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The development of family-based microenterprises has attracted the attention of regulators, microfinance institutions and other stakeholders in either developing or least developed countries. In the finance literature, several studies have examined the determinants of the family-based microenterprises development; however, there are several venues that need to be examined. The study aims to explain the economic profit of microenterprises from resource-based theory and human capital perspectives.

Based on critical review and theoretical grounding, this study proposes a conceptual framework, which bridges intangible resources with economic growth of microenterprises.

After reviewing previous studies and based on the underpinning theoretical framework, the study finds that human capital is one of the variables that has received a little attention and yet to be examined as a moderating role. Based on the human capital theorist, individual's competencies help enterprises to perform better in business, as enterprises that possess competencies and capabilities are more likely to have higher levels of growth and profitability.

This finding provides useful implications for the stakeholders and policymakers and contributes in the future literature.

Based on critical review and theoretical grounding, this study proposes a conceptual framework, which bridges intangible resources with economic growth of microenterprises.

This paper aims to discuss the mediating effects of innovation on the relationship between knowledge management and firm competitiveness.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from small construction firms in the Eastern Region of Peninsular Malaysia. Out of the 190 construction firms surveyed, 153 (80.5%) respondents returned their completed questionnaire. These were used for data analysis. The data were then analyzed using the covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM).

Knowledge management had a direct and significant positive effect on firm competitiveness. Nonetheless, the effect of knowledge management on firm competitiveness was mediated by innovation. This indicates that knowledge management should be supported by technical and administrative innovations in the firm.

The data collected were from a limited sample of construction firms. In addition, conducting a study on a region of Malaysia may limit the generalizability of the model.

While knowledge management is crucial for a firm’s competitiveness, technical and administrative innovations must be concurrently improved for a stronger firm competitiveness. This is especially true in terms of financial strength and core competence.

This paper provides some empirical evidence that technical and administrative innovations fully mediated the relationship between knowledge management and firm competitiveness. The results consolidate the resource-based view on the importance of internal resource and capability of the firm and improve KM research area. It also strengthens the view that KM is a critical factor for firm competitiveness, but a good KM without strong innovation will not increase the competitiveness of small construction firms.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the importance of innovation for the performance of small firms in the construction sector. Furthermore, this paper also examines the influence of several factors related to entrepreneurial capital (entrepreneurial value, business strategy, experience and training) on small firm performance in the sector.

This study uses primary data of 255 small firms in the construction sector under the category of small contractors (G1). Stratified sampling method was utilized for data collection, which is then analyzed using the descriptive and multiple regression analysis to achieve the objectives of the study.

The findings showed that the factor of innovation and several factors related to entrepreneurial capital (entrepreneurial value, business strategy and business experience) have a significant positive relationship with the performance of small firms in the construction sector. However, factor of training indicated a significant negative correlation with small firm performance.

Although this study found a significant impact in explaining the factors that affect performance, particularly in the construction sector, it only takes into account only some internal factors (entrepreneurial capital and innovation). Proposed future research should consider a variety of other factors mainly related to external factors, such as economic development, growth potential, industry structure, internal social capital and government policy.

This study provides clear implications related to the theory and contributions to the literature related to research in the construction sector. The study also provides invaluable insightfulness to various stakeholders including policy makers, institutional support and small contractors about the importance of innovation and entrepreneurial capital in determining the performance of small firms in the sector.

The results provide supportive evidence that entrepreneurial values and business strategy are important internal factors in determining the performance of a firm, which is consistent with the theory of resource-based view. Experience and training factors, as indicators of firm performance, are articulated in the theory of human capital. Hence, the findings not only can strengthen both the theories but also make a significant contribution to the literature of the study, particularly in the construction sector.

This paper aims to study the effect of knowledge management in formulating competitive strategies for knowledge-based small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia.

A quantitative approach of a survey was carried out on 135 owners and managers of knowledge-based SMEs in Malaysia. Structural equation modeling technique was used to investigate the relationship between knowledge management and competitive strategies. SmartPLS software is used to analyze the quantitative data. Only SMEs which are involved in R&D and innovation were selected to get the right respondents who meet the objective of the study.

