Rubber movements in a marketing network: smallholders in Peninsular Malaysia

This study examines the geography of smallholder rubber movements through the primary marketing network of Selangor, a state in Peninsular Malaysia, in 1975. The description of the smallholding sector and its importance to the economy precedes a focus on the marketing of smallholder rubber. A modelling framework is employed to evaluate the spatial distribution of buyers vis-à-vis sellers in the market in terms of achieving spatial efficiency for buyers and equitable returns to sellers. While a deeper understanding of the market network was obtained from the study, further investigation is required before structural and locational changes may be suggested.