Research

Syazreen Niza Shair · Thomas Sachi Purcal ·Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities ·2021

This research compares the quality of life of Malaysian elderlies living in public formal long-term care institutions, including residential care and nursing home care. It provides evidence of the cost-effectiveness of both programs. The sample of Malaysian elderlies aged 60 years and above was collected from the World Health Survey, including five dimensions of health status: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain and discomfort, and anxiety and depression. Each of the dimensions has three levels, including 1 (“no problems”), 2 (“some problems”) and 3 (“major problem”). The quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of elderlies living in both institutions are estimated using a generic health-related measurement method, EQ-5D. In addition, cost-utility analysis is adopted to compare the effectiveness of programs in allocating resources. The QALY of those living in nursing home care is reasonably lower than those in residential care due to their worse chronic health conditions. The majority are categorised as severely disabled. The cost-effectiveness evaluation of each public long-term care model suggests that the residential care program is cost-effective, with the cost per QALY being MYR22 945. At the same time, a nursing home for disabled people is not effective as the cost per QALY is MYR57 822, falls outside the willingness to pay (WTP) range between (MYR 19,929–MYR 28,470).

Farah Ajlaa Julaihi · Asmah Alia Mohamad Bohari · Mohd Azrai Azman · Kuryati Kipli · Sharifah Rahama Amirul ·Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities ·2022

Many countries are witnessing a rise in the ageing population, which has become a global phenomenon that all nations must address. As the population of greying people is expected to increase in Malaysia, the demand for senior citizen accommodation is predicted to have experienced a major rise by 2030. However, although studies related to retirement villages (RV) are highly important to understand how to provide a better ambience for the elderly, research on the development of retirement villages in Malaysia is yet to gather pace fully. Thus, this paper aims to explore the potential of the retirement village in Malaysia by focusing on the push factors for the elderly to move to retirement villages in the local Malaysian context. The outcome of this paper presents the initial findings derived from a literature review and pilot survey. Eight potential push factors were identified after questions were posed to potential respondents through a pilot survey questionnaire. The research revealed that the main potential reason why the elderly relocate to retirement villages was related to social factors, with the elderly preferring better access to healthcare and support due to their unique requirements. The findings of this study are relevant to Chapter 11, as underlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call on all governments to offer access to a secure, green environment for everyone, especially the elderly. Theoretically, this research provides the first findings on the elements that encourage the elderly to relocate to an RV when they retire in Malaysia.

Loo Sze Ying · Mukaramah Harun ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2019

This paper estimated the reactions of frms and households to the change of government expenditure from fuel subsidies to two alternative fscal regimes, including the expansion of government expenditure on agricultural investment and direct cash transfers. Outcomes brought by the government expenditure changes to outputs of production for frms, together with the household consumption expenditure, were taken into account. This study was carried out by using a Löfgren-based computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The fndings showed that complete fuel withdrawal was found to have adverse impacts on frms and households. The withdrawal of subsidy brought a lackluster performance in domestic production. Firms that needed large amounts of fuel products to produce outputs were greatly affected. Besides, households of all segments faced large consumption loss. Nevertheless, the resulting adverse impacts on frms and households could be minimized with the implementation of mitigation measures along with the subsidy reform. The additional fund transfer to the agricultural sector had the merits of improving domestic production and minimizing the consumption loss of the population. In contrast, the direct cash transfer benefted the target population -- the mediumand low-income segments in the urban and rural areas.

Ee Shiang Lim · Jacqueline Liza Fernandez ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2022 ·JEL: C13, D12

With the entrance of Uber into the land transportation industry, ride-hailing service has gained popularity and changed the way people travel in urban areas in Malaysia. Despite the growing popularity of this new mode of cab service, studies about factors influencing consumers’ choice to use ride-hailing service are limited in developing countries. This study used primary data collected via a survey in Penang, Malaysia. This study aims to examine the factors affecting consumers’ decision to utilise ride-hailing service. The novelty of this study is the adoption of a Heckman probit selection model to account for the possibility of sample selection bias and the introduction of an important explanatory variable - consumers’ comparative satisfaction with the attributes of ride-hailing and traditional taxi service that affect consumers’ choice of cab service. The results show age, gender, education, marital status, income, cost considerations and vehicle ownership significantly determine the probability of using cab service. Consumers’ choice between ride-hailing and traditional taxi service is affected by gender and their comparative rating of both services in terms of waiting time and the disposition of drivers. This suggests the necessity for cab service providers to improve their service in order to remain competitive in the industry.