The findings show mixed results. Most dimensions of knowledge management have significant relationships to differentiation strategy except for knowledge creation and knowledge acquisition, with only knowledge acquisition showing a significant relationship to cost leadership. Findings reveal that knowledge management has a positive effect on competitive strategies with more inclination toward differentiation strategy, compared to cost leadership strategy which does synchronize with their commitment in research and development and innovation.

This study is only focused on knowledge-based SMEs in central Malaysia. Second, the use of a survey approach minimized the flow of information.

SMEs do have knowledge management practices but may not be exploiting it well. Mapping knowledge management practices would help SMEs identify their strengths and weaknesses to explore better business opportunities. This proves that SMEs are leveraging their resources through knowledge application, dissemination, storage and protection to be different than their competitors. However, their apparent lack of knowledge in knowledge acquisition and knowledge creation should be addressed accordingly, as it is important for their future continuous sustainability.

This paper contributes to the literature of knowledge management relating to competitive strategies in SMEs. The study offers insights on how competitive strategies were formulated through knowledge management. The mixed results reveal a new different outlook of knowledge management relating to competitive strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the structure of household income and examine the effects of non-farm incomes on the income distribution of farm households in a relatively developed rural area of the Malaysian rice bowl.

The non-farm incomes were disaggregated into different components to determine the contribution of each income source to total household income and overall inequality. The income distribution and decomposition was examined using the Gini decomposition method.

It was found that almost 71 percent of the households in the sample had at least one source of non-farm income. On average, non-farm incomes contributed about 33 percent to total household income. Non-farm wage employment was the dominant source of non-farm income, accounting for almost 26 percent of overall household income. The farm incomes, especially the paddy incomes were found to be the inequality-decreasing income source. The study also confirmed the proposition that the non-farm incomes were the inequality-increasing income source as they contributed up to 35 percent of the overall income inequality.

Previous studies have found that non-farm incomes have different effects on income inequality of rural communities, especially those in the rice granary areas situated in less developed states of Malaysia, where poverty is still a problem. This study is significant because it identifies the effect of certain incomes on the overall income inequality among farm households in the granary areas located in a relatively developed rural area. The studied areas are characterized by an intensive paddy production and a rapid development in business and industrial activities, and hence, providing non-farm employment opportunities to the rural farmers. Therefore, this study shows the income structure and how farm and non-farm incomes affect the overall income distribution of the paddy farmers.

This paper aims to evaluate the microcredit position in the performance of micro and small enterprises (MSEs). In the case of Malaysian MSEs, the paper also aims to examine other relevant factors, especially entrepreneur‐specific factors, which may be equally important for improving firm performance.

Primary data were collected from 756 MSE samples in Kelantan, the state where a large majority of the microcredit recipients under AIM and TEKUN run their business. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data.

Microcredit is positively and significantly related to the performance of MSEs across all the microcredit programs under investigation. Other entrepreneur‐specific factors, especially entrepreneurial values and management practices are equally significant for enhancing firm performance.

This study reminds policy makers, support institutions and small entrepreneurs that the microcredit program alone is not enough for improving the performance of MSEs. Besides microcredit, entrepreneur‐specific factors are equally important for firm performance. Thus, readjustment to the existing microcredit programs, especially on entrepreneurial and managerial developments, should be made so that entrepreneurial values and management competencies of the entrepreneurs could be enhanced from time to time for superior performance of MSEs.

This paper proves that microcredit is important for firm performance. It also reminds theorists and practitioners that entrepreneur‐specific factors should not be neglected in their theoretical or practical consideration of micro and small firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the socio-economic condition of low-income households in Malaysia, many products and services are available, including access to working capital and enterprise development training programs. This study examined the impact of access to working capital and micro-enterprise development training programs on household income and economic vulnerability among participants of development initiatives in the eKasih (national poverty data bank) in Peninsular Malaysia.

Adopting a cross-sectional design, the authors collected data randomly from the selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the list of development organizations available in the eKasih (national poverty data bank) located in four states of Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews with the respondents from October to November 2017.

Both the length of participation and total amount of economic loan were found to increase the household income. However, there was no positive and significant impact of total number of training hours on household income. Interestingly, length of participation was found to reduce the level of economic vulnerability, except total amount of economic loan, and total number of training hours.

