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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant adverse influence on the country’s economic and social situation, especially with regard to the tourism industry. This study examines the implications of the global pandemic on the tourism industry in Sabah, the study will consider the impact of the movement control order (MCO) and other mitigating measures adopted by tourism industry players. The survey and focus group findings indicate that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the tourism industry in the state, compelling operators and policymakers to re-evaluate current response strategies. The adoption of the MCO in response to the pandemic has resulted in business interruptions and income loss for tourism industry service-providers, with most of them losing more than 80% of their revenues. Diversification is one of the strategies used by operators in the industry to ensure long- and short-term viability. Meanwhile, a government vaccination program is a long-term strategy aimed at ensuring that the tourism sector in Sabah can return to normalcy. As with any study, this study too has limitations in terms of the number of industry sectors studied and sample size used to collect data.

This study investigates the tamu business operator’s intention to stay in the current business due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the West Coast of Sabah. Overall, the mean score for the intention to stay in the tamu business was considered high with 3.95 mean scores. Using the ANOVA test, the findings indicated that only the length of years involved in tamu business showed a significant mean difference among the respondents. The post hoc test showed that those in the tamu business for more than six years have a higher statistically significant mean difference than those in the tamu business for 3 – 5 years, and two years and below. There was no statistically significant mean difference between those in the tamu business for two years and below and 3 – 5 years. The findings implied that most tamu operators relied on tamu as their primary business platform, especially those who have been operating their tamu business for a longer period. It might be difficult for them to leave their current business to venture into a new business that they are not familiar with. Therefore, the relevant authorities should provide appropriate supports to these affected tamu business operators.

This study delves into the relationship between Malaysia and several countries—China, Singapore, Japan and the United States of America (USA), through FDI relations using the multivariate GARCH model. The annual time series data was used over the period of 1982 to 2017. The study was able to prove statistically, of a significant volatility spillover between Malaysia and China, Singapore, Japan and the USA. The study also found that the relationship between FDI for all these countries varied over time, which was dynamic in nature. Relatively low (weak) correlations occurred between Malaysia and Singapore and Japan, while high (strong) correlations occurred between Malaysia and China and the USA. In addition, the finding also showed that although there was evidence due to significant impacts, both the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis did not entirely affect the market trends and the relationship between foreign direct investments across all these countries.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a severe negative impact on the country’s economic and social life. The COVID-19 pandemic is regarded as a new form of crisis and has resulted in numerous uncertainties and developed new norms. The paper analyses the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia in relation to the Movement of Control Order (MCO) and the effects and changes in business and economic landscape as well as policy responses. It examines the five phases of MCO, and measures undertaken in each phase based on secondary data from various sources. It also analyses the policy responses of the Malaysian government during the COVID-19 pandemic; the new norms are discussed, too.

This study investigates the asymmetric effect of exchange rate risk (volatility) on the real foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand (ASEAN-4) using the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model. The results revealed the occurrence of a long-run asymmetric cointegration between real FDI inflows and real exchange rate risk in the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, but not in Malaysia. For the Philippines and Singapore, there is evidence of long-run asymmetry whereas short-run asymmetry exists for the case of Thailand. These findings imply that the asymmetric effects prove to be useful in providing essential information to the related parties on how FDI inflows react to exchange rate risks differently. Therefore, policymakers in ASEAN countries should be concerned about the asymmetric effect of the exchange rate volatility to mitigate the stylized effects of exchange rate movements on FDI inflows.

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays an increasingly important role in driving economic growth and sustainability. Asia, being the most heterogenous region in terms of ICT development, consist of both most connected and least connected countries based on the global ICT Development Index 2017. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of ICT on economic growth for 20 Asian countries from year 2000 to 2020. Using the robust panel Fixed Effect model and Panel Feasible Generalized Least Squares method, findings revealed that fixed telephone subscriptions, mobile cellular subscriptions and Internet users are the ICT variables that have significant and positive effects on economic growth in Asia. Fixed telephone subscriptions however, emerged insignificant which could be due to its high cost and low practicality relative to other forms of ICT. Findings from this study benefit related parties such as firms and policymakers by encouraging adoption and usage of mobile phones and the Internet through provision of adequate infrastructure and affordable ICT services.

