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Household Decision-Making in Malaysia: The Ethnic Dimension

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Abstract

Household financial decision-making process is an important issue as it has shown to have implications on key development outcomes such as child health and education, nutrition, expenditure, and allocation of labor. Women’s ability to have control over household finances and decisions also reflects, to some extent, their level of empowerment. This study focuses on the effect of ethnicity on decision making in a household. There is relatively limited research in this area and data obtained from households in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country, provides an opportunity for an in-depth examination of the ethnic dimension. The data is obtained from a random survey of 672 Malaysian urban households of which the selection of sample was strictly determined by the Department of Statistics Malaysia to ensure randomness. The findings show that there are differences across households of different ethnicity. Chinese households are found to be more traditional and patriarchal where decisions on household financial matters are more husband-dominated. Education contributes positively in giving women more control over household finances and decision-making. The results of the study highlight the importance of ethnicity in determining the level of household bargaining and decision-making power which has implications on strategies in marketing as well as national policies. Thus, any substantive and policy inferences in relations to women’s empowerment must take into account the socio-cultural aspects, rather than based on overall national level analyses. The finding that education plays a significant role in empowering women is a positive outcome. With more Malaysian women attaining higher levels of education and becoming part of the workforce, their level of empowerment and wellbeing will improve and consequently provide a positive impact on key development outcomes of the country.

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Notes

  1. http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Population/files/census2010/Taburan_Penduduk_dan_Ciriciri_Asas_Demografi.pdf. Retrieved on 19 May 2014.

  2. Ibid. Population of Malay in urban areas is 50.8 %, Chinese 31.3 %, and Indian 9.1 %.

  3. http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1640&Itemid=169&lang=en. Retrieved on 19 May 2014.

  4. http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Labour/files/BPTMS/Salaries_and_Wages_Survey_Report_2012_11092013.pdf. Retrieved on 19 May 2014.

  5. Labour Force Survey Report Malaysia 2012, http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Labour/files/labour_force/Labour_Force_Survey_Report_Malaysia_2012.pdf.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Klang Valley is an area in Malaysia comprising of its capital Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs, and adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor.

  8. As cluster random sampling is utilized, the sample is not as varied as it would be in a simple random sampling. The selection of an additional member from the same cluster adds less information than would a completely independent selection. The design effect measures this loss of effectiveness, which is computed as the ratio of the actual variance under the sample method actually used to the variance computed under the assumption of simple random sampling. Thus, a design effect of two implies that the sample variance is two times bigger than it would be if the survey were based on the same sample size but selected using simple random sampling.

  9. The population estimates for 2011 are 54.65 % Malay, 24.33 % Chinese, 7.30 % Indians and 13.73 % others, out of the total Malaysian citizens population (Malaysia 2011). Klang Valley Malaysian population in 2010 was made up of 49.56 % Malay, 36.72 % Chinese, 11.59 % Indian and 2.12 % others http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1354&Itemid=111&lang=en). Retrieved on March 22, 2013.

  10. All the analyses are focused on the three main ethnic groups—Malay, Chinese and Indian. The number of respondents for “other” category is too small for a worthwhile analysis.

  11. Significant at 1 % level.

  12. Significant at 5 % level.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Exploratory Research Grant Scheme of the Ministry of Education Malaysia.

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  1. Department of Economics, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Selamah Abdullah Yusof

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  1. Selamah Abdullah Yusof
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Yusof, S.A. Household Decision-Making in Malaysia: The Ethnic Dimension. Soc Indic Res 124, 283–293 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0782-8

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