Research & Projects

We study the relationship between global rubber booms and child labor in Malaysia. We exploit fluctuations in international rubber prices combined with spatial variation in colonial-era rubber estates across districts between 1940-1983. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show robust evidence that higher world rubber prices significantly increased the incidence of child labor. Rising opportunity costs of schooling is an important mechanism. We document that the effect is stronger among older children than younger children and that higher rubber prices led to higher dropout and lower school enrollment rates. We explore the long-term impact of rubber booms and show that childhood exposure to rubber booms is associated with lower wages during adulthood. The results contribute to the debates on the distributional effects of export led growth in a rapidly growing developing country. Please reach out for an updated copy!

Source: The New Straits Times, 16 September 2018 

Introduction

This study evaluates the effectiveness of Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP), a bundled affirmative action program implemented after 1969 to uplift the Bumiputera community. I argue that the NEP’s “one-size-fits-all” approach masked substantial intra-group heterogeneity, producing unequal socioeconomic gains between the majority Malays and the marginalized Other Bumiputera (OB) groups. Using a differences-in-differences (DiD) framework with household and sibling fixed effects on Malaysian census data (1970–2000), I estimate the causal impact of NEP exposure on secondary education and intergenerational mobility (IM). Results show that treated Malay cohorts experienced large, statistically significant Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (ATT)—with gains in secondary school IM of 12.3–19.7% across cohorts—while OB cohorts exhibited attenuated or negative effects, continuing to lag behind. This divergence reflects differential exposure to structural and economic constraints: limited service delivery in remote OB areas and higher opportunity costs due to agrarian dependence reinforced through parental occupation. Overall, the findings highlight the limitations of assuming homogeneous beneficiaries in affirmative action, showing that the NEP inadvertently deepened existing structural inequalities within its target population. Please reach out for an updated copy!

Source: odessemania.in 

This study investigates the persistent link between caste identity and educational mobility in the context of historical and contemporary economic opportunity. Using Assam’s colonial tea plantation economy as a setting, the analysis explores how proximity to plantation systems shaped long-run disparities in education and wealth across caste groups. By combining historical spatial data with modern socioeconomic outcomes, this research aims to shed light on the enduring legacy of colonial economic structures on social mobility. The study is currently in its preliminary stage, with ongoing work focused on refining the empirical strategy and extending the analysis.