Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia

This paper extends the direct measure to business expectations in assessing the doctrine of forecast rationality in the contemporary environment of Malaysia’s construction sector. The survey’s expectational series on business operational forecasts across the period 1990 to 2010 is inconsistent w...

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Main Authors: Puah, Chin Hong, Wong, Shirly Siew-Ling, Muzafar Shah, Habibullah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/1/Are%20business%20forecasts%20of%20the%20construction%20sector%20rational%20%28abstract%29.pdf
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author Puah, Chin Hong
Wong, Shirly Siew-Ling
Muzafar Shah, Habibullah
author_facet Puah, Chin Hong
Wong, Shirly Siew-Ling
Muzafar Shah, Habibullah
author_sort Puah, Chin Hong
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper extends the direct measure to business expectations in assessing the doctrine of forecast rationality in the contemporary environment of Malaysia’s construction sector. The survey’s expectational series on business operational forecasts across the period 1990 to 2010 is inconsistent with Muth’s concept of rational expectations. Although strict rationality failed to be evidenced, weakly rational conduct can be observed in capital expenditure forecasts. Nevertheless, both operational variables in question are optimistically biased upward and neither of them can accurately reflect the true market perception. This evidence casts doubt on the usefulness of the investigated survey series in providing a realistic panorama of the construction sector in the near future. Notwithstanding, the irrational upshot may drop a hint to the reader on the root of alarming property overhang and price hikes in construction-related markets since expectations play a foremost role in providing equilibrium in the supply and demand in this growth-initiating market.
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spelling unimas-180112017-10-06T03:38:32Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/ Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia Puah, Chin Hong Wong, Shirly Siew-Ling Muzafar Shah, Habibullah H Social Sciences (General) This paper extends the direct measure to business expectations in assessing the doctrine of forecast rationality in the contemporary environment of Malaysia’s construction sector. The survey’s expectational series on business operational forecasts across the period 1990 to 2010 is inconsistent with Muth’s concept of rational expectations. Although strict rationality failed to be evidenced, weakly rational conduct can be observed in capital expenditure forecasts. Nevertheless, both operational variables in question are optimistically biased upward and neither of them can accurately reflect the true market perception. This evidence casts doubt on the usefulness of the investigated survey series in providing a realistic panorama of the construction sector in the near future. Notwithstanding, the irrational upshot may drop a hint to the reader on the root of alarming property overhang and price hikes in construction-related markets since expectations play a foremost role in providing equilibrium in the supply and demand in this growth-initiating market. Taylor & Francis Group 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/1/Are%20business%20forecasts%20of%20the%20construction%20sector%20rational%20%28abstract%29.pdf Puah, Chin Hong and Wong, Shirly Siew-Ling and Muzafar Shah, Habibullah (2017) Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 30 (1). pp. 858-872. ISSN 1331-677X http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2017.1305794 DOI: 10.1080/1331677X.2017.1305794
spellingShingle H Social Sciences (General)
Puah, Chin Hong
Wong, Shirly Siew-Ling
Muzafar Shah, Habibullah
Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia
title Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia
title_full Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia
title_fullStr Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia
title_short Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? Survey-based evidence from Malaysia
title_sort are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? survey-based evidence from malaysia
topic H Social Sciences (General)
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18011/1/Are%20business%20forecasts%20of%20the%20construction%20sector%20rational%20%28abstract%29.pdf