Swee-Sim Foong · Jiunn-Shyan Khong · Boon-Leong Lim ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2021 ·JEL: G32, G34

This paper examines the risk taking behaviour of Chinese CEO. Our analysis is based on a sample of 362 family firms in Malaysia over the 2009-2015 period using panel GMM methodology. Firstly, our results offer evidence that Chinese CEOs are risk taking. We then examine how CEO power, in the context of Finkelstein’s (1992) structural power, ownership power, expert power and prestige power, might drive risk taking of Chinese CEOs. The results are rather mixed where greater ownership power is likely to promote higher risk taking but greater expert power resulted in lower risk taking. We further show that corporate governance can mitigate risk taking of Chinese CEO in family firms. When the proportions of independent directors and foreign institutional shareholdings exceed the median thresholds of 40% and 5%, respectively, we find that CEO risk taking behaviour turns from positive to negative. Stronger evidence is found when we adjust the thresholds to the 75th percentile of 50% and 15%, respectively. The result is also robust with the use of leverage as a measure for CEO risk taking.

Chin Chun How · Wong Hock Tsen ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2019

This study investigated the presence of abnormal returns surrounding stock split announcements and the determinants of cumulative abnormal return and the split factor. This study utilized the fnancial data of 45 corporations that had exercised stock splits on Bursa Malaysia from the years 2011 to 2015. The dependent variables were cumulative abnormal return for 40 days, cumulative abnormal return for 60 days, and the split factor. The independent variables, dividends per share and earnings per share, represent the signalling hypothesis for the stocks in Malaysia, while the bid-ask spread and the trading volume represent the liquidity hypothesis and the market capitalization, respectively. The signifcance of abnormal returns surrounding stock split announcements was tested using standardized t-statistics. The determinants of cumulative abnormal return and the split factor were determined based on Ordinary LeastSquares (OLS) multivariate regression and Stepwise Least-Squares. The empirical results show that there was a statistically signifcant positive abnormal return on day 1 [+1] after the stock split announcements. Dividend per share was found to have a statistically signifcant relationship with the cumulative abnormal return; thus supporting the signalling hypothesis. Bid-ask spread and trading volume were the main determinants of cumulative abnormal return, supporting the liquidity hypothesis under a different estimation window. Bid-ask spread was the only important determinant for the split factor. The results of this study could help investors and policymakers to design policies to improve the overall market effciency in Malaysia, particularly to increase the effectiveness of information disclosure regarding Malaysian stocks.

Ali Albada · Nurhuda Nizar ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2022 ·JEL: G1, G4

COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral infection that has changed the world, with many human lives being lost. This study aimed to analyse investors' sentiment and stock market behaviour in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stock market performance was measured through the FTSE BURSA 100 Index (T100) from January 29, 2020, until March 31, 2021, by employing principal component analysis (PCA) to construct the investors' Sentiment Index (SMI). The results indicated that the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and its rapid spread significantly impacted investors' psychology, which disrupted investors' investment decisions. Furthermore, rapid increases in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths increased the uncertainty and unpredictability of the country's economic situation. As a result, the Malaysian financial market showed a steep downward trend during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ke-Chyn Ng · Mui-Yin Chin ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2021 ·JEL: F14, F31

This study examined the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on the level of international trade between Malaysia and China using 45 observations spanning from 2010 quarter 1 to 2021 quarter 1. The Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model was adopted to compute the exchange rate fluctuations. International trade between Malaysia and China was selected in this study as, since 2009, China has consistently been Malaysia's top trading partner. Besides, to produce precise output, this study employed two models: the export and import models. The empirical results, derived from Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modelling, suggested that exchange rate fluctuations had a negative but statistically insignificant impact on exports. In contrast, exchange rate fluctuations had a positive and statistically significant impact on imports. This result implied that importers from Malaysia were generally risk-takers, as they tended to trade significantly during periods of high exchange rate fluctuation. However, to avoid losses for both exporters and importers due to exchange rate fluctuations, policymakers from both countries should ensure that facilities for exchange rate hedging become more convenient and straightforward for traders so that international trade continues to bloom for both countries.

