Understanding a “Development Miracle”: Poverty Reduction and Human Development in Malaysia Since the 1970s
M Asadullah,
Norma Mansor and
Antonio Savoia
Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 2021, vol. 22, issue 4, 551-576
Abstract:
This paper provides a systematic assessment of the alleged exceptionality of Malaysia’s development progress and its likely explanations, in comparative perspective. Using cross-country regressions and aggregate indices of education, health, poverty and gender equality outcomes, we produce evidence based on conditional correlations, offering three findings. First, the results support the hypothesis that Malaysia’s human development progress has been exceptional compared with that of countries with a similar level of economic development, primarily for the period 1970–1990. Next, we show that such progress is associated with a combination of income-mediated and support-led mechanisms, including Malaysia’s early emphasis on education and health inputs and infrastructure development. Finally, we look at long-term roots of its progress, arguing that early advantage in state capacity may be at the origin of Malaysia’s successful implementation of poverty reduction and growth-enhancing policies.
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/19452829.2021.1975664 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jhudca:v:22:y:2021:i:4:p:551-576
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CJHD20
DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2021.1975664
Access Statistics for this article
Journal of Human Development and Capabilities is currently edited by Kathryn Rosenblum
More articles in Journal of Human Development and Capabilities from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().