Research

Xuefeng Qian · Kalsoom Rafi Que · Yingna Wu ·China and World Economy ·2020 ·JEL: F14, F16, J23, O10

As a large trading nation, China competes with importing countries’ domestic and thirdcountry markets but also creates growth opportunities for exporters. Most studies on China trade shocks or “China shocks” focuse on the impacts of import competition on developed economies. The present paper complements research on China shocks by exploring the other side of the trade exposure to China – China as the largest importer, rather than as an exporter. We analyze the effects of export expansion into China on the local labor markets of the exporting developing countries for the years 1992 to 2018. Using detailed export and employment data, we estimate employment pattern variations in manufacturing industries with exports from other developing countries as instruments for export exposure. We fi nd that the increase in trade exposure to China in the world economy has caused extensive job gains in manufacturing industries in developing countries that were exporters. On average, our estimations show that this trade exposure created approximately 1.5 million additional jobs from 1992 to 2018, which made an important contribution to manufacturing industries in developing countries. Our empirical analysis also shows that trade had stabilizing effects on employment in the countries in our sample generally

Johannes Machiel Dreyer · Noor Azlin Yahya · Nik Azyyati Abd Kadir ·Environment, Development and Sustainability ·2019

The campus of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) is forest plantation research site established since 1926. Urbanization and other development affecting Kuala Lumpur led to FRIM being one of the few remaining green open spaces near the capital city area. To share the benefits of the green space, FRIM opened its grounds to visitors, and it is now a popular site for educational and recreational use by the urbanized population. However, visitor’s opinion may vary about the utilization of FRIM’s facilities as FRIM’s ground is also used for other activities. A study was done to determine what the perceptions of visitors’ were regarding FRIM’s suitability as a natural open space with its associated benefits such as health, quality of life and environmental sustainability and whether it offers a suitable site for environmental learning. From a qualitative study conducted at three sites within FRIM, it was found that FRIM provides in the needs of the surrounding urban population as a natural open space for escape from the city and a very suitable site for environmental learning. Some participants actually expressed a need to introduce further opportunities for environmental learning.

Haslina Halim · Hassan Abu Bakar · Bahtiar Mohamad ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2019

The stress experienced by expatriates is usually caused by the inability to adjust to the host culture, which largely results from their lack of social skills needed in dealing with the new cultural environment. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to identify the predictors of cross-cultural adjustment among expatriates in Malaysia, by focusing on expatriates in hotel industry. The findings from the study could help clarify the overgeneralization made of data which are usually based on certain locations and groups of expatriates. Two hundred and three expatriates participated in the study. Personality, language ability, previous international experience, training, human resource support, social support, culture distance and family adjustment were analyzed using the multiple regression analysis to determine the predictors of adjustment. The data, which was drawn from a drop and collect method, selfadministered questionnaire, revealed that social support and family adjustment were the most influential predictors of hotel expatriate adjustment. The findings also suggest that overgeneralizations of findings across disciplines are rather inappropriate. Detail discussions on the methods, findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research are presented in the paper.

Zeinab Jannoo · Bee WahYap · Naushad Mamode Khan · AlessioFarcomeni ·Value in Health Regional Issues ·2019

Objectives To validate, from a psychometric perspective, the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) questionnaire in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from Malaysia. Methods A total of 497 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited from public hospitals in the state of Selangor through convenience sampling. Construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency of the instrument was tested by Cronbach α. Criterion validity and discriminant validity were also used. Results The PAID instrument consisted of 3 factors: social support problem, food-related problem, and emotional distress problem. The Cronbach α values of the 3 factors showed adequate internal consistency with α values greater than 0.90. The present confirmatory factor analysis model achieved a good fit with a comparative fit index value of 0.923. Satisfactory criterion validity was also demonstrated because there existed positive significant association between glycated hemoglobin A1c and diabetes duration. Conclusions The PAID questionnaire in Malaysia was found to be a reliable and valid instrument exhibiting good psychometric properties.

Fazal Akhbar · Rao Aamir Khan · Fazli Wadood · Abdul Talib Bin Bon ·Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review ·2020 ·JEL: L20

The main objective of this study is to verify the impact of entrepreneurial orientation dimension on firm performance of furniture industry in Malaysia. In this study, we used a quantitative research method and collected data through a questionnaire from 391 furniture manufacturing company owners and managers, while following purposive sampling approach. The collected data was analysed using structural equation (Partial Least Square). To measure five entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, we adopted specific measuring instruments. The study shows that the three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation – i.e. innovation, risk-taking, and competitive aggressiveness – make unique statistical contributions to the considered model. Findings indicate low levels of autonomy and proactiveness. However, the entrepreneurial orientation and FP models significantly influence the unique contribution of individual entrepreneurial activities in the Malaysian furniture industry.

