• Energy Research

This study investigated the effect of economic vulnerability upon competitive advantages, performance, and sustainability of micro-enterprises owned and managed by micro-entrepreneurs who participate in varied development initiatives in Peninsular Malaysia. Upon adopting the cross-sectional design, data were randomly collected from selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the eKasih program (national poverty data bank) located in four states of Peninsular Malaysia. The quantitative data were collected by conducting structured interview sessions with the respondents held from September until November 2017. The findings revealed that the state of economic vulnerability among the respondents had a significantly negative effect on the aspects of competitive advantages, performance, and sustainability among micro-enterprises in Peninsular Malaysia. Despite of the widely acknowledged and empirically examined effects of socioeconomic antecedents upon micro-enterprise performance, the focus on the effect of a more comprehensive measure of socioeconomic condition, that is, economic vulnerability, among low-income households appears to be scant. Hence, the outcomes of this study are able to provide critical insights for development organizations pertaining to development programs and their effectiveness on economically vulnerable, particularly among low-income households in Peninsular Malaysia.

The purpose of the study is to predict the intention and behavior towards environmentally friendly businesses (EFB) among low-income families in rural Peninsular Malaysia within the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Data were collected from 420 low-income household heads through structured interviews. The results reveal a significant impact of environmental concern (EC) and eco-literacy (EL) on the attitude towards the environment (ATE); normative belief (NB) and motivation (MO) on subjective norms (SUN); and skills and knowledge (SK) on perceived behavioral control (PBC). Additionally, there was a positive and statistically significant effect of ATE, SUN, and PBC on the intention towards environmentally friendly business (ITEFB) and the ITEFB on environmentally friendly business adoption behavior (EFBAB). This study provides empirical evidence with a proposed research model to address the environmental issues through improving the socioeconomic condition of low-earner families. The Malaysian government and relevant agencies should focus on improving EL, EC, MO towards EFB, and the SK regarding EFB among the low-income households.