Educational Attainment and Its Contribution to Labor Productivity Growth in Thailand

Article Sidebar

PDF
Keywords:
educational attainment mean years of schooling labor productivity growth Thailand

Main Article Content

Supachet Chansarn
School of Economics, Bangkok University, Thailand

Abstract

This article examines the contribution of educational attainment of Thailand’s employed persons and labor productivity growth in three sectors and 15 sub-sectors during 2001–2010. Moreover, the analysis was based on secondary data from two sources: the Labor Force Surveys conducted between 2001–2010 by the National Statistical Office (NSO) and the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB). The findings reveal that, in average, employed persons in Thailand still have low educational attainment - only 6.9 years of schooling in 2010. The average growth rates of labor productivity during 2001–2010 fluctuated between -4.2 to 6.9% per year depending on the macro-economic circumstances with the mean value of 2.8% per year over the study period. Finally, the analysis reveals that education has significantly positive contribution to labor productivity growth; that is, one percent increase in mean years of schooling leads to 0.5521% increase in labor productivity.

Article Details

How to Cite
Chansarn, S. (2016). Educational Attainment and Its Contribution to Labor Productivity Growth in Thailand. Journal of Population and Social Studies [JPSS], 21(2), 189–207. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jpss/article/view/71970
Issue
Vol. 21 No. 2 (2013): January - June
Section
Research Articles
Author Biography

Supachet Chansarn, School of Economics, Bangkok University, Thailand

Corresponding author

References

• Aggrey, N., Eliab, L. & Joseph, S. (2010). Human Capital and Labor Productivity in East African Manufacturing Firms. Current Research Journal of Economic Theory, 2(2), 48 – 54.

• Ali, N., Tabari, Y. & Reza, M. (2012). Technology and Education Effects on Labor Productivity in the Agricultural Sector in Iran. European Journal of Experimental Biology, 2 (4), 1265 – 1272.

• Aljuhani, M.S.M. (2002). Labour’s Utilization and Labour’s Productivity of a Gold Mine in Saudi Arabia. Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, July/August 2002, 207 – 310.

• Birchenall, J.A. (2001). Income Distribution, Human Capital and Economic Growth in Colombia. Journal of Development Economics, 66(1), 271 – 287.

• US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). (2009). BLS Handbook of Methods: Chapter 11 Industry Productivity Measures. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ homch11_a.htm.

• Ceccobelli, M., Gitto, S. & Mancuso, P. (2012). ICT Capital and Labour Productivity Growth: A Non-Parametric Analysis of 14 OECD Countries. Telecommunication Policy, 36(4), 282 – 292.

• Chansarn, S. (2012). Labor Productivity, Education and Their Linkage: Empirical Evidence from Thailand. NIDA Development Journal, 52(4), 39 – 54.

• Dritsakis, N. (2007). Labour Productivity, Wages and Unemployment: An empirical investigation for Greece using Causality Analysis. Asian – African Journal of Economics and Econometrics, 7(1), 133 – 145.

• Duryea, S. & Pages, C. (2002). Human Capital Policies: What They Can and Cannot Do for Productivity and Poverty Reduction in Latin America (Working Paper Series 468). Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank.

• Fallahi, F., Sojoodi, S. & Aslaninia, N. (2011). Determinants of Labor Productivity in Iran’s Manufacturing Firms: With Emphasis on Labor Education and Training. Paper Presented at the International Conference on Applied Economics 2011, Perugia, Italy, August 25 – 27, 2011.

• Freeman, R. (2008). Labour Productivity Indicators: Comparison of Two OECD Databases Productivity Differential & The Balassa-Samuelson Effect. Paris: Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development.

• Golden, L. (2012). The Effects of Working Time on Productivity and Firm Performance: a Research Synthesis Paper (Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 33). Geneva: International Labour Office.

• Gomez-Salvador, R., Musso, A., Stocker, M. & Turunen, J. (2006). Labour Productivity Development in Euro Area (Occasional Paper, No.53). Frankfurt am Main: European Central Bank.

• Guiteras, R.P. & Jack, B.K. (2012). Incentives, Productivity and Selection in Labor Markets: Evidence from Rural Malawi. Retrieved from http://www.econ.umd.edu/research/papers/607.

• International Labour Organization (ILO). (2013). Key Indicators of the Labour Market: Labour Productivity (KILM 17). Retrieved from http://kilm.ilo.org/2011/download/kilm17EN.pdf.

• Jajri, I. & Ismail, R. (2009). Technical Progress and Labor Productivity in Small and Medium Scale Industry in Malaysia. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, 15, 199 – 208.

• Knapp, D. (2007). The Influence of Health on Labor Productivity: An Analysis of European Conscription Data. (Unpublished Senior Honor Thesis). Department of Economics, Ohio State University.

• Lanzi, D. (2007). Capabilities, Human capital and Education. Journal of Socio-Economics, 36(3), 424 – 435.

• Mahmud, M. & Rashid, A. (2006). Labor Productivity and Economic Growth, What Causes What: An Empirical Analysis. Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 2(1), 69 – 81.

• National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB). (2011). Quarterly Gross Domestic Product. Retrieved from http://www.nesdb.go.th/Default.aspx?tabid=95.

• National Statistical Office (NSO). (2000). Population and Household Census 2000. Retrieved from http://www.nso.go.th.

• National Statistical Office (NSO). (2011). Labour Force Survey (Quarterly) 2001 – 2010. Retrieved from http://service.nso.go.th/nso/nso_center/project/search_center/23project-th.htm.

• Razzak, W. & Timmins, J. (2007). Education and Labor Productivity in New Zealand. Retrieved from http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/1882/1/MPRA_paper_1882.pdf.

• United Nations. (2010) World Population Prospect: The 2008 Revision Population Database. Retrieved from http://esa.un.org/unpp/index.asp?panel=1.

• Wooldridge, J.M. (2003). Introductory Econometrics (2nd ed.). Ohio: Thomson South-Western, pp. 461 – 475.