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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u0423\u0414\u041a 338.001.36<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n DOI 10.24411\/2413-046\u0425-2020-10258<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u042d\u041a\u041e\u041d\u041e\u041c\u0418\u0427\u0415\u0421\u041a\u041e\u0415 \u041d\u0415\u0420\u0410\u0412\u0415\u041d\u0421\u0422\u0412\u041e \u0412 \u0421\u0418\u041d\u0413\u0410\u041f\u0423\u0420\u0415 \u0418 \u041c\u0410\u041b\u0410\u0419\u0417\u0418\u0418 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0410\u0431\u0440\u0435\u043a\u043e\u0432\n\u041c\u0430\u0433\u043e\u043c\u0435\u0434 \u041c\u0435\u043a\u0435\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447, <\/strong>\u0424\u0438\u043d\u0430\u043d\u0441\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0423\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0442 \u043f\u0440\u0438 \u041f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\n\u0420\u0424<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abrekov Magomed, <\/strong>Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, \u00a0<\/strong>09maga09@bk.ru<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0410\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0442\u0430\u0446\u0438\u044f. <\/strong>\u0412\n\u0434\u0430\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0439 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0441\u0441\u043c\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0434\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0432 \u0432 \u0434\u0432\u0443\u0445 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0430\u0445: \u0421\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0440\u0435 \u0438\n\u041c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0437\u0438\u0438. \u0421\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044f \u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0438\u0435 \u044d\u0442\u0438\u0445 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d \u0441\u0438\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e \u043e\u0442\u043b\u0438\u0447\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f, \u0438 \u043d\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\n\u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043e\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043c \u0438\u0437 \u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0435\u0432\u044b\u0445 \u0444\u0430\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u043c\u043e\u0433\u0443\u0442 \u0431\u044b\u0442\u044c \u0438\u0441\u043f\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0437\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u044b \u0432 \u043a\u0430\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\n\u0438\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0443\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0430 \u0438\u0437\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0442\u0435\u043a\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0439 \u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0441\u0438\u0442\u0443\u0430\u0446\u0438\u0438 \u0432 \u043a\u0430\u0436\u0434\u043e\u0439 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0435. \u0425\u043e\u0442\u044f\n\u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0421\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0440\u0430 \u0437\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0435\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0435 50 \u043b\u0435\u0442 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u0447\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e \u0443\u043b\u0443\u0447\u0448\u0438\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c, \u041c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0437\u0438\u044f\n\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0432 \u0441\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0443\u0441\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0438\u0432\u0430\u044e\u0449\u0435\u0439\u0441\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u044b. \u042d\u0442\u043e \u0438\u0441\u0441\u043b\u0435\u0434\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u043a\u0430\u0437\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0435\u0442, \u0447\u0442\u043e\n\u043d\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0432 \u0446\u0435\u043b\u043e\u043c \u0438 \u043d\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0434\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0432 \u0432 \u0447\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438 \u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u044e\u0442\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0430\u0438\u0431\u043e\u043b\u0435\u0435 \u0432\u0430\u0436\u043d\u044b\u043c\u0438\n\u0444\u0430\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0430\u043c\u0438 \u0441 \u0442\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0438 \u0437\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f \u043e\u0446\u0435\u043d\u043a\u0438 \u0440\u0435\u0437\u0443\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0430\u0442\u043e\u0432 \u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u044d\u0442\u0438\u0445 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d,\n\u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0430\u044f \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0435\u043b\u0430 \u043a \u0438\u0445 \u0441\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044f\u0448\u043d\u0438\u043c \u043f\u043e\u0437\u0438\u0446\u0438\u044f\u043c \u0432 \u043c\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0439 \u044d\u043a\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043a\u0435. \u041a\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0435 \u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, \u0432\n\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c\u0435 \u0430\u043d\u0430\u043b\u0438\u0437\u0438\u0440\u0443\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0432\u043b\u0438\u044f\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043d\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u0431\u0443\u0434\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0435 \u0440\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0438\u0435 \u0421\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0440\u0430 \u0438\n\u041c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0437\u0438\u0438.