While Malaysian income statistics are considered to be reliable, the biggest problem arises from the fact that detailed data on income, especially distribution of income, are classified as sulit (government secrets) and not accessible to researchers. The only income statistics available are those which have been published in the five-year plan documents and their mid-term review plans. But these have appeared only in a summary form and the information available in recent documents is very limited indeed. Hence, researchers on income distribution see little of what is available. It need to be mentioned also that the data excludes income which does not accrue to households, the most important being the retained earnings of companies which are not distributed. In Malaysia, the amount of undistributed profits is substantial and if these incomes are distributed it probably will accrue to the high income households and this will make a difference to the measures of overall inequality.
Other Gaps in Income Distribution Study in Malaysia
Efforts to identify income determinants and sources of inequality in Malaysia is also hampered by lack of data on:
(｡) the most important mechanism of reproduction of social inequality in society, i.e., ownership pattern of productive assets such as land and financial assets. Thus, further studies should be made of wealth distribution in Malaysia.
(｢) detailed information on both the labour market conditions and the output of educational system in the country. It has been argued that shifts in demand for labour in several developing countries - in response to increased competition from new entrants to the global markets (especially China and India which have huge reservoirs of cheap unskilled labour) - increases income inequality. It is further argued that technological change in developing countries favours skilled workers, thus worsening income disparities.
