Observations of Participation in Development Initiatives on Enterprise Income and Asset in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract This study examined the impact of access to working capital and microenterprise development training programmes on microenterprise income and assets among participants from various development initiatives in the eKasih (National Poverty Data Bank) in Peninsular Malaysia. Adopting a cross-sectional design, we collected data from randomly selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the list of development organizations available in the eKasih (National Poverty Data Bank), located in four states in Peninsular Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews from October to November 2017. Findings revealed that the ‘length of participation in development programs’ increased microenterprise income and assets among low-income participants in Peninsular Malaysia. The total amount of economic loan received was also found to increase microenterprise assets. However, the effect on microenterprise income was not clear. In addition, development training programmes were found to have no substantial effect on both microenterprise income and assets. This article ascertained a mixed result of participation in development programmes on microenterprise income and assets among low-income households in Peninsular Malaysia. Development policymakers and organizations should review the effectiveness of the programmes and redesign their products and services to achieve their objectives.