Surveying sources of economic growth: empirical evidence from Malaysia

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Vietnam have increased significantly in recent years. Theoretically, capital inflows will put pressure on the overvaluation of local currencies in countries, despite different exchange rate mechanisms. So, the problem facing the Vietnamese government is the need to examine the relationship between the exchange rate and FDI in order to develop effective policies. This study examined the relationship between the exchange rate and FDI in Vietnam in the period of 2005–2019 using the VAR (vector autoregression) model based on quarterly frequency data. The new points of this study are: (i) using the real effective exchange rate (REER) of the Vietnamese currency with 143 major trading partners of Vietnam; and (ii) adding two control variables into the VAR model to examine the relationship between the exchange rate and FDI in Vietnam – a case study for developing countries. The findings show that, firstly, there is a positive causal relationship between FDI and Vietnam’s real effective exchange rate. Secondly, trade openness has a positive impact on FDI and REER in Vietnam. Thirdly, economic growth has an impact on REER, but no statistically significant impact on FDI was found. The findings can provide useful information to help policymakers plan and make decisions on future policies and support further research studies.

Generation Z is the future generation with technology familiarity and is a trendsetter in financial technology. This study aimed to compare (similarities and differences) perceptions of Generation Z Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia in paying Zakat, Infaq, and Sadaqah (ZIS). This study uses a qualitative approach with phenomenological methods through focus group discussions. This method was chosen because it allows substantial interaction between participants to compare objects more boldly. Initially, there were 43 Generation Z students from Indonesia and 25 Generation Z students from Malaysia. The total reduction of participants was carried out to find the most relevant and appropriate participants by determining the criteria for having paid ZIS using financial technology (Fintech) at least once. With 10 participants from each country from the final narrowing results, two stages of Focus Group Discussion were carried out. The findings show the similarity of perceptions of awareness of use, including the need and importance of usage benefits. The similarity of perceptions regarding reputation was also found in professionalism and reliability. In contrast, similar perceptions of satisfaction occurred in aspects of multifunction and usability. In addition, differences were found in the perception of data security. There are still suspicions about data security among Indonesian participants. No studies directly compare Generation Z Muslims in the two countries that pay ZIS through Fintech. This study confirms that it is essential to increase the security of personal data when using fintech. Then there is a feeling of security and comfort for Generation Z who donated ZIS.

This study investigates the impact of various resources, specifically both tangible and intangible ones, together with capabilities of Malaysian listed firms, on their performance. This empirical study attempts to enrich the understanding of the resources-performance relationship, which is one of a business process within the firm, as well as filling the gaps in present knowledge. Firms, which are not able to develop and sustain their performance, are associated with the vulnerability and adverse performance result, especially during various periods of economic crisis (three sub-periods of major shocks, i.e., The Volcker Shock (Commodities Shock) of early 1980s, Asian Financial Crisis of the late 1990s, and the Global Financial Meltdown of 2008). Hence, this research intends to explore which resources matter the most to firm profitability and its success. Drawing upon the combination of Donabedian’s structure process outcome and resource-based theories of the firm a conceptual framework is developed. Data for the study were collected from a sample of 250 publicly traded companies listed on Bursa Malaysia (MYX). In order to achieve the objective and response to the study question, partial least square and regression analysis are applied. Findings indicate that tangible resources have no impact, while intangible resources have positive and significant impact on firm performance. In addition, results show that efficient allocation of intangible resources is crucial to achieving good performance.