Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among fertility, female education and female labour participation in ASEAN-7 countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, between 1990 and 2015. The choice of these countries is informed by their economic, social and political importance in the ASEAN Bloc; while Indonesia boasts of the largest population in ASEAN, Brunei and Malaysia boast of relatively advanced economies, in GDP terms. Design/methodology/approach: Pesaran’s test of panel unit root in the presence of cross-sectional dependence was employed to test for the stationarity properties of the series. The dynamic long-run coefficients of the variables were examined using the pooled mean group, common correlated effect and dynamic OLS techniques, while the Granger causality test was used to estimate the direction of causality among the variables. Findings: The findings indicate that there is both negative and positive relationship between fertility and labour force participation, with causality running from labour force participation through fertility – on the one hand, and between education and labour force participation, with no causality between the two – on the other hand. Research limitations/implications: The study, therefore, upholds the role incompatibility and societal response hypothesis, as well as human capital and opportunity cost theories. Practical implications: The appropriate policies are those that gear the countries’ fertility decisions towards the societal response hypothesis in order to enhance human capital development and increase productivity. This implies that the governments of ASEAN-7 countries should ease hindrances on a balanced combination of family-care and workforce participation on married women in view of the gender-wage gap created by female work apathy, which largely reduces domestic productivities. Appropriate policies in this direction include rising availability and affordability of childcare facilities, incentives for women higher education, attitudinal changes towards job-participating mothers, as well as legislated paid parental leaves which have balanced the, hitherto, incompatibility between work and childbearing. Originality/value: Except for Abdullah et al. (2013), the authors have no knowledge of other authors who have worked on this relationship in the chosen ASEAN countries. This study is, however, an improvement upon that of Abdullah et al. (2013) in different ways, one of which is that it considers seven ASEAN countries, thus making the results more valid representation of the ASEAN Bloc. Furthermore, the Pesaran (2007) technique of unit root testing has not been found in any recent literature on the subject-matter. This technique, being a second-generation test, tests variable unit root in the presence of cross-sectional dependence.

Kesejahteraan hidup warga emas: Perancangan berasaskan gender (Well-being among the elderly: Gender-based planning)

During the pandemic, the lives of B40 single mothers were severely affected, especially in terms of social, economic, and psychological factors. The reduction of income caused by the crisis has forced single mothers and their children to live frugally and without luxury. They also had to perform more than one job at a time during the pandemic to meet their children’s needs. A qualitative study has been conducted to explore the perceptions of quality of life during the pandemic among B40 single mothers. Respondents were selected based on demographic characteristics established before the study. A focus group discussion has been conducted on ten (10) B40 single mothers in Balik Pulau, Penang. Single mothers were selected based on purposive sampling. They had to meet the inclusive criteria required to participate in the study, specifically: aged between 20 and 60 years old, belonged to the B40 income category, had children under 18 years old living together, and became single mothers due to divorce or death of husbands. The focused group discussion explored issues related to qualities of life during the pandemic. B40 single mothers expressed their concern about access to health facilities, security in residence, children’s education, and economic stability. These areas of life quality have been significantly affected especially during Movement Control Order (MCO). In short, the quality of life of these single mothers has been significantly affected by the pandemic. Their vulnerability towards stress, anxiety, and depression have worsened due to financial issues. Besides the need for emotional and social support, this study found that these single mothers entail financial support.

This study has utilised the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) estimator method to explore the spillover effects of “technology” and “knowledge” from foreign direct investment (FDI) on Malaysian labour productivity. The study focus was on Malaysian medium-low technology and low-technology industries from 2000 to 2018. The findings showed that the presence of FDI spillovers as diffusion channels that increased labour productivity were greater through “technology effects” compared to “learning effects” for both types of industries. A cross-comparison of the results on technological spillovers between investor countries revealed that Singaporean and Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) contributed the most significant technological effects in increasing Malaysian labour productivity, with the effects being most noticeable was in low-technology industries. These findings seem to suggest that the spillover effects of FDI are still concentrated in sectors with low-capacity technologies that commensurate with the required level of workforce capability. The negative relationship between “knowledge” spillovers and productivity found in this study seems to illustrate that the absorptive capacity of local workers to absorb high-skill-based technology from MNCs is still at a low level in both types of industries. This study has recommended that strategies and mechanisms should be devised accordingly to assist MNCs in their effort to improve knowledge and technology transfers, while simultaneously acknowledging the constraints of human factors, absorptive capacity, competition for resources or ethical dilemmas and cultural barriers.

Rantau Panjang Duty-free Zone is located between the state of Kelantan (Malaysia) and Golok Town (Thailand). This paper seeks to identify issues and problems faced by traders in the Rantau Panjang Duty-free Zone. In addition, the study also aims to identify socio-demographic characteristics of the traders, especially in terms of their citizenship status, sources of supply, ownership status of business premises, sources of capital and income. Data collection using questionnaire, conducted via face to face interviews with 52 traders as respondents, indicates that the main issue facing local traders is competing with traders from Thailand who rent business premises owned by local citizens. About 77% of the premises were rented from the original owner without the knowledge of the authorities. The issue of dual citizenships is still an unanswered question when 48% or the respondents refused to answer the relevant question. The weakness of enforcement along the Sungai Golok and Rantau Panjang Duty-free Zone causes smuggling of goods where most of the smuggled goods are traded in the business premises in the Duty-free Zone. This study also found that about 70% of the traders’ sources of supply are from Thailand, brought-in either legally or illegally. There are a total of 73% of women traders, and about 82% of the capital for business come from own savings or family assistance. Keywords: Border Economy, Rantau Panjang Duty-free Zone. Malaysia-Thailand Border.