Imtiaz Sifat · Azhar Mohamad ·Journal of Economic Studies ·2020 ·JEL: D43, D47, D53

Despite regulatory claims of straitening volatility and preventing crashes, evidences on circuit breakers’ ability to achieve so are nonconclusive. While previous scholars studies general performances of circuit breakers, the authors examine whether Malaysian price limits aggravate volatility, impede price discovery, and interfere with trading activities in both tranquil and stressful periods. The study uses a combination of parametric and nonparametric techniques consistent with Kim and Rhee (1997) to examine the major ex-post hypotheses in circuit breaker research. For calm markets, the authors find significant success of upper limits in tempering volatility with low trading interference. Lower limits show mixed results. Conversely, in crisis markets limits fare poorly in nearly all aspects, particularly for lower limits.

Kerstin K. Zander · Supriya Mathewa ·Ecological Economics ·2019

Higher temperatures linked to climate change lead to people feeling increasingly heat stressed compromising their health and reducing economic activity. In this paper we assess the potential economic impact of heat stress on working people in urban Malaysia by analysing the loss in productivity that they associate with heat stress. We found that nearly every respondent (99%) from a sample of 514 drawn from an online survey sometimes feels heat stressed and also less productive as a result. The median number of days in a year on which people felt their productivity had been compromised because of heat stress was 29. On those days half of the respondents felt their work capacity had been at least halved. The estimated median annual loss from reduced productivity was 257 €, nearly 10% of respondents' median annual income. Respondents who work in mentally challenging jobs are more affected by heat than those in physically intense jobs. They also receive the highest incomes, so suffer the highest losses. Our research suggests that the real economic costs of heat has probably been under-estimated because most research has so far focused on people working in physically intense outdoor jobs or those performed in very hot environments.

Ibnu Qizam ·Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review ·2021

The objective of the article is to investigate two issues. First, whether the Islamic bond (sukuk) ratings are the key determinant in affecting stock returns and, second, whether firm-characteristic variables moderate the sukuk ratings effect on stock returns. This study applied the panel estimated generalized least squares (EGLS) regression for two samples (from Indonesia and Malaysia) spanning two years, 2015-2016, for all variables, except for the intrinsic-value variable which spanned eight years, 2009-2016. The results show that the direct and positive effect of sukuk ratings on stock returns are significantly present in Malaysia but not in Indonesia, while the positive and significant moderating effects of firm-characteristic variables – especially leverage and intrinsic value of the firm – are more pronounced in the positive sukuk rating-stock return relationship in Indonesia than in Malaysia.

Christopher Gan · Rafiatul Adlin Hj Mohd Ruslan · Baiding Hu · Nguyen Thi Thieu Quang ·International Journal of Business and Economics ·2020 ·JEL: L26; O53

This study investigates the relationship between access to microcredit and SMEs’ performance. Using survey data on SME’s owners/managers in Terengganu, Malaysia in 2016, the study investigates how access to microcredit affects SME sales and employment growth. Employing the Propensity Score Matching method (PSM), the study showed that SMEs with microcredit borrowing had their sales 25.6% to 25.7% higher than nonmicrocredit borrowers. After minimizing the selection bias from both observable and unobservable characteristics using Differences in Differences method (DID), the difference was much larger (28.7%). However, both PSM and DID analyses revealed no impact of microcredit access on SME employment growth. The Endogenous Switching Regression method (ESR) confirmed these findings.

NurulHuda Mohd Satar · Md. Khaled Saifullah · Muhammad Mehedi Masud · Fatimah Binti Kari ·International Journal of Social Economics ·2021

In light of the rapid evolution of information and communication technology (ICT), every society is faced with many issues such as social exclusion, inequality and the digital divide. Hence, there is need to solve these complex challenges without comprising any development objective. A practical solution in this regard includes establishment of a sustainable model of community development. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the role of education in promoting the awareness on the use of ICT-based infrastructure among the general public to enhance their socioeconomic status. In addition, this study sets out to establish the nexus between socioeconomic status, ICT programme as well as the awareness of Kemaman Smart Community (KSC) development project.

