TY - BOOK
T1 - Benign growth Structural transformation and inclusive growth in Thailand
AU - Warr, Peter
AU - Suphannachart, Waleerat
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Between 1981 and 2017, real gross domestic product in Thailand grew at an average
annual rate of 5.7 per cent. Agricultural output grew more slowly than industry or services, and its
gross domestic product share consequently declined. Industry’s gross domestic product share
increased, and the share of services remained relatively constant. Agriculture’s employment share
declined, but most new jobs were in services. Concurrently, poverty incidence declined
dramatically. Income inequality increased until the late 1980s, then gradually declined, reaching a
level in 2017 that was well below the 1981 level. Economic growth combined with structural
change contributed to poverty reduction, but the magnitude of this impact depends heavily on the
poverty line used in calculating poverty. The Thai data support the Kuznets hypothesis of an
inverted U-shaped relationship between average income and inequality but suggest no long-term
‘Kuznetsian tension’ between the rate of structural change and the level of inequality.
AB - Between 1981 and 2017, real gross domestic product in Thailand grew at an average
annual rate of 5.7 per cent. Agricultural output grew more slowly than industry or services, and its
gross domestic product share consequently declined. Industry’s gross domestic product share
increased, and the share of services remained relatively constant. Agriculture’s employment share
declined, but most new jobs were in services. Concurrently, poverty incidence declined
dramatically. Income inequality increased until the late 1980s, then gradually declined, reaching a
level in 2017 that was well below the 1981 level. Economic growth combined with structural
change contributed to poverty reduction, but the magnitude of this impact depends heavily on the
poverty line used in calculating poverty. The Thai data support the Kuznets hypothesis of an
inverted U-shaped relationship between average income and inequality but suggest no long-term
‘Kuznetsian tension’ between the rate of structural change and the level of inequality.
M3 - Commissioned report
BT - Benign growth Structural transformation and inclusive growth in Thailand
ER -