Assessing regional integration: The progress of ASEAN regional grouping

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is now entering a new phase in its integration process. Beyond AFTA, it is now preparing a roadmap towards deeper economic integration, namely the creation of an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. Economic integration is to be encouraged if it can contribute positively towards the achievement of this goal and the overall developmental goals of the ASEAN countries. In view of the importance of enhancing economic integration in the era of globalisation, this paper evaluates the progress of ASEAN regional integration for the past decade to see to what extent ASEAN economic integration efforts have been successful. In this paper, the progress and developments of ASEAN countries are evaluated using performance indicators of regional integration based on ASEAN economic integration index. The scope of analysis of economic integration focuses on the three most important sectors of the thrusts of ASEAN economic cooperation, that is, trade; Investment; and human resources and labour mobility

The mediating effect of employee’s trust on e-government and good governance in the public sector of developing countries

The main purpose of this paper is to study the mediating effect of employee‟s trust between e-government and good governance in the public sector of the developing countries.In addition, it presents a conceptual research framework to understand these relationships supported by literature review from recent studies.The main findings indicate that empowering public sector employees through practicing e-government creates trustworthy behaviors which are necessary to promote effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and innovativeness as means of good governance. Implications and limitations of the study are also discussed where future studies are recommended to extend the research empirically and highlight more on governments of developing countries which are in need to such kind of transformation for an effective economic refor

Local public goods and citizen satisfaction: A case study of Kubang Pasu District, Kedah, Malaysia

Local governments play a crucial role in facilitating the economic activities and developments of a region. As instrument of national development,they are seen to be more responsive to local environments and are capable of directly influent the regional and urban development.As stated in the vision and mission statements of local governments in Malaysia, the welfare of the local society is made as a prime target. Local population sees the role of the local governments as their front liner in delivering local public goods.However, the question that ensues is to what extent this role has been executed efficiently and effectively and to what extent local citizens are satisfied with the provision of public goods.Although government professionals are uniquely qualified to assess service quality, citizen perspectives or what citizens want from local government with respect to the provision of local public goods, is imperative in optimizing the service quality and delivery.Thus, the objective of this study is to explore the relationship between the provision of local public goods and the extent of citizen satisfaction with local public goods provided by local governments in Malaysia. Kubang Pasu district in the state of Kedah, Malaysia was chosen as a case study. The primary data are gathered using a survey instrument.The results of the study give indication on the performance of service delivery by local governments in Kedah. The main findings give new information regarding the level of citizen satisfaction in term of the structure of local public finance

Local public goods and citizen satisfaction: A case study of district of Sik, Kedah, Malaysia

Local governments play a crucial role in facilitating the economic activities and developments of a region.As instrument of national development, they are seen to be more responsive to the local environments and are capable of directly influent the regional and urban development.Essentially, they have involved in numerous decision makings with regards to the provision of local public goods and services. It is important that the provision of local public goods not only be done efficiently, but also it should give opportunity to local citizens to participate in the decision making process. Besides, local population sees the role of the local governments as their front liner in delivering local public goods and services. However, the question that ensues is to what extent this role has been executed efficiently and effectively and to what extent local citizens are satisfied with the provision of public goods and services.Although government professionals are uniquely qualified to assess service quality, citizen perspectives or what citizens want from the local council with respect to the provision of local public goods and services, is imperative in determining the outcome of a decision making. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the provision of local public goods and services and the extent of citizen satisfaction with the local public goods and services provided by local authorities in Malaysia.The district of Sik in the state of Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia is chosen as a case study. The primary data are gathered using a survey instrument.The results of this study will give indication on the performance of service delivery by the local authorities in Kedah.The main findings will also give new information regarding the level of citizen satisfaction in terms of the structure of local public finance

Memenuhi keperluan pelajar di universiti awam Malaysia: Aspek pendapatan dan perbelanjaan

Persuing education at institutions of higher education today constitutes an economic, social and personal requirement.There are various advantages associated with investment for this purpose either by the individual student, family, or the society.However, the current higher education scenario requires not only the direct contributions from the government but students and their families too should also make direct contribution to the cost of higher education.Therefore, it is important for all parties to conscientiously review the sources of funding that can cover students’ requirements while they were at the institutions of higher education. Funding may come from various sources such as scholarships, subsidy or grants, loans from various sources, contributions from parents and families, income earned by the students who engaged in full-time or part-time jobs during their course of study, and also from students’ savings.In addition, there are various costs associated with higher education.Other than indirect costs such as the loss of students’ income during their study period, other direct costs normally borned by the students include tuition fees and living costs.Study findings from three public institutions of higher education showed differences among student groups not only in terms of the total expenditure but also from the priorities given to various categories of expenditure

Quality management initiatives in open and distance learning university

As an open and distance learning institution, the Open University Malaysia (OUM) needs to ensure that it offers quality services to its learners. A Quality Management System (QMS) was thus established by the Centre for Quality Management and Research & Innovation (CQMRI). The paper describes the initiatives taken to establish the QMS and will detail the Internal Quality Audit process. In addition, it will describe the challenges faced by OUM in managing the four ISO 9001:2000 certified units. IQA determines the governance and control structure in a Quality Management System. The effectiveness of the IQA processes and procedures will be shared. It was found that the introduction of the internal quality audit programmes has increased the level of quality awareness amongst the staff through the internal auditor as an agent. Interviews with the heads and management representatives of the units were conducted to determine the challenges. The findings are expected to be useful to other institutions who are implementing the Quality Management System. (Authors' abstract

