Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis

For the last four decades, income disparities across states in Malaysia continue to be a matter of concern. The existence of regional inequalities and the prospect that these inequalities may widen were recognized by the Malaysian government. The eight volumes of the 5-Year Malaysia Plan reflect t...

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Main Authors: Muzafar Shah Habibullah, AM Dayang-Affizzah, Chin-Hong, Puah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi 2012
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/1/artikel9.pdf
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author Muzafar Shah Habibullah,
AM Dayang-Affizzah,
Chin-Hong, Puah
author_facet Muzafar Shah Habibullah,
AM Dayang-Affizzah,
Chin-Hong, Puah
author_sort Muzafar Shah Habibullah,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description For the last four decades, income disparities across states in Malaysia continue to be a matter of concern. The existence of regional inequalities and the prospect that these inequalities may widen were recognized by the Malaysian government. The eight volumes of the 5-Year Malaysia Plan reflect the determination of the Malaysian government in alleviating if not totally eradicating the problem of regional or state level imbalances. The recent Ninth Malaysia Plan has again emphasized regional development policies in bridging the gap of regional disparities for the next five years. Using annual data for the period 1965 to 2003, the stochastic convergence definition suggested by Bernard and Durlauf (1995), univariate unit root tests suggested by Oxley and Greasley (1995) and panel unit root testing procedures proposed by Levin et al. (2002), Im et al. (1997) and Maddala and Wu (1999), our findings strongly support the stochastic convergence of catching up hypothesis for six regions in Malaysia. An important implication of this study is that Malaysia’s regional development policies, on average, have had a positive impact on the per capita income in all of the six regions.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:55182016-12-14T06:38:41Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/ Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis Muzafar Shah Habibullah, AM Dayang-Affizzah, Chin-Hong, Puah For the last four decades, income disparities across states in Malaysia continue to be a matter of concern. The existence of regional inequalities and the prospect that these inequalities may widen were recognized by the Malaysian government. The eight volumes of the 5-Year Malaysia Plan reflect the determination of the Malaysian government in alleviating if not totally eradicating the problem of regional or state level imbalances. The recent Ninth Malaysia Plan has again emphasized regional development policies in bridging the gap of regional disparities for the next five years. Using annual data for the period 1965 to 2003, the stochastic convergence definition suggested by Bernard and Durlauf (1995), univariate unit root tests suggested by Oxley and Greasley (1995) and panel unit root testing procedures proposed by Levin et al. (2002), Im et al. (1997) and Maddala and Wu (1999), our findings strongly support the stochastic convergence of catching up hypothesis for six regions in Malaysia. An important implication of this study is that Malaysia’s regional development policies, on average, have had a positive impact on the per capita income in all of the six regions. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi 2012-08 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/1/artikel9.pdf Muzafar Shah Habibullah, and AM Dayang-Affizzah, and Chin-Hong, Puah (2012) Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis. Geografia : Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 8 (5). pp. 100-111. ISSN 2180-2491 http://www.ukm.my/geografia/v2/index.php?
spellingShingle Muzafar Shah Habibullah,
AM Dayang-Affizzah,
Chin-Hong, Puah
Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis
title Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis
title_full Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis
title_fullStr Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis
title_full_unstemmed Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis
title_short Regional income disparities in Malaysia: A stochastic convergence analysis
title_sort regional income disparities in malaysia: a stochastic convergence analysis
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5518/1/artikel9.pdf