Economic Growth and Developmental Equity in Four ASEAN Economies: Linking Macroeconomic Trends to Employment and Child Nutrition (1999–2024)

Abstract

This study examines the long-term relationships among macroeconomic indicators, labor market dynamics, and child nutrition outcomes in four ASEAN economies—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore—from 1999 to 2024. Drawing on twelve complete indicators from the World Development Indicators, the analysis employs a correlational–comparative design to assess country-specific association patterns.  The methodological approach combined secondary time-series data with Pearson’s correlation analysis, computed separately for each country to avoid aggregation bias. Indicators spanned three domains: macroeconomic (inflation, purchasing power parity, foreign reserves), labor (employment-to-population ratio, labor force participation, unemployment), and child nutrition (stunting and overweight prevalence). By integrating country-level correlations with insights from the literature on maternal employment, household resources, and service systems, the study situates macro trends within household-level nutrition risks.  Findings reveal significant heterogeneity across countries. Singapore demonstrated strong positive links between reserves and employment, and negative correlations between employment and stunting, underscoring the role of institutional childcare and social spending in converting growth into human capital gains. Brunei, despite substantial reserve accumulation, exhibited inverse labor engagement and paradoxical increases in stunting, consistent with the “resource curse” narrative. Malaysia presented transitional patterns: reserves were weakly mobilized for nutrition outcomes, while purchasing power partially reduced unemployment and stunting. The Philippines displayed strong inverse relationships between purchasing power and unemployment, and between reserves and stunting, but showed mixed employment–nutrition dynamics, reflecting the persistence of informality and fragile social protection. Across contexts, employment alone did not uniformly reduce undernutrition and sometimes correlated positively with stunting in weaker care systems.  The results affirm that macroeconomic growth and stability, while necessary, are insufficient for achieving equitable nutrition outcomes. Aligning fiscal surpluses, purchasing power, and employment growth with inclusive, nutrition-sensitive, and family-responsive policies is critical. The study contributes to ASEAN’s policy dialogue by highlighting the structural conditions under which economic progress translates into improved child health and sustainable human development.