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 with...

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Main Authors: Chin, Hong Puah, Siew, Shirly Ling Wong, Habibullah, Muzafar Shah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Juraj Dobrila University of Pula 2017
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/1/Are%20business%20forecasts%20of%20the%20construction%20sector%20rational%20survey-based%20evidence%20from%20Malaysia.pdf
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author Chin, Hong Puah
Siew, Shirly Ling Wong
Habibullah, Muzafar Shah
author_facet Chin, Hong Puah
Siew, Shirly Ling Wong
Habibullah, Muzafar Shah
author_sort Chin, Hong Puah
building UPM 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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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
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spelling upm-609242019-04-23T07:51:01Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/ Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? survey-based evidence from Malaysia Chin, Hong Puah Siew, Shirly Ling Wong Habibullah, Muzafar Shah 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. Juraj Dobrila University of Pula 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/1/Are%20business%20forecasts%20of%20the%20construction%20sector%20rational%20survey-based%20evidence%20from%20Malaysia.pdf Chin, Hong Puah and Siew, Shirly Ling Wong and Habibullah, Muzafar Shah (2017) Are business forecasts of the construction sector rational? survey-based evidence from Malaysia. Ekonomska Istrazivanja-Economic Research, 30 (1). 858 - 872. ISSN 1331-677X https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1331677X.2017.1305794 10.1080/1331677X.2017.1305794
spellingShingle Chin, Hong Puah
Siew, Shirly Ling Wong
Habibullah, Muzafar Shah
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
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/60924/1/Are%20business%20forecasts%20of%20the%20construction%20sector%20rational%20survey-based%20evidence%20from%20Malaysia.pdf