IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v106y2018icp1-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic corridors and regional development: The Malaysian experience

Author

Listed:
  • Athukorala, Prema-chandra
  • Narayanan, Suresh

Abstract

This paper examines prerequisites for a successful inter-state economic corridor development program in a country with a federal system of government through an in-depth study of the design, implementation and the developmental impact of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) in Malaysia that encompasses the states of Penang, Kedah, Perak and Perlis. The analysis suggests that the NCER has the potential to leverage on the core strengths of the state of Penang—global connectivity, mature business eco-system with a strong presence of multinational enterprises, and sizeable talent pool—in order to redress the widening inter-regional and urban–rural development divide. However, so far, the achievements have not matched the expectations primarily because of an inherent institutional limitation of the program: failure to constitute the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) with adequate power and operational flexibility to achieve the overarching goal of shared growth while ensuring compliance from all stakeholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Narayanan, Suresh, 2018. "Economic corridors and regional development: The Malaysian experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:106:y:2018:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.01.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X18300196
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.01.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Prema‐Chandra Athukorala & Sisira Jayasuriya, 2003. "Food Safety Issues, Trade and WTO Rules: A Developing Country Perspective," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(9), pages 1395-1416, September.
    2. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2004. "Trade Costs," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 691-751, September.
    3. Portugal-Perez, Alberto & Wilson, John S., 2012. "Export Performance and Trade Facilitation Reform: Hard and Soft Infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1295-1307.
    4. Carol Newman & John Page, 2017. "Industrial clusters: The case for Special Economic Zones in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Narayanan, Suresh, 2018. "Economic corridors and regional development: The Malaysian experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Prema-chandra Athukorala, 2017. "Global Productions Sharing and Local Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Evidence from Penang Export Hub, Malaysia," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 180-194, May.
    7. Mariana Vijil & Laurent Wagner, 2012. "Does Aid for Trade Enhance Export Performance? Investigating the Infrastructure Channel," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7), pages 838-868, July.
    8. Masahisa Fujita & Paul Krugman & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262561476, April.
    9. Laurent Wagner & Mariana Vijil, 2012. "Does Aid for Trade Export Performance? Investigating the Infrastructure Channel," Post-Print halshs-00726435, HAL.
    10. World Bank, 2009. "Geography in Motion: World Development Report 2009 (excerpt)," Transnational Corporations Review, Ottawa United Learning Academy, vol. 1(3), pages 40-46, September.
    11. Peter J. Rimmer, 2014. "Asian-Pacific Rim Logistics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12949.
    12. Bougheas, Spiros & Demetriades, Panicos O. & Morgenroth, Edgar L. W., 1999. "Infrastructure, transport costs and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 169-189, February.
    13. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo & Cusolito, Ana, 2017. "Roads, exports and employment: Evidence from a developing country," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 21-39.
    14. Krueger, Anne O, 1997. "Trade Policy and Economic Development: How We Learn," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(1), pages 1-22, March.
    15. Corden, W. Max., 1997. "Trade Policy and Economic Welfare," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780198775348.
    16. Diaz-Bonilla, Eugenio & Reca, Lucio, 2000. "Trade and agroindustrialization in developing countries: trends and policy impacts," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 219-229, September.
    17. Jean-François Arvis & Robin Carruthers & Graham Smith & Christopher Willoughby, 2011. "Connecting Landlocked Developing Countries to Markets : Trade Corridors in the 21st Century," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2286.
    18. Adam Simpson & Susan Park, 2013. "The Asian Development Bank as a Global Risk Regulator in Myanmar," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(10), pages 1858-1871, November.
    19. Prema‐chandra Athukorala & Jayant Menon, 1999. "Outward Orientation and Economic Development in Malaysia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 1119-1139, November.
    20. Christian M. Rogerson, 2001. "Spatial development initiatives in Southern Africa: The Maputo Development Corridor," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 92(3), pages 324-346, August.
    21. John Page, 2012. "Can Africa Industrialise?-super- †," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(suppl_2), pages -124, January.
    22. Carol Newman & John Page, 2017. "Industrial clusters: The case for Special Economic Zones in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 015, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Narayanan, Suresh, 2018. "Economic corridors and regional development: The Malaysian experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Zainizam Zakariya & Kristinn Hermanssons & Kho Yin Yin & Noor Fazlin Mohamed Noor, 2019. "Regional Economic Growth in Malaysia: Does Aggregate Overqualification Matter?," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(5), pages 139-156, December.
    3. Ieva Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė & Gitana Dudzevičiūtė & Nijolė Maknickienė & Aidas Vasilis Vasiliauskas, 2020. "The relation between aging of population and sustainable development of EU countries," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 7(3), pages 2026-2042, March.
    4. Anthony E. Boardman & Mark Moore & Aidan Vining, 2020. "Financing and Funding Approaches for Establishment, Governance and Regulatory Oversight of the Canadian Northern Corridor," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 13(25), October.