This paper investigates whether a large non-financial firm in selected Asian frontier and emerging markets has time-varying exchange rate exposure using the interactive time dummies in the regression with a GARCH specification. The findings revealed that exchange rate exposure changes over time, particularly in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Furthermore, there was a high percentage of firms were exposed during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) period, particularly in Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. In practice, the findings of this study benefit interested parties such as firms and governments by giving information about stylised exchange rate exposure, which can be utilised to design effective strategies for dealing with exchange rate uncertainty.

The study examines the relationship between the development of the stock market and economic growth in Malaysia using annual data from 1982 to 2014. The development of the stock market represented three indicators, namely the turnover ratio, the shares value traded ratio and the market capitalization ratio. Augmented Dickey-Fuller stationarity test was carried outprior to the use of a bound test approach for co-integration and causality testing. The findings of the co-integration analysis showed that there is evidence of a long-run relationshipbetween economic growth andthe development of the stock market. Further examination of the causal relationship showed proof of the short-runinteraction between economic growth andthe development of the stock market. These findings may be of importance to policymakers in formulating growth policy and financial decision-making by investors.

In Sabah, Malaysia, a traditional market known as Tamu (means meeting) acts as a hub for local business activity, especially indigenous people. This paper presents an exploratory study whose goal is to investigate the Covid-19 pandemic financial impact and intention to stay in the current business of Tamu operators. Using purposive and snowballing sampling, survey data were collected from 125 Tamu business operators in Sabah. Among the respondents, 61.6 percent indicated Tamu business as their primary income and main entrepreneurial platform. The Covid-19 pandemic Movement Control Order (MCO) enforcement resulted in the Tamu entrepreneurs experiencing 34.2 percent decrease in weekly sales revenue and a 25.7 percent reduction in weekly gross profit. Furthermore, the overall mean score for the Tamu operators' intention to remain in the Tamu business is high at 4.37 based on 5-point likert scale. Thus, the Sabah Tamu operators are more likely to sustain their Tamu business despite the adverse financial impact of the Covid-19 MCO enforcement. This study outcome may guide the relevant government agencies to mitigate the financial impact by formulating and implementing appropriate policies and support programs specifically targeted for the Tamu business operators, who are mostly informal entrepreneurs.

Due to the potential adverse effects of exchange rate fluctuations on the economy, the exchange rate study has remained a significant subject of empirical investigation (Bartram & Bodnar, 2007; Iannuzzi & Berardi, 2010). Although there is a wide range of research, empirical evidence has shown mixed support for the theory of exchange rate exposure. The reason for this is that, for both developed and developing countries, the proportion of firms exposed to exchange rate movements is lower than expected by the theory. A study by El-Masry et al. (2007) on the UK, for example, non-financial firms reported that less than 30% of the firms sampled had significant USD and Japanese yen exposure. This was referred to as the puzzle on exchange rate exposure (Bartram et al., 2010; Bartram & Bodnar, 2007; Dimitriou et al., 2013; Hutson & Laing, 2014; Kang et al., 2016; Makar & Huffman, 2013; Takagi & Shi, 2011). Re-examining the previous literature on the traditional exchange rate exposure model based on CAPM shows that some previous studies in frontier and emerging markets (Bacha et al., 2013; Du et al., 2014; Jorion, 1990; Lin, 2011; Muller & Verschoor, 2007; Parsley & Popper, 2006; Verschoor & Muller, 2007; Ye et al., 2014) have paid less attention to some critical problems that could lead to inefficiency in the exchange rate exposure model to fully capture the exposure of the firm to the exchange rate. One of the issues is that the exposure to the exchange rate has had a time variance or is not constant over time. This is due to the fact that there is a potential instability of the risk exposure of the firm because the changing environment can affect the competitive position of the firm, the operational structure and the hedge strategies (Bartram et al., 2010; Parsley & Popper, 2006). Thus, it is unrealistic to assume that the exchange rate exposure of a firm remains constant over time, because the risk structure of any given firm will vary over time (Dominguez & Tesar, 2006; Pierdzioch & Kizys, 2010). For example, companies dynamically adjust their risk structures (e.g., exposure to exchange rate risk) in response to their internal and external environments. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the time-varying exchange rate exposure of large non-financial firms' share returns in selected Asian and emerging countries to explore alternative explanations for the exchange rate exposure puzzle. Keywords: Exchange Rate Exposure, Time-Varying, Global Financial Crisis, Asian Countries, Emerging Countries, Frontier Countries

