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Stuck in the middle ? human capital development and economic growth in Malaysia and Thailand

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  • Jimenez, Emmanuel
  • Nguyen, Vy
  • Patrinos, Harry Anthony

Abstract

The challenge of sustaining economic growth over the long term is one that only a few countries have been able to surmount. Slowing momentum in countries like Malaysia and Thailand has led analysts and policy makers to consider what it would take to lift them out of middle-income status, where other countries have arguably become stuck. The paper examines the role of human capital formation in the quest to sustain economic growth in these two countries. It argues that a good education system is fundamental to equip workers with marketable skills. Malaysia and Thailand have successfully expanded access to schooling, but the quality of education remains an issue. Modern education systems should aim to provide universally-available quality education using the following policies: prioritize budgets to deliver quality and universally-available basic education before expanding higher levels of schooling; provide appropriate incentives and rewards to teachers; permit school autonomy and ensure accountability for results; invest in early childhood development; and consider implementing income-contingent loan financing schemes to expand higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Jimenez, Emmanuel & Nguyen, Vy & Patrinos, Harry Anthony, 2012. "Stuck in the middle ? human capital development and economic growth in Malaysia and Thailand," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6283, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6283
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Latif Adam & Siwage Dharma Negara, 2015. "Improving Human Capital through Better Education to Support Indonesia’s Economic Development," Economics and Finance in Indonesia, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, vol. 61, pages 92-106, August.
    3. Pierre-Richard AGENOR, 2016. "Caught in the Middle? The Economics of Middle-Income Traps," Working Papers P142, FERDI.
    4. Glawe, Linda & Wagner, Helmut, 2020. "China in the middle-income trap?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Razafimandimby Andrianjaka, Riana & Rougier, Eric, 2019. "“What difference does it make (to be in the Middle Income Trap)?”: An empirical exploration of the drivers of growth slowdowns," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 225-236.
    6. Samudhram, Ananda & Stewart, Errol & Wickramanayake, Jayasinghe & Sinnakkannu, Jothee, 2014. "Value relevance of human capital based disclosures: Moderating effects of labor productivity, investor sentiment, analyst coverage and audit quality," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 338-353.
    7. Pierre-Richard Agénor, 2017. "Caught In The Middle? The Economics Of Middle-Income Traps," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 771-791, July.
    8. Zhaobin Fan & Hui Li, 2019. "International Migration, Human Capital Composition And Middle-Income Traps," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(04), pages 883-897, September.
    9. Linda Glawe & Helmut Wagner, 2016. "The Middle-Income Trap: Definitions, Theories and Countries Concerned—A Literature Survey," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 58(4), pages 507-538, December.
    10. Nor Asiah Omar & Che Aniza Che Wel, 2014. "Entrepreneurial Training of Low-Income Women Micro Enterprises in the Service Sector in Malaysia: Understanding the Problems and Challenges," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 5(4), pages 245-257.
    11. Modi Hlobo & Tankiso Moloi & Benjamin Marx, 2022. "Framework for Screening and Evaluating the Competencies and Qualities of the Board of Directors in South Africa’s State-Owned Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Rafi Amir-ud-Din & Muhammad Usman & Faisal Abbas & Sajid Amin Javed, 2019. "Human versus physical capital: issues of accumulation, interaction and endogeneity," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 351-382, November.
    13. Otsuka, Keijiro & Higuchi, Yuki & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2017. "Middle-income traps in East Asia: An inquiry into causes for slowdown in income growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(S), pages 3-16.
    14. Hallinger, Philip & Liu, Shangnan, 2016. "Leadership and teacher learning in urban and rural schools in China: Meeting the dual challenges of equity and effectiveness," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 163-173.
    15. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Canuto, Otaviano, 2017. "Access to finance, product innovation and middle-income traps," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 337-355.
    16. Veerayooth Kanchoochat & Patarapong Intarakumnerd, 2014. "Tigers Trapped: Tracing the Middle-income Trap through the East and Southeast Asian Experience," Competence Centre on Money, Trade, Finance and Development 1404, Hochschule fuer Technik und Wirtschaft, Berlin.
    17. Gill,Indermit S. & Kharas,Homi, 2015. "The middle-income trap turns ten," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7403, The World Bank.
    18. Antonio Angelino, 2017. "Human capital shortages in the Vietnamese industry. A firm-level analysis," Working Papers 1701, c.MET-05 - Centro Interuniversitario di Economia Applicata alle Politiche per L'industria, lo Sviluppo locale e l'Internazionalizzazione.
    19. Riana Razafimandimby Andrianjaka & Eric Rougier, 2017. "What difference does it make? Revue de littérature et analyse empirique des déterminants de la Trappe à Revenu Intermédiaire," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2017-16, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).

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    Keywords

    Education For All; Primary Education; Access&Equity in Basic Education; Teaching and Learning; Tertiary Education;
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