Efficiency of local governments in Malaysia and its correlates

The local government as one of the levels of government, plays a crucial role in providing public goods and services that are specific to the localities. However, the performance of local governments has been subjected to various criticisms, based on the increasing number of complaints from the public regarding provision of public goods and the poor services rendered to the locals,suggesting the ineficiency of our local governments. This article investigates this issue by analysing whether local governments in Malaysia use an eficient level of resources to provide their services. To achieve the objective, we estimate cost eficiency using the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)approach. The eficiency scores were then regressed against factors that are likely to influence the local government's performance. The results indicate that the local governments in Malaysia are not fully efficient in using their inputs. The results also indicate that the variables that influence the local government's eficiency the most are level of technology usage, average income of the population, type of local government and location of the local government

Awareness of private sector of the IMT-GT concept: Benefits and problems

This paper focuses on the private sector awareness of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)concept, the benefits that can be gained as well as the problems encountered in the economic cooperation of the area. Analysis was done using data collected from a survey of 157 private companies located in the three countries sub-regions. The survey was conducted in 1997. The results of the study show that 78.9 percent of the total respondents are aware of the existence of the IMT-GT concept. However, out of the total respondents who are aware, 29 percent are still unclear about its purpose. In terms of the companies' participation in the form of business venture in the subregions, the survey found that only 10.2 percent of the respondents are involved. Of those companies which formed this type of business after the establishment of the IMT-GT, the finding reveals that they faced problems of wage rate and regulation, each with 43.8 percent; language and culture as well as market potential, each with 31.2 percent; and bureaucratic and intra-structural problems, each with 18.8 percent. In fact, there are many potential opportunities available within the IMT-GT sub-regions that are in line with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) report. The trade and tourism projects are among those opportunities that have great potential in the triangle cooperation. This study, shows that the existing problems and constraints faced by private companies involved in the IMT-GT area have to be tackled seriously if the objectives of the regional cooperation is to be fulfilled

Analisis pengesahan faktor tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi dalam kalangan guru sekolah di Selangor

Peranan tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi pada masa kini adalah sangat penting bagi memastikan organisasi dapat berkembang dengan baik dan cemerlang, terutamanya dalam kalangan guru sekolah. Sehubungan itu, kajian tinjauan telah dijalankan untuk menentukan Analisis Pengesahan Faktor (CFA) bagi skala tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi. Kajian ini telah dijalankan ke atas seramai 361 orang guru sekolah di Selangor. Responden kajian dipilih dengan menggunakan Teknik persampelan rawak berkelompok pelbagai peringkat. Tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi di dalam kajian ini terdiri daripada lima dimensi iaitu tingkahlaku menolong, kehematan, kesopanan, kemurnian sivik dan semangat setiakawan. Data kajian telah dianalisis dengan menggunakan CFA di dalam perisian AMOS. Dapatan menunjukkan CFA bagi tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi tidak mencapai kesepadanan model yang baik. Oleh itu, model CFA spesifikasi semula bagi tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi dilaksanakan. Keputusan akhir menunjukkan model CFA spesifikasi semula telah mencapai kesepadanan model yang baik dengan relatif chi-sq = 2.83, GFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.94 dan RMSEA = 0.07. Selain itu, kriteria model CFA turut dicapai dengan jumlah keseluruhan Purata Varian Memusat (AVE) ialah 0.62, dan AVE bagi setiap dimensi tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi adalah di antara 0.55 dan 0.73. Kebolehpercayaan konstruk (CR) telah dicapai dengan nilai 0.96, dan setiap dimensi menunjukkan CR di antara 0.79 dan 0.92. Kesimpulannya, skala tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi adalah sesuai digunakan untuk mengukur tingkahlaku kewargaan organisasi dalam kalangan guru sekolah di Selangor. Kajian akan datang dicadangkan untuk menggunakan skala ini kepada pelbagai organisasi di Malaysia

The evaluation of FDI inflows into China from selected ASEAN countries using panel estimation

China has recently embraced globalization in the area of trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) by joining WTO. Globalization has had positive results on its economic growth through trade expansion and FDI that opened new channels for economic expansion. The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the WTO in Doha, Qatar approved China's Protocol of Accession. China's accession to the WTO means a more open China. As a result, China has transformed itself from one with virtually no foreign-invested firms to the largest developing-country destination for FDI. Giving the above scenario, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the FDI inflows in China from the selected ASEAN countries using panel data analyses. The FDI model has been utilized in determining factors that influence FDI inflows into China from selected ASEAN countries. In panel estimation, two alternative models, one-way fixed effect model and random effect model were used to estimate factors affecting the FDI inflows into China. The results of the study are consistent with the predictions of the previous study particularly related to trade openness (OPENESS) and relative exchange rate (RELEXC). We found evidence that OPENESS and RELEXC are an important factor in influencing FDI flows between selected ASEAN countries and China