Firm Productivity in Thai Manufacturing Industries: Evidence from Firm-level Panel Data

Using firm-level panel data from the Manufacturing Industry Survey of Thailand between 1999 and 2003, this paper estimates the production function and examines the determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) for manufacturing firms in Thailand. Controlling for industry, region, and year fixed effects, production function coefficients and TFP measures are obtained through various estimation techniques including ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects, random effects, and the Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) for comparison. For production function estimation, the results illustrate the biases introduced in traditional TFP estimates and we discuss the performance of alternative estimators. For the determinants of TFP, the results show that firm size is associated with firm TFP, with smaller firms being more productive than larger ones. Firm age and TFP are negatively correlated, indicating that newer firms tend to exhibit higher TFP. Firms with a more skilled workforce also show a higher level of production. Moreover, firm TFP benefits from integration into world markets: foreign-owned firms and exporters have significantly higher TFP. The results further reveal that firm TFP varies with the form of organization, with private firms (in terms of legal organization) and Head-Branch typed firms (in terms of economic organization) having higher TFP. Our findings draw attention to some key areas of policy relevance in which policies promoting labor quality may have important benefits for firm TFP. Furthermore, development in the international integration of firms into world markets through their participation in export markets and attraction of foreign capital is also likely to have large payoffs in terms of TFP for Thai manufacturing.