IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v35y2023i7p1852-1873.html

Local economic development in Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Peerasit Kamnuansilpa
  • Andrey Timofeev
  • Grichawat Lowatcharin
  • Sirisak Laochankham
  • Vissanu Zumitzavan
  • Panpun Ronghanam
  • Krisada Prachumrasee
  • Narongdet Mahasirikul

Abstract

Thailand has witnessed very uneven spatial outcomes of economic policies pursued in the country since the 1970s. This partially resulted from top‐down, place‐based approaches favoring the already prosperous regions. Therefore, in order to bridge the territorial economic divide in the country, an alternative policy framework is needed to promote bottom‐up, place‐based initiatives led by local governments. As a starting point, we surveyed a stratified sample of local governments in Thailand to document and classify their economic development activities using the taxonomy of similar practices found in other countries. We examined how these practices are shaped by local conditions found in various localities.

Suggested Citation

  • Peerasit Kamnuansilpa & Andrey Timofeev & Grichawat Lowatcharin & Sirisak Laochankham & Vissanu Zumitzavan & Panpun Ronghanam & Krisada Prachumrasee & Narongdet Mahasirikul, 2023. "Local economic development in Thailand," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1852-1873, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:35:y:2023:i:7:p:1852-1873
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.3758
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3758
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jid.3758?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Kline & Enrico Moretti, 2014. "People, Places, and Public Policy: Some Simple Welfare Economics of Local Economic Development Programs," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 629-662, August.
    2. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/125h4fg7e89gi95ui3ml6ggod9 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Simon Alder & Lin Shao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2016. "Economic reforms and industrial policy in a panel of Chinese cities," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 305-349, December.
    4. Hasan, Rana & Jiang, Yi & Rafols, Radine Michelle, 2021. "Place-based preferential tax policy and industrial development: Evidence from India’s program on industrially backward districts," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Thierry Mayer & Florian Mayneris & Loriane Py, 2017. "The impact of Urban Enterprise Zones on establishment location decisions and labor market outcomes: evidence from France," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(4), pages 709-752.
    6. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3l4arseauo82kr3cm0qr8uihmg is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:bla:devpol:v:28:y:2010:i:5:p:573-596 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Carlianne Patrick & Amanda Ross & Heather Stephens, 2017. "Designing Policies to Spur Economic Growth: How Regional Scientists Can Contribute to Future Policy Development and Evaluation," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Randall Jackson & Peter Schaeffer (ed.), Regional Research Frontiers - Vol. 1, chapter 0, pages 119-133, Springer.
    9. Givord, Pauline & Rathelot, Roland & Sillard, Patrick, 2013. "Place-based tax exemptions and displacement effects: An evaluation of the Zones Franches Urbaines program," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 151-163.
    10. Elisa Barbieri & Chiara Pollio & Francesco Prota, 2020. "The impacts of spatially targeted programmes: evidence from Guangdong," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 415-428, March.
    11. Wang, Jin, 2013. "The economic impact of Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Chinese municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-147.
    12. Jolanda Hessels & Wim Naudé, 2019. "The Intersection Of The Fields Of Entrepreneurship And Development Economics: A Review Towards A New View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 389-403, April.
    13. Tatchalerm Sudhipongpracha & Achakorn Wongpredee, 2016. "Demystifying Decentralization and Its Setback: Evidence From Thailand’s Decentralization Reform," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 437-448, May.
    14. Andrew Hanson, 2021. "Taxes and Economic Development: An Update on the State of the Economics Literature," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 35(3), pages 232-253, August.
    15. Andrew Hanson & Shawn Rohlin, 2011. "Do Location‐Based Tax Incentives Attract New Business Establishments?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 427-449, August.
    16. Yi Lu & Jin Wang & Lianming Zhu, 2019. "Place-Based Policies, Creation, and Agglomeration Economies: Evidence from China's Economic Zone Program," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 325-360, August.