Ai-Xin Lee · Chee-Wooi Hooy ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2020 ·JEL: G21, G28, G32

This paper examines the relationship between state ownership and banks’ risk-taking in nine Asian emerging markets for the period 2009 to 2017. The finding shows that state-owned banks are associated with higher risk-taking in terms of credit risk and return volatility. In addition, we investigate the effect of corporate governance (CG) mechanism with monitoring committee, board independence and gender diversity on state-owned banks’ risk-taking. We find that the presence of monitoring committee on board has a reducing effect on state-owned banks’ risk-taking. We further argue that independent directors help to reduce banks’ risk-taking where their supervision should be robust enough even if there is huge government intervention. Nonetheless, we do not find strong evidence on the role of female directors. In a nutshell, board functions play a crucial role in monitoring and supervising banks’ investment decisions to prevent excessive risk-taking from the government, which is relatively important in the context of Asian emerging markets.

Mohd Adib Ismail · Sharlily Shahira Mat Nasir ·Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia ·2019

Financial resources are an important factor in investment decisions. Access to fnancial resources is a key determinant to increase productivity and consequently generate frm growth. This paper aims to investigate the impact of fnancial constraints, ownership types and structures on frm productivity. This study used annual data of frms listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia from 2000 to 2015. This study employed system generalized method of moments (GMM) to analyze the impact of fnancial constraints, ownership and other control variables on productivity. The results show that fnancial constraints, and the ownership types and structures cause different impacts on frm productivity. Using the sub-sample analyses of government, private and foreign frms, the results indicates that foreign frms are most affected by fnancial constraints followed by government frms and private frms. In the negative liquidity situation, the fnancial constraints faced by government and private frms have increased. Meanwhile, exports have managed to reduce the impact of fnancial constraints on foreign frms. The analysis of ownership structure analysis fnds that it does not affect frm productivity. Hence, to boost domestic economic growth policy makers should formulate strategies that support frm fnancial aspect to ensure increased productivity and growth of local frms in Malaysia.

Nurul Nabila Yusof · Shahareh Shahidi Hamedani · Mazzlida Mat Deli · Mohd Helmi Ali · Mara Ridhuan Che Abd Rahman ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2022 ·JEL: L66, P23

This study aims to empirically examine the migrant food handlers’ perceived knowledge, skills, and attitudes and their impact on food quality and safety in the context of Malaysia’s foodservice industry. Using the data gathered from 198 supervisors and managers from food premises in Malaysia and analysis using SPSS (version 20) and SmartPLS 3.0 software, this research found that migrant food handlers have moderate perceived knowledge, skills and attitudes in food handling practices impact the food quality and safety. Specifically, this study confirmed that knowledge and attitudes positively and significantly affect food quality and food safety. However, insignificant results were found between skills and food safety, even though it showed a substantial impact on food quality. The findings are original and unique. It is one of the first studies to investigate the knowledge, skills, and attitude of migrant food handlers their effect on food quality and food safety, especially in Malaysia. Besides, this study extends the established theories from the literature on knowledge, skills and attitudes analysing in the foodservice sector. Therefore, this research finding is valuable for food services practitioners to focus on enhancing food quality and safety through the migrant workforce.

Hong Kay Tze · Ng Siew Imm · Ho Jo Ann · Tan Houng Chien · Lim Chui Seong ·International Journal of Economics and Management ·2021 ·JEL: M14, M30, M31

It is commonly accepted that positive corporate social responsibility (CSR) image brings desirable outcomes, for instance, brand loyalty, improved brand image, enhanced store image, as well as increased visit intention; suggesting there are various direct outcomes of CSR image. Underpinned by the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), this paper proposes that these outcomes are presented in a sequential manner, where there is a core mechanism that relates CSR image to store image and brand awareness, and in turn associate with consumers’ visit intention. A quantitative research methodology has been used where a structured questionnaire was distributed to consumers in selected states in Malaysia using the mall intercept method. Structural equation modelling was applied to examine the proposed model. The discoveries of the current study offer the observed evidence for the correlation between perceived CSR image and hypermarket visit intention, mediated by overall store image and brand awareness. The study emphasises a prominent role of CSR schemes, bringing together the overall hypermarket store image and the hypermarket brand awareness, which will enable hypermarket management to further boost visit intention from consumers

