The Microeconomics of Changing Income Distribution in Malaysia

This study uses data from Malaysia's Household Income and Expenditure Surveys to quantify the importance of different factors in accounting for the changes in Malaysia's income distribution between 1984 and 1989 ("Period 1") and between 1989 and 1997 ("Period 2"). The analysis is therefore divided into these two periods, in order to be able to assess the factors responsible for the falling inequality in the first period and the rising inequality in the second. The authors also look at the factors accounting for rising mean income and falling poverty in the two periods.