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This study examines the state of subjective well-being (SWB), living and social environment of the displaced community in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The study also explores the determinants of SWB through a survey of 141 households and interviews. The results show that almost half of the household heads have low SWB. The community faces disadvantages in terms of physical living conditions, neighbourhood environment and financial stability. SWB has been shown to correlate strongly with social networks such as family and neighbourhood relationships. In addition, long-term financial stability (rather than income) and a stable living environment contribute significantly to higher SWB. We argue that more prudent policies to promote the well-being of the displaced community are needed to achieve the inclusive development that the government seeks. In particular, intervention programmes are crucial to improve the social network, living conditions and financial stability of the displaced community. The study contributes to uncovering the lack of comprehensive knowledge on the problems of SWB, especially regarding the development of the displaced community, to generate policy insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Productivity gains are not only important for competitiveness but also for other welfare gains. And, importantly, industry structure matters in driving the productive gains. This study examines the labor productivity of food manufacturing firms in Malaysia and the effect of capability and human capital on productivity. The findings show productivity heterogeneity among firms, and as capabilities and human capital grow, productivity gains become much higher. Importantly, it shows that bundles of capability, namely, innovation, information and communication technology (ICT) and marketing as well as human capital become more relevant as firms move to the higher end of the productivity distribution. The findings are robust to different measures of human capital and capabilities. Examining the effects separately indicates that innovation matters the most in driving labor productivity. The coefficient of ICT declines as firms move up the conditional productivity distribution. Likewise, market creating capability of the firms enhances productivity, but the coefficient does not vary across the lower and upper productivity quantiles. The study concludes the implications for persistent labor productivity differences across capabilities and human capital by drawing policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on the benefits of entrepreneurship education has tended to ignore or "control out" possible demographic differences in outcomes for entrepreneurship graduates. This paper examines demographic differences in the perceived benefits of different components of entrepreneurship education programmes (EEPs), entrepreneurial cognitions and entrepreneurial intentions of EEP graduates. Data were collected by questionnaire from 348 university EEP graduates in Pakistan. All graduates had strong positive attitudes to becoming entrepreneurs and no demographic differences in entrepreneurial intentions were observed. Nonetheless, females in particular, and graduates with no work experience to a lesser extent, exited the EEPs with lower perceived benefits, particularly in terms of inspiration, and slightly weaker perceived control for entrepreneurship, than males and graduates with some experience. No substantial differences were associated with age or entrepreneurial family background. The authors suggest ways in which EEPs can be more inclusive of female students.

Responsibilities related to e-waste recycling in households vary widely depending on cultural norms, family dynamics, and individual preferences. The involvement of women in these roles is an essential part of promoting responsible e-waste management practices at the grassroots level. This research investigates the antecedents of women's e-waste recycling behaviour intentions, which includes ecological intelligence, awareness and knowledge of the environment, convenience and cost of recycling, and norms and publicity. For this purpose, data were collected using a survey questionnaire from 420 women residing in the Klang Valley region in Malaysia. Extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour by including ecological intelligence, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the factors affecting women's e-waste recycling behavioural intentions. The results showed that the primary factors were environmental awareness, attitude towards recycling, convenience, ecological intelligence, and norms & publicity. Policies that enhance women's environmental knowledge and emphasise convenience in the entire e-waste management system encourage greater women's participation in e-waste recycling. Women-centric environmental policies potentially get the women to influence others to engage in recycling e-waste actively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the influence of relational capital quality on client loyalty, comprising both behavioral and attitudinal, in the pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: The partial least squares technique is used to test the relationship using a sample of 111 pharmaceutical firms. We applied a non-parametric procedure, the bootstrapping method, to estimate the coefficient path of the relationships. Appropriate construct measures were used based on past studies to measure the dimensions of relational capital quality and client loyalty. Findings: The findings suggest that relational capital quality significantly affects client loyalty. All three dimensions of relational capital quality, commitment, satisfaction and trust, have a significant and positive influence on both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. However, client satisfaction is found to exert the strongest impact on behavioral and attitudinal loyalty. Practical implications: It is important for the pharmaceutical firms in Pakistan to improve client satisfaction to establish behavioral loyalty and sustain their clientele base. Trust and commitment should be managed independently, depending on the focus of firms, either attitudinal loyalty or behavioral loyalty. Originality/value: This study is among the few that was able to empirically examine the role of various dimensions of relational capital quality in influencing clients' attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. In addition, the study uses a new firm-level data set, compiled from a survey of the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan, which is currently facing challenges in terms of customer-supplier sensitivity.