This paper investigates a tale of two measures, which are market portfolio returns and exchange rate movements. The two measures are important risk factors which affect firm share returns. This study also demonstrates that the orthogonalized exchange rate exposure model is better at capturing the effects of exchange rate movements towards large Malaysian firm share returns. In addition to this, it was found that there were not significant differences in terms of number of exposed firms to exchange rate movements, when the Trade Weighted Index (TWI) and multi bilateral exchange rates were used, both in nominal and real terms. The study results also have shown that large Malaysian firms, including financial firms, were exposed to exchange rate movements regardless their level of foreign involvement. Interestingly, most of the exposed large firms are negatively affected when there is depreciation on home currency especially to the US Dollar (USD) and Japanese Yen (JPY). Even though the exchange rate volatility has failed to solve the exchange rate exposure puzzle among large firms in Malaysia, but the high level of sensitivity for most of the firm share returns to exchange rate volatility should not be ignored. Policymakers and financial managers should closely monitor the foreign exchange markets to mitigate the negative impact of exchange rate movements. Future research should also look into the possibility that the relationship between exchange rate movements and share returns is asymmetric.

This study aims to investigate the influence of trusting electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) sources available online and attitude on intention to follow eWOM among travellers in Malaysia. A total of 280 questionnaires were collected from respondents via an online survey. The findings indicate that trust in the honesty, competence and benevolence of eWOM sources has a significant impact on attitude towards eWOM as well as the intention to follow it. However, the results also indicate that attitude partially mediates the relationship between trust in eWOM source and intention to follow it. The findings of this study can have significant implications for the tourism industry.

This paper investigates the effect of exchange rate movements on large non-financial firms’ share returns in Malaysia and Singapore using multi-bilateral exchange rates namely the Euro (EUR), US Dollar (USD) and Chinese Renminbi (CNY). Our empirical results show that only a few firms in both Malaysia and Singapore are exposed to exchange rate movements. More firms in Singapore are exposed to exchange rate movements than Malaysia, especially to EUR and CNY. Surprisingly, only three of the large non-financial firms in Singapore are exposed to USD and none in Malaysia. In both Malaysia and Singapore, the majority of the exposed firms have a high level of foreign sales ratio (more than 25%), but in the case of Singapore, it seems that a firm with a low level of foreign involvement (

This paper investigates the relationship of foreign exchange rate movements on national market returns in Malaysia and Singapore using multi-bilateral exchange rates Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY) and Chinese Renminbi (CNY). The contemporaneous, asymmetric and lagged exchange exposure framework is used to investigate the nature of these exchange rate movements towards national market returns. Our study results show that both Malaysia and Singapore market returns are exposed to those currencies. The relationship of JPY and CNY exchange rate movements towards national market returns is contemporaneous in both countries. Meanwhile, EUR has a contemporaneous effect on national market returns in Malaysia but a lagged 1-month relationship in Singapore. Only JPY exchange rate returns have significant asymmetric effects on national market returns in Singapore. Future research should be conducted at industry and firm levels for more countries to better understand the stylised exchange rate exposure for mitigation purposes. Choice of the market index should also be taken into consideration when investigating the exchange rate exposure at the country level.

The inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) are important for a country's economic development, but the world market for FDI has become more competitive. This paper empirically analyses the exchange rate movements and foreign direct investment (FDI) relationship using annual data on ASEAN economies, that is, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore. By employing ARDL bounds test approach, the empirical results show the existence of significant long-run cointegration between exchange rate and FDI for the case of Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines with all countries recording negative coefficient implying that the appreciation of Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit, and the Philippine peso has a positive impact on FDI inflows. Using the ECM based ARDL approach for causality test, both Singapore and the Philippines show long-run bidirectional causality between exchange rate and FDI whereas long-run unidirectional causality running from the exchange rate to FDI in Malaysia. Furthermore, this study also found that short-run unidirectional causality running from the exchange rate to FDI exists in Singapore.