    5. Peter Warr & Archanun Kohpaiboon, 2018. "Explaining Thailand’s Automotive Manufacturing Success," Departmental Working Papers 2018-02, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    6. Goldmann, Kathrin & Wessel, Jan, 2020. "TEN-T corridors – Stairway to heaven or highway to hell?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 240-258.
    7. Jain, Manisha & Jehling, Mathias, 2020. "Analysing transport corridor policies: An integrative approach to spatial and social disparities in India," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    8. Chenxi Li & Kening Wu & Xiangyu Gao, 2020. "Manufacturing industry agglomeration and spatial clustering: Evidence from Hebei Province, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 2941-2965, April.
    9. A S M Abdul Quium, 2019. "Transport Corridors for Wider Socio–Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-23, September.
    10. Jain, Manisha & Korzhenevych, Artem & Basu, Anurima Mukherjee, 2021. "Integrating spatial development with infrastructure provision along an envisioned transport corridor: A conceptual framework and its application to India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    11. Navid Khan & Riaz Ahmad & Ke Xing, 2018. "China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): Regional Development, Employment Opportunities and Policy Challenges," Global Economics Review, Humanity Only, vol. 3(1), pages 12-23, June.
    12. Navid Khan & Riaz Ahmad & Ke Xing, 2018. "China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): Regional Development, Employment Opportunities and Policy Challenges," Global Political Review, Humanity Only, vol. 3(1), pages 12-23, June.
    13. Kui Ming Tiong & Ming Yu Cheng & Chee Keong Choong, 2021. "Investment climate and foreign direct investment in Malaysia: firm‐level evidence," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 35(1), pages 108-119, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julian Donaubauer & Alexander Glas & Birgit Meyer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2018. "Disentangling the impact of infrastructure on trade using a new index of infrastructure," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(4), pages 745-784, November.
    2. Mehmet Guney Celbis & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2015. "Infrastructure and the International Export Performance of Turkish Regions," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Amitrajeet A Batabyal & Peter Nijkamp (ed.), THE REGION AND TRADE New Analytical Directions, chapter 11, pages 319-350, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Faheem Ur Rehman & Yibing Ding & Abul Ala Noman & Muhammad Asif Khan, 2020. "The Nexus Between Infrastructure and Export: An Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 12(2), pages 141-157, May.
    4. Celbis, Mehmet Güney & Nijkamp, Peter & Poot, Jacques, 2013. "How big is the impact of infrastructure on trade? Evidence from meta-analysis," MERIT Working Papers 2013-032, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. Donaubauer, Julian & Glas, Alexander & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2015. "Infrastructure and trade: A gravity analysis for major trade categories using a new index of infrastructure," Kiel Working Papers 2016, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Léopold BIARDEAU & Anne BORING, 2017. "L’impact de l’aide au développement sur les flux commerciaux entre pays donateurs et pays récipiendaires," Working Paper 464d860e-562e-4ae7-98f5-1, Agence française de développement.
    7. Hallonsten, Jan Simon & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2016. "A semi-endogenous growth model for developing countries with public factors, imported capital goods, and limited export demand," MERIT Working Papers 2016-004, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Bernard Hoekman & Anirudh Shingal, 2020. "Aid for trade and international transactions in goods and services," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 320-340, May.
    9. Wessel, Jan, 2019. "Evaluating the transport-mode-specific trade effects of different transport infrastructure types," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 42-57.
    10. Yuanhong Hu & Min Jiang & Sheng Sun & Yixin Dai, 2022. "Does Trade Facilitation Promote Export Technological Sophistication? Evidence From the European Transition Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    11. Takumi Naito, 2016. "Aid for Trade and Global Growth," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 1178-1201, November.
    12. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm & Iyer, Harish, 2021. "Effect of Aid for Trade and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows on the Utilization of Unilateral Trade Preferences offered by the QUAD countries," EconStor Preprints 238211, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Konté,Maty & Kouame,Wilfried Anicet Kouakou & Mensah,Emmanuel Buadi, 2021. "Structural Reforms and Productivity Growth in Developing Countries : Intra- or Inter-Reallocation Channel ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9733, The World Bank.
    14. JunYun Kim & Hongshik Lee & Joonhyung Lee, 2022. "Does Aid for Trade Promote Vertical Specialization?," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 127-158, June.
    15. Makoto Tawada & Nobuhito Suga & Akihiko Yanase, 2022. "Government, trade and comparative advantage, revisited," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1135-1165, May.
    16. Navid Khan & Riaz Ahmad & Ke Xing, 2018. "China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): Regional Development, Employment Opportunities and Policy Challenges," Global Economics Review, Humanity Only, vol. 3(1), pages 12-23, June.
    17. Patricia Sourdin & Richard Pomfret, 2012. "Trade Facilitation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14596.
    18. Navid Khan & Riaz Ahmad & Ke Xing, 2018. "China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): Regional Development, Employment Opportunities and Policy Challenges," Global Political Review, Humanity Only, vol. 3(1), pages 12-23, June.
    19. Chen Shen, 2023. "The Impact of Infrastructure Development on China–ASEAN Trade-Evidence from ASEAN," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, February.
    20. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2020. "Aid for Trade and sectoral employment diversification in recipient-countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 265-295, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic corridor; Regional development; Malaysia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O21 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Planning Models; Planning Policy
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:106:y:2018:i:c:p:1-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.