    17. repec:bla:devpol:v:28:y:2010:i:5:p:553-571 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Deming Luo & Yanjun Liu & Yiyun Wu & Xiwei Zhu & Xiangrong Jin, 2015. "Does development zone have spillover effect in China?," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 489-516, July.
    19. Zoltan Acs & Laszlo Szerb, 2007. "Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth and Public Policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 109-122, March.
    20. Alkon, Meir, 2018. "Do special economic zones induce developmental spillovers? Evidence from India’s states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 396-409.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cui, Yi, 2024. "Place-based policies and capital misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(4).
    2. Rawaa Laajimi, 2024. "Spatial tax regimes and location choices of manufacturing firms: Survey evidence in southern Tunisia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 803-826, August.
    3. Gallé, Johannes & Overbeck, Daniel & Riedel, Nadine & Seidel, Tobias, 2024. "Place-based policies, structural change and female labor: Evidence from India’s Special Economic Zones," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    4. Zhao, Chuanmin & Xie, Rui & Ma, Chunbo & Han, Feng, 2022. "Understanding the haze pollution effects of China's development zone program," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Abagna, Matthew Amalitinga & Hornok, Cecília & Mulyukova, Alina, 2025. "Place-based Policies and Household Wealth in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Shouwei Qi & Yating Chen & Kaili Chu, 2024. "Lifting the Veil: Using a Spatial Discontinuity to Assess the Impact of National Development Zones on Upgrading of Chinese Manufacturing," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 855-886, September.
    7. Zhao, Chuanmin & Qu, Xi, 2024. "Place-based policies, rural employment, and intra-household resources allocation: Evidence from China’s economic zones," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Zhaoying Lu, 2021. "Quantifying the effects of Special Economic Zones using spatial econometric models," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 21-01, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    9. Quan Sun & Lexin Zhao, 2023. "The Impact of Rural Enterprise Park Policy on the Income of Rural Residents: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Li, Jiaxin & Zhan, Shaoguo & Wang, Xuetian, 2025. "Can special economic zones in China enhance firm's global value chain position?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 361-372.
    11. Jingyi Tian & Jun Nagayasu, 2023. "Financial Systemic Risk behind Artificial Intelligence:Evidence from China," TUPD Discussion Papers 44, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    12. Gao, Ming & Gu, Qiankun & He, Shijun, 2022. "Place-based policies, administrative hierarchy, and city growth: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Einiö, Elias & Overman, Henry G., 2020. "The effects of supporting local business: Evidence from the UK," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    14. Katrin Hussinger & Lorenzo Palladini, "undated". "Do China’s Special Economic Zones Increase Incentives to Invest in R&D?," DEM Discussion Paper Series 25-10, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    15. Neumark, David & Simpson, Helen, 2015. "Place-Based Policies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1197-1287, Elsevier.
    16. Mane, Klint & Park, Geunyong & Shen, Ande, 2025. "High-tech clusters, labor demand, and inequality: Evidence from “Made in China 2025”," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    17. Liu, Xin & Xu, Zhao & Zhang, Kailai & Kang, Zhiyong & Xie, Xinyue, 2025. "Can upgrading development zones enhance regional entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from Chinese enterprise registration data," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    18. Limosani, Michele & Millemaci, Emanuele & Monteforte, Fabio & Mustica, Paolo Fabrizio, 2025. "Do Special Economic Zones Boost Employment? Evidence from a Meta-Analysis," SocArXiv mf2n6_v2, Center for Open Science.
    19. Lyu, Wenyi & Yang, Jian & Yu, Leng, 2025. "Place-based policies, pro-competitive effects, and allocative efficiency: Evidence from China’s economic zones," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    20. Binkai Chen & Ming Lu & Christopher Timmins & Kuanhu Xiang, 2019. "Spatial Misallocation: Evaluating Place-Based Policies Using a Natural Experiment in China," NBER Working Papers 26148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:35:y:2023:i:7:p:1852-1873. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.