Norfaiezah Sawandi · Norazita Marina Abdul Aziz · Ram Al Jafri Saad ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2019

The objective of the study is to explore and examine the forms and means employed by one zakat institution in Malaysia in discharging its accountability to the stakeholders. Case study approach was used in the study involving the use of both of primary and secondary data. The primary data was gathered via the face to face in-depth interviews that were conducted with the representatives of the zakat institution. The secondary data was gathered from different sources such as the zakat collection and distributions reports of the zakat institution. The interview data was analysed using a manual coding and the secondary data was content analysed using a thematic analysis. The study finds that the zakat institution studied has been discharging two categories of accountability that are financial or formal and social or informal form of accountability. The financial/formal form of accountability has been discharged mainly via the zakat collection and distribution reports. Meanwhile, it is observed that the latter category of accountability has been discharged through both of means that are account- and action-based mechanisms, which include zakat collection and distribution reports and various non-zakat society/community programs respectively.

Tulus Suryanto · Muhammad Haseeb · Nira Hariyatie Hartani (Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM)) ·International Journal of Supply Chain Management ·2018

Over all businesses are ever changing competition environment, organization are always required to make modification internally and externally to compete globally successfully into marketplace. Supply chain management is key sources for firms to gaining superior performance. The basic purpose of this paper is to examine the level of association between the two indicators management support and their organization learning with the concept of green supply chain management environment. Supply chain is globally increasingly important concerns for all business and challenge for them are logistics management. Total quality management (TQM) and environmental management come from firm’s experiences and procedure of organizational learnings. This study computed positive significant relationship with organizational learning mechanism; support of organization and GSCM practices adopted controlled variables from organizations size, regulations of country perspective, cost pressure by organization, practices of industry at different levels. Over all findings and implications of logistics management are discussed.

Abdul Ghafoor · Rozaimah Zainudin · Nurul Shahnaz Mahdzan ·Journal of Business Ethics ·2019

This study investigates the key factors that elicit financial reporting fraud among companies in Malaysia. Using enforcement action releases issued by the Security Commission of Malaysia (SC) and Bursa Malaysia, we identify a sample of 76 firms that had committed financial reporting fraud during the period of 1996–2016. We use the fraud triangle framework and the Malaysian International Standards on Auditing 240 to identify the factors. Since the simple probit model fails to address the identification problem (partial observability), we estimate our results using a bivariate probit model. The new model estimates the effects of pressure, opportunity, and rationalization on the probability of fraud likelihood by disentangling the detection probability of fraud. Among several proxies used for pressure, our results suggest that aggressive tax reporting and financial difficulties increase the likelihood of fraud commission. In regard to opportunity, we find that dedicated institutional investors, independence of the board, effective audit committee, and the presence of a female on the board provide active monitoring and oversight in reducing fraud occurrence. Results for rationalization suggest that prior violations and frequent changes of external auditors increase the chances of fraud occurrence. This research offers possible insights to auditors, managers, and regulators to prevent, detect, and react to fraud. Specifically, it highlights the specific factors that may exacerbate the fraudulent intentions of firms.

Asrul Akmal Shafie · Haarathi Chandriah · Yee Vern Yong · Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh ·Value in Health Regional Issues ·2019

Objective To describe the process and role of health technology assessment (HTA) in the context of drug policy in Malaysia. Methods We summarized the HTA process through review of documents and reports available in the public domain combined with the authors' experience. Results Health technology assessment plays an integral part in prioritizing treatment in public health facilities in Malaysia, particularly for the Ministry of Health Medicines Formulary (MOHMF). The MOHMF is the reference list of drugs allowed to be prescribed in the Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities. There are 2 organizations within the MOH that conduct HTA as their core activities, namely the Malaysian Health Technology Assessment Section and the Formulary Management Branch of Pharmacy Practice & Development Division. The assessment of pharmaceuticals for the purpose of listing medicines into the MOHMF is under the purview of the Formulary Management Branch. The evidence-based assessment focuses on safety, efficacy, effectiveness, and budget impact of the drug. Cost-effectiveness evidence is currently not mandatory but is of interest to the decision makers. The assessment outcomes are considered by the MOH Medicines List Review Panel for formulary decisions. Conclusions Health technology assessment has supported formulary decisions in MOH. Evidence generation needs to progress beyond efficacy or effectiveness, safety, and budget impact to incorporate cost-effectiveness. Nevertheless, there are challenges to be met to achieve this. The impact of the HTA process is currently unknown and is yet to be evaluated formally.

Zubair Hassan · Muneeb Khan Lashari · Abdul Basit ·Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review ·2021 ·JEL: O15, P47, Q01, Z12

This study contributes to the existing literature on promoting entrepreneurial culture among students by establishing the key determinants of entrepreneurial culture through risk-taking behaviour, innovation, creativity, and empowerment. One of the unique aspects of this research is that these four factors are studied together and tested based on what academic institutions in Malaysia do to cultivate entrepreneurial culture among the students.