Income Inequality in Two Villages in Malaysia

摘要

Malaysia has achieved dramatic economic growth since the late 1980s, largely due to multinational companies investing foreign capital in industrial zones on the west coast. GDP share of the manufacturing sector increased from 16.8% in 1980 to 31.4% in 2005. As industrialization has been concentrated on the west coast, this has caused economic inequality between the states of the west and east coasts of the Malaysian peninsula. It is therefore necessary to study the reality of income disparity and indicate the nature of inequality among farm households. This paper aims to clarify the main factors which influenced inequality in two rice farming villages from both coastal areas. A series of questionnaire surveys were conducted in 2006 and 2008 in Penang state and Kelantan state. A total of 42 and 39 farm households respectively were studied. There are important determinants including age, gender, number of workers, occupation and location in the two villages. Especially age of household head and location determine farm household income, resulting in considerable income inequality between the rice farming villages.