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summary. <\/strong>This\npaper takes a look on income inequality in two countries: Singapore and\nMalaysia. Today the economic development of these countries differs a lot and\nthe inequality is the one of the key factors that can be used as a measurement\ntool of the current economic situation in each country. While Singapore\u2019s\neconomy tremendously improved in the past 50 years, Malaysia remained in the\nstatus of developing country. This research suggests that inequality in general\nand income inequality in particular are the most important factors in terms of\nevaluating the results of economic policies of these countries, which led to\ntheir today\u2019s positions in the world economy. Moreover, the paper analysis the\nimpact of inequality on future development of Singapore and Malaysia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u041a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0435\u0432\u044b\u0435 \u0441\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0430: <\/strong>\u0421\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0440,\n\u041c\u0430\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0437\u0438\u044f, \u043a\u043e\u044d\u0444\u0444\u0438\u0446\u0438\u0435\u043d\u0442 \u0414\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0438, \u043a\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0430\u044f \u041b\u043e\u0440\u0435\u043d\u0446\u0430, \u0431\u0435\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c, \u0440\u0430\u0441\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u0434\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0430.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keywords: <\/strong>Singapore, Malaysia, Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve,\npoverty, income distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Inequality is one of the major problems nowadays.\nPoverty, crime, social unrest and even suicide rates are significant factors\nbehind the inequality. In addition, there are widely accepted ethical bases for\nbeing concerned that there are a high degree of inequality between individuals,\nwhich also damages the social life of any country. Besides the obvious\nconsequences for society, inequality also has a great impact on economic growth (McKay, 2002). There is increased\nevidence that countries with high levels of inequality achieve lower economic\ngrowth rates on average. Same time, many governments still do not approach this\nissue efficiently. There are many policies on the reduction of poverty,\nhowever, inequality requires more attention in professional discussions. This\npaper compares approaches of Singapore and Malaysia to the problem of\ninequality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Singapore and Malaysia were chosen for the research\ndue to their comparability. First of all, both of these countries previously\nwere British colonies. In the year 1963 Malaysia got the independence from\nBritish Empire and at that date Singapore was a part of Malaysia, however, in\n1965 Singapore separated into a different country. Secondly, as long as these\ncountries are neighbours, they share similar traditions and mentality.\nMoreover, they belong to one climate zone, which makes the comparison even more\naccurate. The only two differences arise from territory and population, because\nSingapore is a city state, while Malaysia is one of the largest countries in\nthe region. Same time, the latter in theory should benefit to Malaysia due to\nmore opportunities for infrastructure and hence more opportunities for economic\ndevelopment. However, in reality Singapore distributed the limited resources\nbetter. Thus, this research considers that the comparison between Singapore and\nMalaysia is accurate enough to have a scientific significance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Data collection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The main base of comparison between Singapore and\nMalaysia is the income distribution. First of all, it is a quantitative term\nthat can be easily measured via statistical and mathematics tools. Secondly, it\ngives general understanding income distribution problems in the particular\nsociety (Charles-Coll, 2011). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The study divides population of each country into 5\ngroups according to their social class. The income groups for both Singapore\nand Malaysia are as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the analysis of composition of countries\u2019 societies and division them into the 5 groups mentioned above the following data was obtained.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n All data for Singapore income distributions was taken\nfrom paper by Singapore Department of Statistics (Singapore Department\n of Statistics, 2018).\nThe data is updated as of 2018. Data for Malaysian income groups was collected\nfrom website of Department of Statistics Malaysia (Department of\n Statistics Malaysia , 2017). The updated information for 2018 was\nnot presented by Department of Statistics, the last available data is for 2016.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After the data collection the main study may be\nconducted. First of all, the Lorenz curve is derived from the above data sets. Lorenz\nproposed Lorenz curve in 1905 and nowadays it is one of the main tools that\nrepresents income distributions. Lorenz curve demonstrates which proportion of\ntotal income is in the hands of a given percentage of population (Bellu &\n Liberati, 2005).\nWe demonstrated the income inequality in the current research with the help of\nmentioned earlier tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next step after analysis of income inequality is\ncalculation of Gini Index. In inequality\nmeasurement Gini index is another one and more descriptive tool than Lorenz\nCurve. Just like the latter one, Gini Coefficient is mostly used for measuring\nthe inequality among values of a frequency distribution (Bellu & Liberati, 2006). This tool provides\nmore detailed point of view on income inequality problems in the chosen\ncountries. With Gini Index the research also takes a look at Atkinson Index,\nwhich is a welfare-based measure of inequality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After analysis of income inequality the research is\nable to focus on poverty rates in Singapore and Malaysia. Undoubtedly, this is\none of the most important issues that arise from inequality. According to Bellu\nand Liberati, poverty can be defined as the lack of, or the inability to\nachieve, a socially acceptable standard of living (Bellu & Liberati,\n 2005).