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This book examines the determinants of the labor demand in the manufacturing sector of Malaysian and Singapore. Two different dynamic models, linear and non-linear, are considered. According to the empirical results in the linear model, overall the speeds of labor adjustment in the Malaysian industries are higher than those in Singapore. The non-linear model indicates the firing costs are greater than hiring costs in the Malaysian industries. In the case of Singapore, however the relative sizes of the hiring costs and firing costs are not as consistent as in Malaysian industries.

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Chua Lai Pooh is a lecturer at the Department of Business Studies at the New Era College, Malaysia. He received his bachelor´s degree from the National Taiwan University, and his master from National University of Singapore.

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