Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah

This article used decomposition of Gini coefficient to examine the impact of different sources of income - farm income, nonfarm income and non employment income on income inequality. This study used primary data, collected among agricultural households in Kedah Darul Aman. About 384 respondents are...

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Main Authors: Che Mat, Siti Hadijah, Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah, Harun, Mukaramah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: World Business Institute 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/16680/1/1.%20Siti.pdf
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author Che Mat, Siti Hadijah
Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah
Harun, Mukaramah
author_facet Che Mat, Siti Hadijah
Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah
Harun, Mukaramah
author_sort Che Mat, Siti Hadijah
collection UUM
description This article used decomposition of Gini coefficient to examine the impact of different sources of income - farm income, nonfarm income and non employment income on income inequality. This study used primary data, collected among agricultural households in Kedah Darul Aman. About 384 respondents are chosen based on two stage stratified random sampling and quota. The findings of this study show that nonfarm income sources contributed about one-third of the total agricultural household income.Furthermore, decomposition of the Gini coefficient uncovers that nonfarm income sources is an income dis-equalising factor or has a positive impact on income inequality.In this study, a one percent marginal increase in nonfarm income will cause the Gini coefficient of overall income to increase by 3.85 percent. The reason for this difference has to do with land, which is distributed very unevenly.The policy implication of this study is, nonfarm income activities should be encouraged among agricultural households as this would raise their income and hence, reduce poverty among them. However, it should be focused on value-added activities, especially on the lower income group to improve the income inequality.
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spelling uum-166802016-04-20T01:29:43Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/16680/ Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah Che Mat, Siti Hadijah Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah Harun, Mukaramah HC Economic History and Conditions This article used decomposition of Gini coefficient to examine the impact of different sources of income - farm income, nonfarm income and non employment income on income inequality. This study used primary data, collected among agricultural households in Kedah Darul Aman. About 384 respondents are chosen based on two stage stratified random sampling and quota. The findings of this study show that nonfarm income sources contributed about one-third of the total agricultural household income.Furthermore, decomposition of the Gini coefficient uncovers that nonfarm income sources is an income dis-equalising factor or has a positive impact on income inequality.In this study, a one percent marginal increase in nonfarm income will cause the Gini coefficient of overall income to increase by 3.85 percent. The reason for this difference has to do with land, which is distributed very unevenly.The policy implication of this study is, nonfarm income activities should be encouraged among agricultural households as this would raise their income and hence, reduce poverty among them. However, it should be focused on value-added activities, especially on the lower income group to improve the income inequality. World Business Institute 2012-03 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/16680/1/1.%20Siti.pdf Che Mat, Siti Hadijah and Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah and Harun, Mukaramah (2012) Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah. International Review of Business Research Papers, 8 (2). pp. 1-11. ISSN 1837-5685 http://www.irbrp.com/previous_issue/March/2012
spellingShingle HC Economic History and Conditions
Che Mat, Siti Hadijah
Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah
Harun, Mukaramah
Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah
title Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah
title_full Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah
title_fullStr Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah
title_full_unstemmed Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah
title_short Nonfarm income and income inequality in rural Kedah
title_sort nonfarm income and income inequality in rural kedah
topic HC Economic History and Conditions
url https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/16680/1/1.%20Siti.pdf
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AT abduljalilahmadzafarullah nonfarmincomeandincomeinequalityinruralkedah
AT harunmukaramah nonfarmincomeandincomeinequalityinruralkedah