\nIn this research both relative and absolute concepts of poverty are taken into\naccount. On the one hand, there is a need in determination of poverty line (in\nthis case all people with income below that poverty line are considered to be\npoor), which is provided by relative concept. On the other hand, the research\nanalyses qualitative and descriptive data such as minimum income required for\nliving or food security and in that case absolute concept of poverty suits for\nthe study better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As it was mentioned above, food security is another\nfactor of inequality that is analysed by this research. By food security a\nmeasure of the availability of food and individuals\u2019 ability to access it is\nmeant. The main tool for estimating this parameter is calorie intake per person\nper day, available on a household budget (Webb, et al., 2006). However, the food\nsecurity is rather descriptive measure, which sometimes is calculated on the\nbasis of surveys. In this research the food security in Singapore and Malaysia\nis compared through different indicators besides the availability of food.\nFirst of all, the own production of food is considered as a part of this\nproblem. Secondly, the quality of food suppliers is also important regarding\nthe issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The last but the least is social welfare. This term\nrelates to the types of government support for the citizens of its society (Choon,\n 2010).\nIn other words, this part compares social services provided by states of the\ncountries. This includes medical care, unemployment insurance for workers, free\neducation programs, subsidized public housing and pensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After such complex analysis the research is able to\ndraw a conclusion on the inequality situation in Singapore and Malaysia and\nevaluate future prospects of these countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, the research takes a look at the Lorenz\nCurve for Singapore and Malaysia. Figure 1 below represents the graph for\nLorenz Curve based on the information about income groups in the countries. As\nit can be seen from the table, the shape of Lorenz Curve for Malaysia has\ngreater bend, which means that incomes are more dispersed in Malaysia than in\nSingapore. On the contrary, Lorenz Curve for Singapore tends to\nequidistribution line meaning that there is a little variability among incomes\nin Singapore. In other words, the results of Lorenz Curve observation suggest\nthat the degree of inequality is lower in Singapore compared to Malaysia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gini Index was calculated with the following formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n where Cov is the covariance between income levels y and the cumulative distribution of\u00a0 the same income F(y) <\/em>and \u0233 <\/em>is average income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With that formula given, Gini Index for Singapore was\ncalculated at the level of 0.129, whereas Gini Index for Malaysia amounted to\n0.509. Gini coefficient values range from 0 to 1, where 0 is an expression of\nperfect equality, while 1 shows the maximum inequality degree. Thus, the\nresults of this research are in line with the results of Lorenz Curve for the\ncountries. The average Gini Index in the world amounted to 0.61 as of 2015 (Hellebrandt,\n et al., 2015).\nGini Index for USA accounted to 0.41, in Russia it was 0.38, in Germany \u2013 0.33.\nGini Index for countries of the same region were as follows: Indonesia scored\n0.38, Thailand \u2013 0.37, Philippines \u2013 0.40 (The World Bank Group,\n 2019).\nAs it can be seen from this data, Gini Index for Malaysia is a bit higher than\nthe average results of countries in ASEAN region, however, it is still in line\nwith overall trends. Same time, Gini Index for Singapore is significantly lower\nthan other results, which indicates, that there is almost no inequalty degree\nin the country. Atkinson Index is calculated at 0.89 for Singapore and at 0.84\nfor Malaysia that are rather high values of this parameter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The poverty rates of two countries are somewhat\nincomparable due to absence of such statistics for Singapore. Thus, Malaysian absolute\npoverty rate is at 0.4% as of 2019 (Lim, 2019). In Singapore there\nis no minimal wage and poverty line. Thanks to large programs of social welfare\nSingapore relative poverty rate is believed to be near 0.00%. Same time, some\nstudies estimate absolute poverty rate in Singapore around 12%, however, this\nis unofficial data (Zhen, 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of food security Singapore has vulnerable\npositions as long as it imports 90% of total consumption, while its own\nproduction requires heavy technology involvement (Lee, 2019). Both of these\nfactors lead to increase in prices for basic products in the consumer basket,\nhowever, it is somewhat compensated by high salaries. In addition, the quality\nof imported goods is rather high as long as it needs to meet all the\nrequirements of Singapore. Malaysia has similar problems: its own production\ndoes not meet the accelerated growth of demand for food. Hence, the country\nalso heavily relies on import which accounts to more than 50% of total\nconsumption (Noordin, 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Social welfare in Singapore is called as an invisible\nwelfare: state subsidises housing, education, healthcare, however, citizens may\nbe not aware of that due to such government policy (Chan, 2018). Such structure benefits\nmore to middle class, while poor people may be left without any help. Malaysian\npolicy, on the contrary, is focused on the people in need (Chu, 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The research shows the difference in inequality degree\nin Singapore and Malaysia. The first one predictably has much lower degree of\ninequality being one of the most wealthy and safe countries all over the world.\nMalaysia\u2019s results are worse, however, they are still better than average. These\ndifferences are explained by strategies of policymakers that were implemented\nin past few decades. In Singapore they resulted in top positions in the world,\nwhile Malaysia remained in status of developing country. Nowadays the high\ndegree of inequality may limit the economic growth of Malaysia. On the positive\nside, the latest statistics indicate the decrease of the Gini Index and\ndynamics of other parameters for Malaysia also appear to have upward trend.\nSingapore have more stable and favourable situation compared to Malaysia,\nhowever, it does not mean that there is nothing to improve. First of all, food\nsecurity is major reason for concern in Singapore, social welfare policies may\nwork better as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/qje.su\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Bezymyannyj-227.png\")
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