This study investigated the effects of energy consumption (ENY) based on fossil fuels and alternative energy with hydroelectricity as its proxy upon pollution, aside from ascertaining if the correlation between income and pollution determined the presence of Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). In addition, the functions of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and trade openness (TO) were probed into so as to generate more precise outcomes of EKC hypothesis. Hence, in order to fulfil the objectives outlined in this study, the Bound estimation method was utilized to examine three developing nations of the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN), which are Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The main finding of interest retrieved from this paper refers to the EKC hypothesis reflective of Malaysia and Thailand. It was discovered that hydroelectricity favourably lowered the release of carbon emissions in the case of Malaysia, while it insignificantly influenced environmental degradation for Indonesia and Thailand. On the other hand, as anticipated, per capita energy use displayed a significant long-run effect in raising the levels of carbon emission in Indonesia and Thailand. Meanwhile, the FDI inflows seemed to improve the environmental quality only in Malaysia, while deepening in TO among ASEAN-3 nations appeared to successfully minimize issues related to environmental degradation in these countries.
This study embarked on the importance of and tendency on Halal products and services in Malaysia and the global market. In the global market, consumer base for Halal products is around 1.7 billion people and worth more than 2.3 trillion dollars. It makes the Halal market a vitally important emerging sector that should not be overlooked. From the market perspective, traditional target market remains in Asia and the Middle East; however, due to the effect of globalization, there is a significant development of market size for Halal market in Europe and the USA. Besides, in the Western country, most Halal product is still not readily available for the UK market. We see this phenomenon being applied not only on food items. Personal hygiene and healthcare products, toiletries, and cosmetics are all appearing as Halal options. Once Halal is understood as a lifestyle choice, the range of options for Halal product will increase exponentially. In Malaysia, Halal products are not a big issue as we can find Halal food everywhere from the street market up to the high-end chain. The competition can be considered intense in the market.
Malaysia has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 45% in year 2030 and to attain a completely carbon neutral status by year 2050. For those purposes, substantial measures and policies have been implemented geared towards green growth and sustainability, as stipulated in the 9 th , 10 th , and 11 th Malaysia Plans commencing from 2006 until 2020. Nevertheless, it is indeed a challenge in striking to achieve these targets due to reported increment in the total final energy consumption by 30% from 2010 until 2014. Demand for electricity in Malaysia has been expected to surge between 5% and 6% within these couple of years in line with nation urbanisation and economic progression. As such, a number of macroeconomic indicators that might have influenced Malaysia's electrical consumption had been analysed for the 1970-2016 period by estimating electricity consumption per capita demand function linked with economic growth, foreign direct investment inflows, trade liberalisation, population growth, urbanisation population growth, financial development, industrialisation, inflation, and household consumption expenditure. The analysis was conducted by using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model. The estimation outcomes revealed the roles of economic progression and urbanization that led to increment in electrical consumption, whereas financial deepening and higher inflation linked to reduction. Such results enlighten significant insights for policymakers. For instance, since electricity consumption rises with urbanisation, it is essential that energy-efficient appliances are made relatively affordable and readily available for urbanites. The central bank also should play its part by lowering the lending rates so as to allow the financial institutions across the nation to offer attractive loans with lower financing cost to firms associated to renewable energy. With more companies being involved in cleaner alternative energy production, the nation is deemed to minimise its carbon emissions by decreasing its dependence upon coal to generate electricity.
This study offers new insights for policymakers to reduce income inequality, thus ensuring economic growth which greatly benefits the poor segment of population and directing financial sector to provide easy access to financial resources for lower income group at cheaper cost. Bound test was applied to examine the long-run and short-run relationships based on the sample period beginning from 1970 until 2016. The results confirmed the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables. Financial development in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand had successfully reduced income inequality, however, a different effect was recorded in the Philippines where income distribution was worsened. Furthermore, economic growth brought positive effect to income distribution in Malaysia and Indonesia, but not for Thailand and the Philippines. Inflation, trade openness and foreign direct investment, provided mixed results for all countries. Among the policies recommendation for this paper are there should be more easy accessibility for entrepreneurs to reach the wide range of financial services including conventional and Islamic financial products, the expansion of capital market, as well as giving proper attention to the financial sector. Besides, granting the access to capital markets for low income groups or underprivileged individuals might be helpful to them either by developing entrepreneurial skill or involvement in productive activities and receive better salaries. This policy will give insight to the policymakers to strengthen their financial institutions, especially during the pandemic of Covid-19 .
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