Despite the overwhelming empirical evidence, the findings indicated that the impact of enterprise development training programs was inconclusive. The effect of total amount of loan on economic vulnerability was also inconclusive. Hence, both policy makers and development organizations should understand how their programs benefit the poor households that can be improved through new implementation strategies.

Previous studies on the effect of entrepreneur education are not comprehensive. Thus, estimating the effect of entrepreneur education is imperative. According to the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MoE), only 1.7 percent (as of 2013) of university graduates are self-employed, that is managing one’s own business or known as graduate entrepreneurs. Consequently, a huge gap exists between what is targeted by the government (5.5 percent by 2015) and the reality (a small number of graduate entrepreneurs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing a graduate’s choice to be entrepreneur, particularly the effects of different entrepreneur education, either formal or informal.

A total of 2,300 graduates from Universiti Utara Malaysia participated in this study.

The findings showed that the majority of the respondents are consistent in terms of their intent to become entrepreneurs.

Due to time and resource constraints, the data are limited to only one university in Malaysia. It is suggested that future studies include more universities, especially entrepreneurial universities. Although it is believe that public universities’ undergraduates population are highly homogeneous, it is good that the findings of the present study to be further validated by future studies using larger sample that consists of varies of public universities.

This paper supports government policies in terms of cultivating educated entrepreneur such as promoting the entrepreneurship education among higher institutions of education (MoE, 2007). However, there are negative relationships among higher academic achievement of graduates toward their intention to be entrepreneurs. It is indicated that high academic achievements are negatively related to becoming entrepreneurs. Thus, it is suggested that entrepreneurship education in terms of both formal and informal education be implemented into the curriculum in order to cultivate entrepreneurial intentions.

There is still much more to be learned to fully understand the processes that leading to the decision to become an entrepreneur. Nevertheless, the results presented in this paper provide some understanding of the factors influencing the decision to become an entrepreneur among university students and graduates using a convenience sample. Thus, the results are exploratory and subjected to validation by future studies using more representative samples. Nevertheless, the study makes a contribution to the effort to predict and develop entrepreneurs in the country.

Low-income households form a significant portion of the Malaysian population. To improve the socio-economic condition of low-income households, development organizations in Malaysia offer a wide range of development trainings, discussions and group or center meetings. This study aims to examine the impact of enterprise development training programs on entrepreneurial competencies among Peninsular Malaysia microentrepreneurs.

Adopting a cross-sectional design, the authors collected data from 300 randomly selected microentrepreneurs from the list of microentrepreneurs provided by eKasih (the National Poverty Data Bank), across four states of Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews with the respondents from October to November 2017.

The findings revealed that enterprise development training programs significantly affected three of six entrepreneurial competencies (i.e. opportunity recognition competency, organizing competency and relationship competency). These findings highlight the importance of enterprise development training programs towards microentrepreneurs in increasing their competencies.

Through its insights, the study enriches the understanding of low-income communities in emerging economies, while offering significant practical implications. Based on findings, it is recommended that development organizations should therefore continue the current microenterprise development training programs. With improved entrepreneurial competencies, microentrepreneurs can thrive amidst competition yet sustaining business performance.

The purpose of this paper is to address the small, women micro-entrepreneur dominated and heterogeneity limitations of the Atmadja et al. (2016) study. The sample is much larger, includes more men and is more heterogeneous, which allows deeper insights and more meaningful explanation of the relationship between microfinance and microenterprise performance in the case of Indonesia, including the effects of gender, lending scheme and money separation.

This study used a survey of 556 respondents across five microcredit providers in the city of Surabaya using an updated instrument. Ordered probit is used to analyse data.

Microfinance may not matter for microenterprise performance in the case of Indonesia. Additionally, microcredit schemes (individual vs group) and gender may also not matter for performance, but money separation might have some influence.

Non-financial factors such as human capital, spousal involvement, and money separation should be considered as important factors for improving microenterprise business performance in Indonesia, with less focus on microcredit per se.

This study provides further evidence that microfinance may not matter for microenterprise performance in the case of Indonesia, a populous middle income country with a very long history of microfinance.