This article discusses the impact of global value chains (GVCs) on economic development and catching up in Asian countries. GVCs are complex networks of interdependent activities that span multiple countries and sectors, enabling efficient production and distribution of goods and services. While participation in GVCs has brought benefits to Asian economies, challenges remain, such as vulnerability to shifts in global demand and unequal income distribution. The article highlights the importance of acquiring technological capabilities and skilled labor to effectively participate in GVCs and move up the value chain. It also presents case studies from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, and India to provide insights into the strategies and implications of catching up along the GVC in Asia. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to evaluate and, more importantly, examine the path of a successful young Chinese high-tech firm in upgrading and reconstructing its position in the global value chain (GVC) of the chip industry. We examine the existing GVC positions of chip firms, the motivations for the firm's entry into the market, the choice of path to upgrading, and the attempt to restructure the GVCs. The study uses a qualitative approach, mainly interviews and secondary data. The findings suggest that devising and consistently implementing a targeted differentiation strategy, overcoming technological bottlenecks and developing products towards a high-value location, and targeting customers through open innovation and entrepreneurship are key for laggards to improve their position in the GVCs. Building an ecological alliance based on the existing ecosystem is an important means for upgrading a firm and rebuilding the GVC. This is possible for young firms in the emerging segments of Industry 4.0, which are moving into a highly digitised world where there are numerous market opportunities both internally and globally. We argue that the ability to upgrade requires not only internal capabilities, but also the creation of appropriate markets to support the development of capabilities. Our study also provides some managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides insights into the drivers of spatial re-localisation within the production networks of the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. In doing so, we combine the perspectives of Global Value Chain (GVC), Global Production Network (GPN) and institutional path creation perspective to analyse the relocation and upgrading of multinational corporations (MNCs) in Malaysia using interviews and trade data. Our findings show that institutional path creation has helped to promote the completeness of the entire solar PV value chain in Malaysia, with the state actively intervening and creating new pathways by learning from the experience of the electronics industry, especially in the pre-foundation phase. Nevertheless, the path creation is also limited in that they have only been able to open windows of investment and trade opportunities within the different segments of the GVC without doing much to promote technological learning and spillover effects as the governance structure of the value chain is integrated. We find that other factors are less helpful in promoting local spillovers -- export-oriented policies, energy policies and domestic industry dynamics due to lack of policy coordination. The results draw attention to some important issues that deserve closer consideration and contribute to the theoretical discussion within the GVC and GPN literature. First, path creation occurs at both levels - at the level of institutions and at the level of firms' strategic decisions. Second, institutional path creation acts as exogenous shocks to firm path creation leading to different strategic choices, and the two reinforce each other. In other words, we have shown the complexity of path creation in the context of GVC and GPN. Third, institutional path creation is subject to dynamic coordination among agencies, without which path formation is constrained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to understand the business evolution and sustained survivability of Malaysian based-cosmetic firm, Pesona, for the past 20 years. The article provides constructive reflection in bridging theory and practice using a single case-study method to investigate the experiences and managerial decision rules of the owner of the cosmetic business within a real-life context. The narrative inquiry that we have adopted allows to focus on events, actions, processes, and happenings that matter for business survivability. The findings indicate various types of challenges within the cosmetic industry, faced resiliently by the owner of Pesona, namely sustaining market shares, highly dependable imported raw-materials, market uncertainty, international trade barriers and technology acquisitions. Likewise, marketing strategies and innovations in eliminating barriers and transforming challenges into opportunities are crucial. Along with these, knowledge management, networking and collaboration create the synergy to improve capabilities. More importantly, for micro and small businesses, these strategic capabilities are specifically led by the owners with passion and motivation. This case study is an inspirational asset for start-ups, SMEs and entrepreneurs as it offers valuable insights that can assist in building and sustaining businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China-ASEAN trade relationship is multidimensional. The trade situation between China and Vietnam is not similar to that of China and the ASEAN-5, as the former records trade surpluses with Vietnam in agriculture and manufactures. Bilaterally, China's exports are also more homogeneously distributed relative to Vietnam, and comprise higher value-added intermediates. Despite the asymmetry in terms of economic capacity between China and Vietnam, it is not one-sided nor is it all downside, as there is a high level of economic interdependence between the two. The empirical results from the stochastic frontier analysis indicate that Vietnam's trade efficiency scores with China are somewhat comparable with the efficiency levels achieved by the other ASEAN members in trade with China. Importantly, Vietnam's exports of agriculture products to China are operating closer