Sivagami Arokiam · Sivachandralingam Sundara Raja ·Institutions and Economies ·2019 ·JEL: J00; I30; J50; J81; J68

Given the path-dependent nature of development, it is instructive that one tracks the historical pathways and the multiple moments in time to explain the past events that resulted in the present socioeconomic state of the Indian plantation workers in Malaysia. This study aims to unfold thehistorical events of the Indian plantation labourers from the colonial periods until the 1990s that were instrumental in understanding the Indian socioeconomic conditions. In doing so, the narrative was build based on different development stages and the governing environment in which the Indian plantation labourers were positioned. The narrative can capture the dynamics of historical events that lead to the socioeconomic problems of plantation workers. The evidence shows that the historically prolonged neglect has contributed to the challenging socioeconomic conditions of plantation workers, whichwere path-dependent. Indeed, the fate of plantation workers has not changed despite the takeover of plantation estates through state intervention. The rentier politics undermined the long-term socioeconomic progress of the Indian workers. Besides, the socioeconomic situation of the workers was further impacted by the closure of estates and the influx of foreign workers, which has consequently led to forced migration to cities. Historically, the institutional role(policies and other agents)was limited to uplifting the Indian plantation labourers. The socioeconomic challengescontinued during the 1990s and 2000s and marginalised the ignored Indians, i.e., the plantation labourers.The persistent institutionalfailures left no room for changes which resulted in the socioeconomic inequality of plantation workers.

Nurazilah Zaina · Fakarudin Kamarudin · Law Siong Hook · Mohammed Hariri Bakri · Fadzlan Sufian · Annuar Md Nassir ·Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies ·2020 ·JEL: G01, G21, G28

This study delivers new empirical evidence on the impact of banking regulations on the levels of social and financial efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs) between the years 2012 to 2018. The sample consisted of data from 172 MFIs from ASEAN-5 countries. As the first stage of the analysis, data envelopment analysis (DEA) was employed to determine a score of the level of social and financial efficiency for the sampled MFIs. Meanwhile, panel regression analysis and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator were used to examine the impact of banking regulations on the level of social and financial efficiency of the sampled MFIs. The findings showed that the sampled MFIs achieved a lower level of social efficiency while attaining a higher level of financial efficiency. The lower level of social efficiency indicated that the sampled MFIs had lost their focus on poverty reduction, while at the same time, switching their focus toward financial sustainability. The empirical findings also showed a significant impact of bank regulation and bank supervision on the levels of social and financial efficiency. Overall, bank regulation negatively influenced the level of social efficiency and bank supervision impacted the level of financial efficiency of the sampled MFIs positively. The findings from this study provide new insights for bank regulators and policymakers to construct regulatory frameworks that are relevant to the operation of MFIs.

Fazelina Sahul Hamid · Muhamed Zulkhibri ·Institutions and Economies ·2019 ·JEL: E44; E52

This paper examines the effectiveness of bank lending channels in ASEAN countries. The main objective of this paper is to identify whether the effectiveness of bank lending channels in ASEAN differs based on the countries’ financial structure, banks’ fundamentals and ownership type. The study makes use of unbalanced panel data of 214 commercial banks in nine ASEAN countries for the period from 2001 to 2015. Analysis using dynamic GMM estimators finds that the bank lending channel is more effective in CLMV countrieswhich have a less-developed financial sector compared to ASEAN-5 countries which have a moredeveloped financial sector. Particularly, we find that smaller banks with less liquidity have a broader scope to expand their financing portfolios when interest rates rise. We also find that foreign banks in ASEAN-5 countries andstate-owned banks in ASEAN countries weaken the effect of monetary policy transmissions. However, local banks are vulnerable to changes in monetary policy. Further analyses confirm that the influence of ownership structure on credit growth is partly driven by the differences in the banks’ specific characteristics.Our findings suggest that theeffectiveness of bank lending channel depends on financial structure, bank fundamentals and ownership structure. The regulators need to take this into account to ensure that the changes in monetary policy achieve the desired objectives.