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Purpose This study aims to integrate both internal and external factors to examine the effect of innovation and perceived trade barriers on firms’ export activity. In particular, the authors expand the scope of innovation into both technological (product and process) and non-technological (marketing and management) innovation. Furthermore, the authors examine the potential joint effect of perceived customs and trade barriers on firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors empirically test the hypotheses by using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey during the most recent year available for each ASEAN country, together with both firm- and country-level controls from various data sources. Specifically, the final sample for analysis includes 3,602 firms from Cambodia (100), Indonesia (1157), Laos (99), Malaysia (445), the Philippines (719), Thailand (572) and Vietnam (510). Findings First, the results show that firm-specific innovation capabilities (including non-technological of managerial innovation) do matter for explaining export propensity. Furthermore, in contexts in which location-bound advantages are prevalent, the effects of innovation may disappear and further deteriorate performance in the post-entry stage. Second, the findings support the notion regarding the prevalence of country- over firm-specific advantages for the international expansion of companies from ASEAN countries. More specifically, this study holds that innovation does not matter for export intensity and that factors related to the location’s institutions appear to be more important. Originality/value First, it acknowledges and examines the effect of not only technological innovation, but also non-technological innovation on export intention. Second, the paper measures the institutional effect at the firm level, rather than as a country-specific factor, to better understand the combined effect of internal and external variables on firms’ export strategy. Furthermore, it performs a cross-country analysis while controlling for other confounding firm and macro factors. Third, the authors test the model on both pre-entry (export propensity) and post-entry (export intensity) stages. Finally, the study responds to calls for research that examines the international competitive advantages of firms from ASEAN countries.

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Developing countries host more than one third of international migrants. However, research on the labour market outcomes of low‐skilled international migrant workers in developing countries is limited. We examine the presence and sources of wage differentials across native and foreign low‐skilled workers in the palm oil plantation sector in Malaysia, which hosts a large population of foreign workers. We find that Indonesian foreign workers have a wage advantage over native and Indian workers. Decomposition results suggest that the wage differentials between Indonesian and native workers are largely explained by the higher productivity of Indonesian workers, employers' favouritism towards Indonesian workers, and discrimination towards native workers. Decomposition results also find that the wage differentials between Indonesian and Indian workers are mostly due to their differences in observed characteristics.

The study investigates the extent job rotation on the career development of Royal Malaysian Navy officers in a fixed wage setting model. It attempts to fill in the gap in literatures concerning the impact of job rotation in a non-conventional wage setting model. The present study is benefited from an actual data set of Royal Malaysian Navy officers that is obtained from Department of Human Resource, Royal Malaysian Navy in 2017. The data consists of 1,686 officers that are ranked from Lieutenant RMN (ZA18/44) to Captain RMN (ZA24/5)2. The analysis of an Ordinary Least Squares OLS regression showed that job rotation is positively associated with education level, training, and experience. The likelihood of job rotation increases if the nature of job is more flexible in terms of hours of work, skill, and content. Further, there is a significant effect of job rotation on wage. Specifically, a quantile regression indicates that the low rank positions such as Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander are benefited more from job rotation than a Captain in terms of wage premium. However, the small effect of job rotation in the fixed wage setting environment suggests a need to review the way job rotation is being implemented by Department of Human Resource, Royal Malaysian Navy. In this regard, work experience should be viewed as an important catalyst for enhancing the positive wage impact of job rotation, so much so that it outweighs the role played by educational attainment in the Malaysian navy sector.