Green consumerism has increasingly received attention since the increased level of consumer awareness towards green products. Therefore, the aim of this paper had been to examine the influence of consumer perception of green products on green purchase intention. In this study, perception of green products was conceptualized as a multidimensional variable comprised of green corporate perception, eco-label, green advertising, green packaging, and green product value. By using a survey, a total of 159 questionnaires from respondents aged above 18 in Sabah were collected. The results demonstrated that within consumer perception; green corporate perception, eco-label, and green product value had positive significant influences on green purchase intention. The findings also revealed that eco-label and green product value made the largest contribution in influencing green purchase intention among consumers. In contrast, both green advertising and green packaging had no significant impact on consumer intention to purchase green products.

This study attempts to test a hypothesis of the relationship between the tourism sector and economic growth in Malaysia. Although a large number of literatures indicate that there is strong correlation between the tourism industry and economic growth, not much is known on the dynamic inter-relationship between these variables. This study employs recently developed ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration. The estimated result based on the long run time series behaviour for the number of tourist arrival and economic growth indicator shows that these variables are not cointegrated. In the short run analysis, we found that economic growth has unidirectional Granger caused to the tourism activities. Recognition of the existence of a causal relationship between international tourism and economic growth has important implications for the development of different tourism activities and policy decisions. In order to attract tourism activities, effort must be taken to promote stability as well as sustainability of the economy of this country.

This study attempts to provide empirical evidence on the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity (UIRP) theory with Malaysia taken as a case study. Though theoretically sound, the UIRP does not seem to hold well empirically. Using quarterly data spanned from the first quarter of 1998 to the third quarter of 2010, the empirical results revealed the violation of the UIRP theory. This indicates that there is a possibility of arbitrage opportunity between Malaysia and the studied markets (Japan, Singapore and United Kingdom) due to the violation of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). The study also found the absence of the forward premium puzzle in any cases.

The main objective of present study is to investigate the implications of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection on foreign direct investment and economic growth in Malaysia. We used the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration for long run relationship between the variables. Although researches with regards to foreign direct investment and economic growth have been conducted extensively in the Malaysian economic context, the role of IPR protection however has yet to be discussed in detail. These findings highlight that IPR plays a significant role in attracting FDI in the past and indirectly explains the growth process.

Malaysia’s success story has been highlighted by the remarkable social transformation and poverty reduction accompanying rapid economic growth. Some three decades ago, more than half of the population was poor, the number of illiterates was high, and the average person could only hope to live until the age of 48. The proportion of poor people is currently down to 5.6 percent, 90 percent of adults are literate, and life expectancy is up to 68 years. Although Malaysia’s population has increased from approximately 10 million in the 1960s to about 28 million in 2010, the number of poor people has dropped significantly during this period. This paper attempts to determine the empirical relationship and importance of growth for poverty reduction in Malaysia. The results show that growth explains much, but not all, about the evolution of poverty. Economic growth is necessary but not sufficient for poverty reduction, especially if the objective is rapid and sustained poverty reduction. This study proposes that if a policy’s objective is focused on poverty alleviation, poverty reduction as well as economic growth should be simultaneously taken into account as the final target, La historia del éxito de Malasia se ha visto evidenciada por la sorprendente transformación social y la disminución de la pobreza que han acompañado al rápido crecimiento económico. Hace unos treinta años, más de la mitad de la población era pobre, las tasas de analfabetismo elevadas y el ciudadano medio sólo podía esperar llegar a los 48 años. La proporción de población pobre actualmente se ha reducido al 5,6 por ciento, el 90 por ciento de los adultos cuenta con una educación y la esperanza de vida alcanza los 68 años. Aunque la población de Malasia se ha visto aumentada de los aproximadamente 10 millones en los años 60 a los 28 millones registrados en 2010, el número de ciudadanos pobres ha decaído de forma significativa durante este periodo. Este artículo pretende determinar la relación empírica y la importancia del crecimiento en la mitigación de la pobreza en Malasia. Los resultados demuestran que el crecimiento tiene mucho que decir, aunque no todo, en la evolución de la pobreza. El crecimiento económico resulta necesario, aunque no suficiente, para paliar la pobreza, sobre todo si el objetivo es una reducción rápida y sostenida. Este estudio propone que, si el objetivo de una política se centra en paliar la pobreza, tanto la reducción de la misma como el crecimiento económico acabarán siendo parte simultáneamente del objetivo final