Hway Boon Ong - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Hway Boon Ong

International Journal of Management, Finance and Accounting

The capability of the bonds market to channel savings to investors plays a significant role in pr... more The capability of the bonds market to channel savings to investors plays a significant role in promoting aggregate output. However, some recent studies argue that the connection between bond market development and economic activities is uncertain. The purpose of this study is to examine how the bonds market in Malaysia may affect its aggregate output based on the period between 1990 to 2020. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test is applied to study the nexus of the bonds market and the aggregate output of Malaysia. The results suggest a positive effect of private and public bonds on the economy of Malaysia. The findings imply a long-term effect running from the bonds market to aggregate output, supporting the notion that the bonds market has a direct and positive effect on channelling a surplus of funds to finance economic activities in Malaysia.

A time-varying impact of ageing population on the economy of Malaysia

International Journal of Social Economics

Purpose By 2040, 14.5% of Malaysia’s population will consist of those aged 65 years and above. Th... more Purpose By 2040, 14.5% of Malaysia’s population will consist of those aged 65 years and above. The purpose of this paper is to examine the time-varying impact of an ageing population on the economy of Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach The relationship between the ageing population and economic performance was examined from the period 1971–2019. The time-varying rolling convergence estimation of 40 + k observations sample frame of the trace statistics was analysed.Findings The ageing population had affected the economic activities in Malaysia over all sampling time frame from 1971 to 2010, 1972–2011, …to 1980–2019. The growth in total population and economic activities also caused a significant increase in the ageing population in the long run. An improved economic performance signifies the affordability for better healthcare services and improvement in medical science technology to treat diseases.Originality/value Its ageing population has gradually slow down economic activities ...

Capital Development and Household Income Gap: The Case of Malaysia

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2022

Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 2022

Some of the problems of cash transactions were the inconvenience of handling cash and the limited... more Some of the problems of cash transactions were the inconvenience of handling cash and the limited availability of banking services to facilitate cash withdrawals. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of cashless payments on the usage of the internet and mobile banking services in twofolds. First, the Wald test was applied to determine the short-run causal effect of the diffusion from cash to cashless payment on the internet and mobile banking. Second, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test was employed to determine the long-run effect of cashless payments on the internet and mobile banking. The novelty of this study is threefold. First, this study employed the total value of cashless payments transacted per month data that were previously unavailable for time series analysis. Second, unlike studies on the intention to adopt cashless payments, internet and mobile banking, this study used data of actual transactions paid by a consumer. Third, this study established that the internet and mobile banking were delivery channels for cashless payments.

F1000Research, 2021

Background: The Malaysian government reacted to the pandemic’s economic effect with the Prihatin ... more Background: The Malaysian government reacted to the pandemic’s economic effect with the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) to cushion the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) impact on households. The ESP consists of cash assistance, utility discount, moratorium, Employee Provident Fund (EPF) cash withdrawals, credit guarantee scheme and wage subsidies. A survey carried out by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) shows that households prefer different types of financial assistance. These preferences forge the need to effectively customise ESPs to manage the economic burden among low-income households. In this study, a recommender system for such ESPs was designed by leveraging data analytics and machine learning techniques. Methods: This study used a dataset from DOSM titled “Effects of COVID-19 on the Economy and Individual - Round 2,” collected from April 10 to April 24, 2020. Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining was followed to develop machine learnin...

Acceptability of mobile stock trading application: A study of young investors in Malaysia

Technology in Society, 2021

Abstract Mobile financial services have been adopted rapidly during the digitisation era. This st... more Abstract Mobile financial services have been adopted rapidly during the digitisation era. This study therefore aims to investigate the antecedents of mobile stock trading adoption among young investors. Using the structural equation modelling technique, this study develops an integrated theoretical framework from both the Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour using survey data from 373 young retail investors. The suggested model incorporates the six constructs of perceived risk, perceived benefits, perceived usefulness, attitude, perceived behavioural control and social influence and assesses how they affect the intention to adopt mobile stock trading. The results show a strong positive connection among attitude, perceived behavioural control, perceived benefits and intention towards mobile stock trading. We find that trust adds great explanatory power to perceived behavioural control, attitude and social influence in explaining investors’ adoption intention. Surprisingly, perceived risk is not significantly correlated with adoption intention. This study has employed a comprehensive framework to understand the acceptance level of mobile stock trading.

