World Bank2017-06-152017-06-152012-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/27228The Malaysian economy maintained a vigorous pace in the first nine months of 2012 despite external headwinds. Continuing a trend in the past two years, Malaysia's stronger-than-expected Gross Domestic Product, or GDP growth in the first nine months of 2012 was driven by rapid expansion of domestic demand while external demand (and export-oriented industries) stagnated due to continuing global uncertainty. Malaysia's low participation of women in labor markets is linked to a pattern whereby women do not return to work after marriage and childbearing. Education alone is not sufficient to close gender gaps as social norms and formal institutions continue to affect the choices of all women. In the long-term, norms need to evolve for gender gaps to be bridged; in the meantime measures can be put in place to help men and women balance responsibilities. Changing prevailing social norms takes time. In the medium-term, supportive measures at all stages of the life-cycle can be put in place, ranging from flexi-work arrangements and expanded childcare options, to incentives for more female participation in 'non-female' educational fields and job types. While current initiatives to leverage on women's talent are laudable, other policy options must be explored, evaluated, and tailored, to enable Malaysian women to fully contribute to Malaysia's transformation towards a high-income, inclusive and sustainable economy.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADVANCED ECONOMIESAGRICULTUREAGRICULTURE ORGANIZATIONANNUAL GROWTHBANK OFFICEBANKING SYSTEMBENCHMARKBENCHMARK INTEREST RATEBENCHMARKINGBILLSBOND MARKETSBONDSBORROWINGBORROWINGSBUFFERCAPITAL FLOWSCAPITAL GOODSCAPITAL GOODS IMPORTSCAPITAL INFLOWSCAPITAL MARKETSCAPITAL OUTFLOWSCENTRAL BANKCENTRAL BANKSCHAMBER OF COMMERCECOMMODITY PRICESCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTCOMPETITIVENESSCONSENSUS FORECASTCONSOLIDATIONCONSUMER CONFIDENCECONSUMER PRICE INDEXCONSUMER PRICE INFLATIONCONSUMPTION EXPENDITURECONSUMPTION GOODSCONSUMPTION GROWTHCORPORATE INCOME TAXESCORRUPTIONCPICREDIT CARDCREDIT CARDSCURRENCYCURRENCY DEPRECIATIONCURRENT ACCOUNTCURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCECURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICITSCURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUSDEBTDEBT CRISISDEBT SECURITIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISCRIMINATIONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMENDOMESTIC CREDITDOMESTIC DEMANDDOMESTIC ECONOMYDOMESTIC MARKETDRAG ON GROWTHDUTCH DISEASEEARLY EDUCATIONEARNINGSECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC MODELECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC OPPORTUNITYECONOMIC OUTCOMESECONOMIC OUTLOOKECONOMIC RESEARCHECONOMIC SECTORSECONOMIC STRUCTUREEDUCATION LEVELEFFECTIVE EXCHANGE RATEEMERGING ECONOMIESEMPLOYERSENROLLMENTENROLMENT RATESEQUITY MARKETEXCHANGE RATEEXCISE TAXESEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESEXPORT COMMODITIESEXPORT GROWTHEXPORTSEXTERNAL DEMANDEXTERNAL POSITIONEXTERNAL SHOCKFAMILIESFAMILY RESPONSIBILITIESFINANCESFINANCIAL ACCOUNTFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL PROVIDERFISCAL POLICYFIXED CAPITALFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICESFORECASTSFOREIGN ASSETSFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN EXCHANGEGDPGDP PER CAPITAGENDERGENDER BIASGENDER EQUALITYGENDER EQUITYGENDER GAPGENDER GAPSGLOBAL ECONOMYGOVERNMENT BONDGOVERNMENT FINANCEGOVERNMENT SECURITIESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATIONGROSS VALUEGROWTH PROJECTIONSGROWTH RATEHOLDINGSHOUSEHOLD DEBTHOUSEHOLDSHUMAN RESOURCESIMPORTIMPORT CONTENTIMPORTSINCOMEINCOME LEVELSINEFFICIENCYINFLATIONINFLATION DYNAMICSINFLATION RATESINFLATIONARY PRESSURESINITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGINTEREST RATESINTERMEDIATE GOODSINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL STATISTICSINTERNATIONAL RESERVESINVENTORIESINVENTORYINVESTMENT BOOMINVESTMENT CLIMATEIPOKEY CHALLENGEKEY CHALLENGESLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLEVERAGELIQUIDITYLIQUIDITY CONDITIONSLOANLOAN APPLICATIONSLOAN RECOVERIESLOANS TO BUSINESSESLOSS OF COMPETITIVENESSM3MACROECONOMICSMARRIED WOMENMINIMUM WAGEMONETARY CONDITIONSMONETARY EXPANSIONMONETARY FUNDMONETARY POLICIESMONETARY POLICYMONETARY TRANSACTIONSNET EXPORTSNOMINAL EXCHANGE RATEOILOIL PRICESOIL REVENUESOUTPUT GAPPEOPLESPERSONAL LOANSPOLICY MAKERSPORTFOLIOPORTFOLIO FLOWSPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRICE CONTROLSPRIVATE CONSUMPTIONPRIVATE INVESTMENTPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC INVESTMENTSPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSRAPID GROWTHRE-EXPORTSREAL EFFECTIVE EXCHANGE RATEREAL ESTATEREAL GDPREAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTREAL WAGE GROWTHRECEIPTSRECYCLINGREFUGEESREMUNERATIONRETURNSAVINGSSHORT-TERM EXTERNAL DEBTSLOWDOWNSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL WELFARESOVEREIGN DEBTSTOCK MARKETSTRUCTURAL REFORMSTRUCTURAL REFORMSSUPPLY-SIDESURPLUSTAXTOTAL EXPORTSTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE BALANCETRADING PARTNERTRADING PARTNERSUNCERTAINTYUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNIONURBAN AREASVALUE ADDEDVALUE INDEXWAGESWOMEN ENTREPRENEURSWORKING CAPITALWORLD ECONOMYWORLD TRADEReportWorld Bank10.1596/27228