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Cyclical or structural? Evidence on the sources of Malaysia's unemployment during a public health crisis

Kuang Yong Ng et al.

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences2026https://doi.org/10.1108/jeas-09-2024-0377article
AJG 1
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Purpose This study aims to examine and compare the cyclical and structural factors influencing unemployment in Malaysia before and during the coronavirus disease pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Using monthly time-series data from January 2016 to December 2022, this study employs gross domestic product (GDP) growth and interest rates as cyclical indicators, while job vacancy (JV) and long-term unemployment (LUE) represent structural factors. The autoregressive distributed lag model is applied to distinguish short-term and long-term effects. Findings The results reveal that the cyclical factor from GDP growth significantly reduces unemployment both before and during the pandemic. Structural factors, particularly JV and LUE, played a significant role in influencing unemployment during the pandemic but were not significant in the pre-pandemic period. This underscores the significant role of structural factors in shaping labour market dynamics during a global health crisis. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical insights into the distinct roles of cyclical and structural factors in unemployment, particularly during a global health crisis.

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Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/jeas-09-2024-0377

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{kuang2026,
  title        = {{Cyclical or structural? Evidence on the sources of Malaysia's unemployment during a public health crisis}},
  author       = {Kuang Yong Ng et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/jeas-09-2024-0377},
}

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Cyclical or structural? Evidence on the sources of Malaysia's unemployment during a public health crisis

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.