Influence of perceived risks on the decision to invest in equity crowdfunding: a study of Malaysian investors

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 2021

Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of various risk factors, specifically invest... more Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of various risk factors, specifically investment risk, legal risk and technology risk, on the decision of investors to invest in equity crowdfunding ventures in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A total of 169 valid responses out of a total of 195 questionnaires were distributed to individuals with prior knowledge of equity crowdfunding. The data from the responses are used to test the relationships using structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS). Findings Investigation into the influence of risk factors on the willingness to support equity crowdfunding shows that investment risk and legal risk significantly influence the decision to support equity crowdfunding ventures, but technology risk does not. However, while the influence of investment risk is negative, legal risk is found to have a positive influence. Originality/value This study is important as, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to ...

Urban lifestyle in the Klang Valley

International Journal of Social Economics, 2018

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how urban dwellers engage on an environmentally f... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how urban dwellers engage on an environmentally friendly lifestyle. A survey was conducted in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, to establish the sustainable lifestyle intentions of urban dwellers. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted to establish the sustainable lifestyle intentions of urban dwellers of the Klang Valley in Malaysia. Data collected were analysed using the Cronbach’s α reliability test, the factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis. Findings A sustainable lifestyle has to be environmentally friendly and conforms to the community’s livelihood. Attitude towards participation of environmentally friendly lifestyle, awareness towards preservation of resources, subjective norms to engage in an environmentally friendly lifestyle, perceived environmental control and government support were the key intentions of a sustainable lifestyle of urban dwellers. Originality/value The current lifestyle intentions of urban dwellers in the Klang Valley have yet to be fully transformed into lifestyle behaviours that are sustainable. The local government is not strict in implementing and enforcing an environmentally friendly lifestyle that is practical and sustainable. Other than relying on the existing non-profit organisation’s fortnightly collection of recyclables, the local government can refer to the UNEP’s four E’s to initiate an efficient and sustainable production behaviour that leads to a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.

Corporate risk-taking and performance in Malaysia: the effect of board composition, political connections and sustainability practices

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 2018

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how board composition, political connections and sustainability... more PurposeThis paper aims to examine how board composition, political connections and sustainability practices affect risk-taking and performance of firms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used secondary data and regression technique to analyse the relationship. A sample consisting of 290 firm-year observations was applied in the analysis.FindingsThe findings show that a larger board size contributes to greater financial risk; however, this risk can be reduced with more independent directors in the boardroom. An optimal board size with appropriate number of independent directors is desired, as a large board size can be harmful to firm performance. Politically connected firms also generate lower risk-taking and performance, and the double-edged sword effect of political connections needs to be considered. In terms of sustainability practices, firms have to engage in sustainable development to maximise the firms’ value, not ignoring the vital role of women in strategising business pe...

Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2018

This study aims to explore the potential mediating effect of risk perception between environmenta... more This study aims to explore the potential mediating effect of risk perception between environmental consciousness, social trust and environmental knowledge to climate change mitigation behaviors and community green activity participation. The data were gathered from various categories of age strata in Klang Valley, Malaysia, from which 210 respondents participated in this study. Factor analysis, partial least squares and structural equation modeling tools were used to achieve these aims. The findings indicate that environmental consciousness and social trust are key predictors of risk perception. However, environment knowledge is not significantly related to risk perception. The proposed mediating influence of risk perceptions on mitigation behaviors and green activity participation are not supported.

Corporate Ownership and Control, 2011

Fraud is an important issue in many countries such as in the United States, United Kingdom, inclu... more Fraud is an important issue in many countries such as in the United States, United Kingdom, including of Malaysia. Malaysian Approved Auditing Standards, AI 240 “Fraud and Error” was established to provide guidance on the auditor’s responsibility to consider fraud and error during the audit of financial statements. The auditors are required to appropriately assess fraud risk during the planning of the audit work so that they can provide reasonable assurance that any material misstatement in the financial statements has been detected. If the external auditors are not able to detect fraud, this may expose them to litigation. The present study aims to examine whether risk attitude has an effect on the external auditors’ ability to detect the likelihood of fraud. An experimental approach is adopted by sending case materials to audit partners and audit managers attached to auditing firms operating in Malaysia. The result shows that means difference exists on the ability to detect the lik...

