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Household Decision-Making and Expenditure Patterns of Married Men and Women in Malaysia

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Abstract

This study tests two opposing models of household behavior, the income pooling hypothesis and the bargaining model, by examining the final decision-making and expenditure patterns of married men and women in Malaysia. The data used is from the responses of 1,778 married persons obtained from a survey of employed Malaysians. The results show that women are often the final decision-makers on everyday household expenditures while men make the final decisions on large household expenditures, but both men and women practice autonomy in decisions related to financial investments. In spending, variations are observed between men and women in their level and proportion of expenditure of certain categories of goods and services. Relative earning share is a significant factor in decision making as well as consumption expenditure. These results tend to support the bargaining model of household decision-making.

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Notes

  1. Labor force participation rates for women are 46.8, 47.2 and 45.7%, respectively for 2001, 2004 and 2008 (Malaysia Department of Statistics 2009).

  2. Egalitarianism is a value system emphasizing equality in marital relations (Bott 1957).

  3. For each region, the state was chosen based on which one best represent the region. While some states that were chosen have higher proportions of certain ethnic groups compared to the national average, others would be otherwise. For example, Kedah and Kelantan would have higher percentages of Malays, while Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have higher percentages of Chinese, relative to the national average. Thus, the three main ethnic groups should be appropriately represented, at least, theoretically. (http://www.epu.gov.my/populationandlabourforce).

  4. http://www.yellowpages.com.my.

  5. We rely more on the Yellow Pages for the selection since the information of the companies listed are more current. Information on companies listed in Times Business Directory is somewhat outdated.

  6. The sampling procedure was constructed in such a way that the ethnic groups would be proportionately represented (see footnote 3). The actual sample (of married and unmarried respondents) obtained did not reflect that due to the lack of willingness by some, perhaps more among the non-Malays, to participate in the survey, and the non-disclosure of information on ethnicity by some other respondents. The population estimates for 2007 are 66.7% Malays, 24.9% Chinese, 7.5% Indians and 1.2% others (Malaysia Department of Statistics 2008).

  7. Respondents were asked how much they themselves (not the household) spent per month on various categories of consumption goods and services.

  8. The exchange rate for 2007 was 3.4379 ringgit per US dollar (Malaysia Department of Statistics 2008).

  9. Expenditure on house/home includes home maintenance and repairs, house rental, if any, utilities, and furniture and furnishings.

  10. Based on z-tests on proportion, and differences in proportions.

  11. The logarithm of level of spending plus one (since spending is zero for some respondents) is used in the analysis.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based on a bigger project entitled, “Expenditure and Investment Patterns of Malaysians,” funded by Yayasan Tun Mohamed Ismail Ali Berdaftar, Permodalan Nasional Berhad. We gratefully acknowledge their support and cooperation. We would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Selamah Abdullah Yusof & Jarita Duasa

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  1. Selamah Abdullah Yusof
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  2. Jarita Duasa
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Correspondence to Selamah Abdullah Yusof.

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Abdullah Yusof, S., Duasa, J. Household Decision-Making and Expenditure Patterns of Married Men and Women in Malaysia. J Fam Econ Iss 31, 371–381 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-010-9200-9

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