WHY POOR REGIONS REMAIN POOR?

undertaken by the government since the Third Malaysia Plan beginning in 1971 until the present Ninth Malaysia Plan have not brought about significant convergence in real per capita income and output across the country. Despite all states recording economic growth, the development gap between regions, states and rural-urban areas remained wide. Moreover a pattern of regional unemployment has persisted, with unemployment rates being consistently higher than the national average in those states with lower than average real per capita income and output. The purpose of this study are firstly to determine why the gap remained wide that is some poor states stay poor and rich states become richer for the past years and secondly to identify industries or sectors in which the states has had a comparative advantage. Using location quotient analysis, this study utilize Malaysian dat