Borsa Istanbul Review, 2017

This study estimates if Malaysian finance professionals' investment characteristics and stock cha... more This study estimates if Malaysian finance professionals' investment characteristics and stock characteristics' preferences affect their portfolio diversification, and whether the effects of these predictors vary across professionals' gender, income and experience. Employing a survey and ordinal regression models, the findings demonstrate that investment characteristics such as active trading, usage of internet and telephone, and saving for retirement objective are likely to improve diversification, whereas diversification worsens with the spending less time on researching investment. With respect to stock's characteristics, trading volume and return on asset are related to better diversification, whereas profit margin and return on equity are related to least diversification. The predictors are found to vary across professionals' gender, income and experience. The results suggest that finance professionals need to consider spending more time on researching investment and stock's characteristics in portfolio composition.

Corporate Ownership and Control, 2012

This study is conducted to examine the perception and awareness of intellectual property rights (... more This study is conducted to examine the perception and awareness of intellectual property rights (IPR) among university students. A survey was conducted to illicit information about IPR from two private universities' students in Malaysia. It was discovered that university students perceived plagiarism and piracy as infringement of IPR. Therefore, provision of adequate information, active participation of government bodies and university's authorities, as well as IPR awareness activities are three factors that will encourage IPR awareness among these university students.

Financial Innovation, 2016

Background: This study examines the effect of adopting cashless payment in five European Union (E... more Background: This study examines the effect of adopting cashless payment in five European Union (EU) countries, namely, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and Portugal, for the period of 2000-2012. Methods: The within and between effect of adopting cheque payment, telegraphic transfer, card payment and electronic money on these EU's economy are examined by applying the Pedroni residual cointergration and Panel Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). Results: There is short run causality running from cheque payment to telegraphic transfer and card payment, as well as causality running telegraphic transfer to card payment. In the long run, there is significant effect of adopting cashless payment on the economy of the five EU countries. Conclusions: The adoption of one type of cashless payment will affect another type of cashless payment in the short run. The impact of adopting cashless payment on economic growth can only be significantly observed in the long run. Hence, any policy that promotes cashless payment will not affect the economy immediately. Background The advancement of information technology has facilitated innovation in electronic payment where goods and services are traded without the use of physical cash. A cashless payment eliminates the usage of money as a medium of exchange for goods and services by allowing electronic transfer payments or non-electronic payment via cheques. Adopting cashless payment has numerous advantages. Unlike traditional cash transaction, cashless payments discourage robbery and other cash related crimes (Armey et al. 2014). When people opt for other alternative modes of payment, they tend to hold less physical cash when they shop. Thus, it eliminates the incentive for robbers to commit cash related crimes. As for vendors, the ease of transaction through various payment modes will increase their revenue, improve operational efficiency and lower operating cost (Alliance 2003). Cashless payments were also regarded as hygienic for food vendors (Paul and Friday 2012). Electronic card payments will have a meaningful impact on the world economy. According to Moody's Analytics published by Visa Inc., 1 greater usage of electronic card payment products added $983 billion in real U.S. dollars to the GDP of 56 countries they studied from 2008 to 2012. Card payment has raised consumption by an average of 0.7 % across the 56 countries. The real global GDP grew by an average of 1.8 % during that time

This study is conducted to evaluate the efficiency of CGC in providing guarantee coverage and dir... more This study is conducted to evaluate the efficiency of CGC in providing guarantee coverage and direct lending to SMEs. The efficiency evaluation of CGC is conducted in three stages. First, it is conducted fo r single output where technical and scale efficiency evaluation are carried out fo r guarantees issued fo r each type of loans categorised under general business, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

Success Factors Of Electronic Channels: An Analysis On Commercial Banks In Malaysia

