There has been a dramatic shift in the prevailing theory and practice
of economic development in recent years. During the 1950s and 1960s,
the prescriptions of neoclassical economic theory-primarily the maximization
of capital investment-were dominant and widely accepted
throughout the developing world. Even if economic growth was not
the solution to all social problems, policymakers and international advisers
believed that economic progress was the single most important
national objective. This logic has been questioned over the last decade
with the growing evidence that poverty, inequality, and other social
problems may increase as economic growth proceeds. Spurred by the
critique of economic theory by Myrdal’ and other social scientists and
the ambitious research activities of the International Labour Office’s
World Employment Programmer development planners and academic
scholars have been rethinking the appropriate strategies for economic
and social development. Central to this new direction is the focus on
"basic needs" of the population as fundamental objectives of devel
opment.3 One such basic need is employment, the opportunity to participate
in a socially and economically rewarding job. In this paper,
address the question of youth unemployment in Peninsular Malaysia
with an analysis of both individual and structural determinants. This
allows for an evaluation of some important hypotheses from both conventional
and revisionist perspectives.