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Purpose: Currently, Malaysia uses the Poverty Line Income (PLI) to measure poverty. This is because income measurement is the easiest way to collect data, but in its simplicity, it fails to capture the broader meaning and implications of poverty. Asset index is one of the non-monetary poverty measurements which have been established by researchers but not used in measuring poverty in Malaysia. A household might be poor in income, but assets may prevent them from being trapped in poverty. Design/methodology/approach: This study will reassess the poverty of 302 households in the Northern States of Malaysia using the asset index and also the current state of poverty incidence with change under asset index. Findings: The results show that households in the Northern States of Malaysia are interpreted as being 'poorer' when poverty is measured using assets as opposed to income alone. Besides that, poverty incidence of Malay households, households living in urban area and households with middle-aged heads have high poverty incidence, while households with a head of households that is single and highly educated have low poverty incidence. The logistic regression analysis shows that the determinants of poverty incidence based on the asset index are Indian, Penang and Perak State, the age of the head of household, distance to the education centre from home. Originality/value: This study shows the asset index measurement which have not been done in Malaysia. This will contribute to the improvement of poverty measurement of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Microcredit scheme was introduced to provide credit facilities for poor people to start a business activity. Microcredit creates income-generating self-employment activities that allow poor people to venture into small businesses and achieve economic independence. The scheme has been recognised as a successful tool to uplift the socio-economic status among the poor. Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) is the largest microfinance institution in Malaysia and therefore, its impact on the beneficiaries is crucial to be studied. This paper aims at reviewing the economic impact of AIM based on the existing literature. Methodology: Four electronic databases, which are Scopus, Science Direct, Springer and Ebscohost were used to search the literature. Subsequently 118 articles were generated from this search. However, only 13 articles which met the selection criteria were analysed. We selected only empirical studies that focused on the economic impact of AIM. Findings: Results of the review showed that income has dominated the economic impact assessment followed by asset, economic vulnerability and spending. Low concentration on the indicators other than income should be noted especially on spending as it provides a clear evidence that the recipients enjoy the economic well-being in terms of consumption expenditure. Contribution: This review reveals that microcredit has a great potential to uplift the economic status of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household financial vulnerability is an important area of research in household economic studies. Hence, a number of studies have attempted to identify the factors that make households vulnerable to financial shocks. In Malaysia, the research is scant on this topic especially when it comes to low-income households. Therefore, the study aims to identify the macroeconomic factors that make the household vulnerable to financial shocks. For this purpose, the study uses the autoregressive distributed lag modelling approach as an estimation technique. The results revealed that household debt, prices of goods, interest rate and unemployment have a positive long-run relationship with household financial vulnerability while income has a negative relationship. Further analysis confirms that these predictors of financial vulnerability also affect the low-income groups. This study would be of interest to the academicians and policy makers in the area of household economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study which investigates on the significance of monitoring and entrepreneurial concept in the status of microfinance in Selangor, Malaysia. The study was performed to poor people involved in the microfinance program in six rural areas in various districts of Selangor. The study reveals that monitoring, fund size and loan purpose are the main factors which influence the income level which the poor can generate.