to their potential level than China's exports to Vietnam. Overall, there remains scope for improving export efficiency in the China-Vietnam partnership. It is therefore untrue to assume that only the larger side could get more from this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study measures technical efficiency of the Malaysian insurance companies using a new framework for performance efficiency, built on the intermediation approach, by decomposing the complex service processes of insurance companies into two functional divisions, premium accumulation and investment capability. The study employs a dynamic network data envelopment analysis for performance evaluation of insurer (life, general and composite insurers) and ownership (local and foreign) types, spanning the period 2007-2014. The findings reveal a lack of efficiency in the investment capability function among local insurers as compared to their foreign counterparts. While the composite or non-specialized segment performs better in the investment capability function, the general segment achieves better efficiency in the premium accumulation function. The results suggest the high usage of input quantities and lack of total investment as key reasons for low efficiency, particularly among the local insurers. Implications for business excellence for insurance companies are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006, the Malaysian government released its 9th five-year development plan which, among other things, directed the country's numerous public research institutes (PRIs) to focus primarily on commercializing technologies stemming from their respective research agendas. This directive envisioned a de facto division of labor between universities, that would emphasize basic research, and PRIs, that would become Malaysia's translational research and technology commercialization hubs. Employing a scientific and technical human capital conceptual lens, this paper assesses the extent to which PRIs have met the expectations of the new commercialization directive through the analysis of data collected during a 2011-2012 survey among university and PRI researchers. First, we find descriptively that, in comparison to university researchers, PRI researchers do not differ substantially in terms of average patents and prototypes produced, our proxies for technology commercialization. Second, we investigate factors among PRI researchers that explain commercialization behavior and find that holding a PhD correlates strongly with publication and patenting behavior while conducting applied research and expressing adequate commercialization support correlates modestly with prototyping behavior. Implications for research and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulatory heterogeneity continues to be identified as a challenge for food trade in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the progress of harmonization of food standards among member states remains slow. Using a new and comprehensive database on nontariff measures (NTMs), this article examines the coverage, frequency, and diversity of NTMs for the food sector in Malaysia, and then estimates their impact on food imports from ASEAN. The food sector in Malaysia is found to be highly regulated, dominated by technical measures, namely, labeling for sanitary and phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade reasons, product quality, and restricted substances. The empirical results subsequently verify that, overall, technical measures are import restrictive. This article therefore contends that harmonization of food standards and regulations at the regional level is important for enhancing trade. However, building common ground for food safety regulations should be NTM- and sector-specific, to realize progress in terms of regulatory convergence. This is particularly true for the food sector, since complete harmonization is not practical and not politically feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews and assesses the performance of the manufacturing sector in general, as well as the catalytic industries identified in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (1 IMP), to ascertain whether the initiatives and targets proposed in the Plan are adequate to energize and move the sector forward. In doing so, the paper uses industrial policy arguments -- market and government failures -- to explain the slow progress of the sector. The findings suggest that market failures -- in terms of lagging industrial capabilities and economies of scale, market frictions, lack of support for self-discovery by firms and diversification -- require government intervention. Nevertheless, defying comparative advantage and identifying frontier products that show lacklustre performance to spearhead the sector under the Plan certainly require substantial improvements in institutioncd capabilities, coordination and institutional learning, while maintaining respect for markets and incentives. The paper concludes that lack of recognition to address government failures limited the success of policies implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between research and development (R&D), human capital and performance of the manufacturing sector in Malaysia, spanning the period 2000-2010. It takes into account ownership structure to highlight differences in the roles of R&D and human capital in boosting performance. The results show the significant role of R&D and skilled labour in increasing value-added across subsectors of manufacturing, for both local and foreign firms. Unskilled labour contributes significantly to local firms compared with foreign ones. However, the magnitude of the impact of R&D on performance is found to be much smaller; with significant impacts for both local and foreign firms. This suggests that the extent of R&D has not been fully realised in the manufacturing sector, even with the higher averages in R&D expenditure by foreign firms. Therefore, the types of R&D for performance are important for policymakers to address, in that, the focus should move beyond the narrow view of R&D (namely the size of R&D expenditure). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes a clustering approach as it attempts to investigate localised learning within a rice cluster in Malaysia and to examine the role of institutions, social capital and geographical proximity in helping promote localised learning. The paper argues that the development of social capital within a cluster needs to take place in its institutional context, and that development policies must address the 'soft' elements of the cluster in fostering cooperative relationships and 'social contracts' among the cluster actors. Evidence shows that learning processes and gains from learning in a cluster occur mainly in the form of informal learning - in which the effects of social cohesiveness, trust and connectedness are particularly important. Geographic proximity also plays an important role when it comes to the regional embedding of knowledge and learning processes. This paper shows supporting evidence that social proximity is the main dimension that should be embedded within the geographical and institutional proximity for agricultural cluster development. Geographical proximity improves social capital: a top-down policy approach in cluster development can therefore often be unsuccessful, given the failure to understand the dynamics of the cluster-actor interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose There is a long-standing debate on whether the entrepreneurship education program (EEP) of university graduates can promote entrepreneurship intention and behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to use the theory of planned behaviour as a conceptual framework and compare the differences in entrepreneurial attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions among students who participated in entrepreneurship education with a control group of Master of Business Administration (MBA) students in Pakistan. The study further examines what drives intentions between the two groups.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 348 entrepreneurship students and 329 MBAs in their final year (both groups did a total of four years’ tertiary study). One-way analysis of variance test and regression analysis were used to examine the differences and the antecedents of entrepreneurship intention between the two groups.Findings MBAs have higher entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) than EEP students and the EIs are statistically significant. Nevertheless, the authors did not find any differences in attitude, perceived control behaviour and subjective norms towards entrepreneurship in both the groups. The entrepreneurship intentions of the MBA students are more influenced by social pressure as opposed to EEP students who are influenced by perceived control behaviours.Research limitations/implications First, although the study introduced a control group, comparisons were based only on EIs and their antecedents in participants’ final year of study. This cross-sectional design provides no information about how much intentions and antecedents changed over time. A longitudinal study would provide information about such changes. Second, the groups in the study were matched in terms of gender, age distribution, family background, years of study and presumed disposition towards running their business. It would be useful if future comparative and longitudinal research measured these individual factors and their effects.Practical implications Educational activities render the starting of a business desirable and feasible by changing the attitudes and intentions. Nevertheless, various exposures to the challenges of being an entrepreneur via the education programmes may lower their intention to be entrepreneurs. As such, entrepreneurial programmes should be designed with care.Social implications The study provides some insights on improving EIs especially in understanding the antecedents that are important for nations, such as Pakistan which has high unemployment and widespread poverty.Originality/value This study provides fresh evidence on the role of entrepreneurship education by comparing EIs and the cognitive antecedents of intentions of the two groups – entrepreneurship as well as MBA students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to employ a newly developed framework to examine the complex relationship between different components of supply chain practices, supply chain integration (SCI) and supply chain performance (SCP) in the Malaysian electronics sector. Design/methodology/approach – This study utilizes survey data of 156 electronics firms in Malaysia and tested the research framework and hypotheses. In addition to the traditional approach of Barron and Kenny (1986), the Sobel test as well as a bootstrapping approach, which is deemed for small sample size, is used to formally test the indirect effects of SCI in the model. Findings – SCI has fully and partially mediated the relationship between supply chain management practices (SCMPs) and SCP. SCI fully mediates the relationship between SCP and three of the SCMPs, namely, information quality, agreed vision and goals and postponement strategies. The relationship of supply strategic partnership, customer relation management, information sharing with SCP were partially mediated by SCI. Risk and reward sharing is found to be non-significant. These insights allow managers to effectively utilize the different components of SCMPs for SCI and performance. Practical implications – For supply chain practitioners, the results of the study can be useful in integrating SCMPs and SCI on improving SCP. Practitioners should take into account the mediating effect of SCI in designing their supply chain management approach to production. Originality/value – To the authors’ best knowledge, this paper is one of the first to address the mediating effect of SCI between SCMPs and overall performance of the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between stock indices of Malaysia and the emerging East Asian countries, namely South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. The cointegration analysis found a long-run relationship between the stock indices of Malaysia and South Korea. The results of the Granger causality suggest no evidence of any causality between the stock indices of Malaysia and Japan. Whereas in the short run, a unidirectional causality running from stock indices of South Korea and Hong Kong to that of Malaysia were detected. Conversely, stock indices of Malaysia and Taiwan showed bidirectional causality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]