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Competitiveness, Income Distribution, and Growth in Thailand : What Does the Long-run Evidence Show?

Author

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  • Piriya Pholphirul

    (Thailand Development Research Institute)

Abstract

The paper addresses three fundamental issues under a long-run perspective : (1) growth and productivity, (2) competitiveness, and (3) income distribution. Unit labor costs (ulcs) and unit capital cost (ukcs) are calculated as the indicators of competitiveness in Thailand. Both series explain that Thailand did not gain in competitiveness during its boom period. However, during the 1997 financial crisis, when the Baht currency depreciated, both series dropped significantly. The paper also discusses the dynamics of labor share and capital share in national income as well as the functional distribution of income. Some major features of Thailands long-run economy are the following : (i) increasing average wage rates, (ii) stabilizing profit rates (slightly increasing during the boom decade after having dropped sharply during the 1997 crisis), (iii) substantially increasing capital-labor ratio, (iv) decreasing capital productivity and increasing capital-output ratio, (v) increasing labor productivity, and (vi) increasing mark-up.Functional income distribution can be determined during the periods studied. The gains in labor were greater than that of capital in the Thai economy, especially during the period of crisis when profit rates dropped substantially. The paper also documents the growth in income per capita decomposed by ranges of labor market indicators. Labor productivity is observed as the only factor contributing to per capita output. Overall, to achieve the medium to long-term growth potential projected by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), Thailand needs to improve capital productivity and increase its capital stock. This paper is organized as follows : after the Introduction, Sections II-III construct labors shares, capital share, and ulc series, and observe the long-run pattern of the variables. Section IV analyzes the determinants of long-run competitiveness and growth. The determinants include wage rate, profit rate, capital-output ratio, capital-labor ratio, labor productivity, and capital productivity. Section V observes the degree of functional income distribution including its longterm evolution during the last 20 years. Section VI computes the degree of markup, which also implies the dynamism of the monopoly power of business in the Thai economy. Section VII analyzes the sources of growth in per capita income categorized by different labor compositions. Section IX estimates the medium-term growth potential as projected by the NESDB. Section X concludes the report.

Suggested Citation

  • Piriya Pholphirul, 2005. "Competitiveness, Income Distribution, and Growth in Thailand : What Does the Long-run Evidence Show?," Finance Working Papers 22054, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:eab:financ:22054
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Measuring Labor's Share," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 45-51, May.
    2. Frances Stewart, 2003. "Income distribution and development," Chapters, in: John Toye (ed.), Trade and Development, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Stephen S. Golub & Janet Ceglowski, 2002. "South African Real Exchange Rates And Manufacturing Competitiveness," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(6), pages 1047-1075, September.
    4. Ahluwalia, Montek S., 1976. "Inequality, poverty and development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 307-342, December.
    5. B, Felipe & M, Rodrigo, 1997. "Income Distribution Investment, And Growth," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294416, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Piriya Pholphirul, 2007. "Labour-market issues under trade liberalization: implications for Thai workers," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 14(1), pages 41-71, June.
    2. Chitralada Chaiya & Mokbul Morshed Ahmad, 2021. "Success or Failure of the Thai Higher Education Development—Critical Factors in the Policy Process of Quality Assurance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-29, August.
    3. Bruno Jetin, 2012. "Distribution of income, labour productivity and competitiveness: is the Thai labour regime sustainable?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(4), pages 895-917.
    4. Sandrine Michel, 2015. "Education in Thailand: When economic growth is no longer enough," Post-Print hal-01671765, HAL.
    5. Phijaisanit, Euamporn, 2015. "How can promoting desirable elderly employment opportunities alleviate the shortfalls of Thailand’s ageing society?," MPRA Paper 89824, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    6. Tanida Arayavechkit & Somprawin Manprasert & Jaree Pinthong, 2015. "Intertwining Inequality and Labor Market under the New Normal," PIER Discussion Papers 6, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Siwapong Dheera-Aumpon, 2014. "Misallocation and manufacturing TFP in Thailand," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 28(2), pages 63-76, November.
    8. Tanida Arayavechkit & Somprawin Manprasert & Jaree Pinthong, 2015. "Intertwining Inequality and Labor Market under the New Normal," PIER Discussion Papers 6., Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, revised Oct 2015.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Growth and productivity; competitiveness; Income Distribution; Equity; competition policy; Infrastructure and Regulations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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