The level of fiscal autonomy: Factors influencing quality of life of Thai people
Keywords:
fiscal autonomy, Fiscal decentralization, local government, quality of lifeAbstract
This research aims to study 1) the level of fiscal autonomy of local administrative organizations and the level of quality of life of Thai people and 2) to investigate factors influencing quality of life. In order to obtain all required information, the following secondary data was examined. 1) The provincial revenues databases B.E. 2555 (2012) for data on local fiscal autonomy, and 2) the provincial reports of the household socio-economic surveys (SES) B.E.2556 (2013) for data on the level of quality of life. The data were analyzed with stepwise multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that from all 75 provinces: 1) seven provinces (9.33 %) were with Local Administrative Organizations (LAOs) that had a high level of fiscal autonomy index: Samut Prakan, Phuket, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Rayong, Samut Sakorn and Chonburi while five provinces were with Local Administrative Organizations (LAOs) that had a low level of fiscal autonomy index: Chai Nat, Uttaradit, Pattani, Narathiwat and Satun. 2) Education index, gross provincial products index and fiscal autonomy index were positively related to quality of life at a significance level of .01 while life expectancy index was negatively related to quality of life at a significance level of .01. Furthermore, gross provincial product index and fiscal autonomy index jointly predicted the quality of life at 84.60% with a significance level of .01.
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