurement and model. Findings – Perceived usefulness(PU)and perceived ease of use mediated the relationship between perceived compatibility(PC) and the intention to use the mobile payment for mobile network operators’ services. Research limitations/implications – The analysis provides insights that PC is considered as a significant determinant for mobile payment of mobile network operators’ services. Practical implications – The operators can consider factors such as PC in the design of their mobile applications and the potential to expand them-payment services too theirs e-wallet such as Sarawak e-wallet. The model possesses medium prediction power, which suggests that other variables such as perceived security and personal innovativeness also can be used to predict the usage behavior of mobile payment for the mobile network services. Originality/value – The present study contributes to them-payment users’ behavior intention literature by investigating the mobile-based predictors of using m-payment technology in an emerging digital economy state in Sarawak, Malaysia. This study also extends the knowledge of technology acceptance model by introducing the mediation effect of PU and ease of use between the mobile-based predictors and m-payment intention

Consumer adoption of on-demand digital platforms: An integrated model

On-demand digital platforms are omnipresent in the contemporary marketplace of the digital era. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors influencing consumers’ intention to adopt on-demand digital platforms in the context of a developing country. Based on a modified integration of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and the social influence theory, this study contended that electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) about on-demand digital platforms shapes consumers’ perceived risk and subjective norms, which, along with the other elements of UTAUT, influence their intention to use OnDemand digital platforms. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and distributed online, yielding a total of 226 responses, which were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, subjective norms, and perceived risk significantly affect consumers’ intention, wherein eWOM reduces perceived risk and shapes subjective norms to adopt on-demand digital platforms. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature on consumer adoption of new-age digital products, and in this case, on-demand digital platforms, with implications for theory and practice in this space

Sustained proliferation in cancer: mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets

Proliferation is an important part of cancer development and progression. This is manifest by altered expression and/or activity of cell cycle related proteins. Constitutive activation of many signal transduction pathways also stimulates cell growth. Early steps in tumor development are associated with a fibrogenic response and the development of a hypoxic environment which favors the survival and proliferation of cancer stem cells. Part of the survival strategy of cancer stem cells may manifested by alterations in cell metabolism. Once tumors appear, growth and metastasis may be supported by overproduction of appropriate hormones (in hormonally dependent cancers), by promoting angiogenesis, by undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition, by triggering autophagy, and by taking cues from surrounding stromal cells. A number of natural compounds (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol, indole-3-carbinol, brassinin, sulforaphane, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, genistein, ellagitannins, lycopene and quercetin) have been found to inhibit one or more pathways that contribute to proliferation (e.g., hypoxia inducible factor 1, nuclear factor kappa B, phosphoinositide 3 kinase/Akt, insulin-like growth factor receptor 1, Wnt, cell cycle associated proteins, as well as androgen and estrogen receptor signaling). These data, in combination with bioinformatics analyses, will be very important for identifying signaling pathways and molecular targets that may provide early diagnostic markers and/or critical targets for the development of new drugs or drug combinations that block tumor formation and progression

Diverse Applications of Nanomedicine

The design and use of materials in the nanoscale size range for addressing medical and health-related issues continues to receive increasing interest. Research in nanomedicine spans a multitude of areas, including drug delivery, vaccine development, antibacterial, diagnosis and imaging tools, wearable devices, implants, high-throughput screening platforms, etc. using biological, nonbiological, biomimetic, or hybrid materials. Many of these developments are starting to be translated into viable clinical products. Here, we provide an overview of recent developments in nanomedicine and highlight the current challenges and upcoming opportunities for the field and translation to the clinic. \ua9 2017 American Chemical Society