Inequality And Economic Development In Malaysia

Monograph on relations between ethnic group-related economic disparity (racial discrimination) and economic development in Malaysia - examines the historical and theoretical background, nature, causes, extent and trends, compares economic policies before and after 1970, and evaluates possible solutions to reconcile inequality and growth (rural development and urban development policies, industrial policies, agricultural policies, educational policies, etc.). Bibliography pp. 291 to 315, glossary, references and statistical tables.

Focusing on Malaysia's shifting economic profile and position, this book offers new insights and perspectives to scholars and researchers on a range of new developments impacting on growth, such as the effects of the digital economy on job creation and the threats of environmental degradation and trade protectionism.

Economic development in the long run is seen as a process of structural change that is affected by economic growth. Malaysia is one of the middle-income economies that are going through rapid structural change. Since the mid 1980s it has changed to an industrially based economy with large-scale export of electrical and electronic components. However, thirty years after Malaysia's re-distributive policies have been exercised, regional inequality still exists. This book examines the nature and impact of regional policies in relation to the patterns of demographic and economic structural change and in relation to growth, distribution and income disparities across regions in Peninsular Malaysia. The book also explores the degree to which differences in regional manufacturing distribution and concentration have contributed to regional inequality. It concludes with a number of recommendations for regional policies that will reduce this inequality.

This thorough analysis of Malaysia's economic expansion evaluates the success of the government's New Economic Policy (NEP), which was designed to promote national unity by reducing poverty as well as by loosening the link between ethnicity and economic function. The first comprehensive analysis of income distribution trends after the inauguration of the NEP, the study also considers interethnic, urban-rural, and regional variations over time. Although there have been significant reductions in poverty and income inequality, Hashim uses previously unpublished data to show that both are still rampant.

This book presents the future development of Malaysia. It puts together building blocks to achieve a better future. These blocks are poverty and income inequality, population, demography and urbanization, growth and technological progress, education, human capital and skills, finance, labor, the environment, and health care. It examines the reasons for the decline in the agricultural sector with an emphasis on food security. It discusses Malaysia’s economic growth and structural change compared to some of the Northeast East Asian and Southeast Asian countries. It explains the projections of population and demographic change and its bearing on government policies. It evaluates the country’s education sector and discusses the strategies to improve its role in the country further. It argues for replacing ethnic-based approaches with a needs-based system for the future direction to build a plural Malaysia. This insightful book is of interest across several fields, including demography, economic development, and urbanization.

A sophisticated account of income equalities and poverty in Malaysia which will be of particular interest to policy makers. A range of issues is covered -- from data problems to conceptural questions arising with respect to measurement.

'The greatest advantage of this book is that the analyses are undertaken from the viewpoint of standard economics, not that of political economy. . . this book is valuable for readers who wish to analyze the Malaysian economy from the viewpoint of standard economics. The book provides full data concerning every field of the Malysian economy, from macroeconomic indices to those of labor, education, and so on, the analyses using standard techniques in econometrics and concise reviews of related policies. In particular, the analyses identifying the factors of the past high growth of the Malaysian economy in the first half of the book are very informative and are outstanding among the literature in this field. . . the book contains valuable analyses of Malaysia which accurately reflect the title. This book is suitable for economists who are newcomers to the Malaysian economy, and is also recommended for specialists on the Malaysian economy, who may be bogged down in the depths of the Malaysian political economy and wish to refresh their brains by seeing this "unique" country analyzed in the same manner as other "ordinary" countries.' - Satoru Kumagai, The Developing Economies

This book examines the various economic, political and developmental policy challenges that Malaysia faces in its shift from a middle income to high-income economy. It covers subjects such as technology, education and skills, the promotion of entrpreneurship, social, monetary policy and governance issues.

This study examines the problem of economic distribution - the distribution of economic resources focusing on income, wealth, employment, and education - in developing economies in general and in Peninsular Malaysia in particular. It aims to present a broad theoretical approach in the analysis of economic distribution.