The impact of technology in banking is mainly felt in the delivery of banking services through el... more The impact of technology in banking is mainly felt in the delivery of banking services through electronic channels. Other than bank branches, electronic channels like ATMs, pC banking, phone banking and banking kiosks have provided other alternatives to acquire banking products and services. Nonetheless, it is not easy changing from traditional methods of banking to one that is paperless and cashless. Also, in view of the high investment cost of operating electronic channels, the return is in fact, uncertain. Therefore, the question now is what would it take to bring about success in implementing electronic distribution channels? The purpose of this study is to find out how electronic channels can be implemented successfully by domestic commercial banks in Malaysia. In order to do so, data is collecetd by self-administrated questionnaires distributed to all the domestic commercial banks in Malaysia. Data collected are analysed by means of primary statistics such as frequency, mean and mode analysis, as well as factor and Spearman correlation analysis. The factor analysis conducted indicated that banks' operation management is the main factors affecting the success of ATMs, PC and branch banking, while product innovation and knowledge development factor are found to have the most effect on the success of banking kiosks and phone banking, respectively. So to determine the association of success factors of each distribution channel, the Spearman's rank correlation is conducted but there was no significant correlation for factors identified under phone banking and branch networks. However, planning and control factor of banking kiosks is found to have an inverse association with product innovation and knowledge development factor. Besides, internal planning and control factor is discovered to cause constrain to product innovation and knowledge development in PC banking.

Dual Long Memory in Stock Market Prices: New Evidence Based on Bull and Bear Markets

This study examines the dual long memory properties in Malaysian stock market during bull and bea... more This study examines the dual long memory properties in Malaysian stock market during bull and bear periods for the period 1993:10 to 2009:12. Both semi-parametric and ARFIMA-FIGARCH models are applied for the diagnosis of long memory. The study finds no evidence of long memory for stock returns. On the contrary, the long memory in stock volatility for all the bear periods and three of the bull periods is supported. Besides, the long-range dependence is more persistent in the early years of the sample, in particular, prior to the imposition of capital controls by the Malaysian government in September 1998. The presence of long memory in volatility provides evidence against the efficient market hypothesis and thus offers arbitrage opportunities to reap excess profits in stock market.

Asia consists of numerous countries that vary in population, culture, land area and economic reso... more Asia consists of numerous countries that vary in population, culture, land area and economic resources. However, within the disparity and diversity of the Asian economies, there are some common grounds that have sparked off regional cooperation. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the level of economic convergence of the combinations of ASEAN-5 (namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand), Japan, China and Korea economies, a fundamental source of regional co-operation. The empirical findings suggest that GDP, CPI and interest rates of ASEAN-5, Japan, China and Korea are all cointegrated, signifying synchronisation and initial convergence within the region, a positive indication for closer economic cooperation with lesser adverse impact on any individual economy. Subsequently, three possible economic alliances are identified as ASEAN-5, ASEAN-5, Japan, China and Korea, as well as ASEAN-5, Japan and China. The tests on dynamic properties of GDP of ASEAN-5, GDP of ASEAN-5, Japan and China, CPI of ASEAN-5, Japan, iii 2.1

Is China compatible with ASEAN‐5? A gradual cointegration analysis

Journal of Economic Studies, 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper to examine if there is continuous macroeconomic compatibility be... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper to examine if there is continuous macroeconomic compatibility between ASEAN‐5 and China. Thus, in addition to the typical VECM test of the long run macroeconomic cointegration test, this paper examines the existence of an ongoing cointegration analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe degree of convergence during different sub‐sample period of the full sample is employed, via Johansen cointegration rank tests, to examine if there is evidence of ongoing and improved cointegrating relationship among the economies.FindingsA successful ASEAN‐China economic cooperation would only work if there is continuous macroeconomic interdependence between the partnership. Since a smooth transition of ACFTA will complement AFTA, the effective ASEAN‐China coordination plan is essential to endorse a successful ASEAN‐China coalition.Originality/valueThis paper suggests a quick yet effective verification on the continuous compatibility of economies intended to have a long‐...

Journal of Applied Sciences, 2008

This study provides evidence of ongoing real macroeconomic convergence of the founding members of... more This study provides evidence of ongoing real macroeconomic convergence of the founding members of ASEAN namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Firstly, the long run macroeconomic relationship of ASEAN-5 is measured by their respective real gross domestic product. Secondly, the ongoing convergence of ASEAN-5 is examined. The empirical findings suggest that there is long run macroeconomic linkages and ongoing convergence among ASEAN-5. Hence, ASEAN-5 is deemed compatible but ASEAN's effort of reorganizing its supportive institutions will further improve the compatibility of its members. However, besides outstanding macroeconomic performance, the realization of a serious economic union would also depend on political stability and the sincerity of political leaders.