Income Inequality, Poverty and Labor Migration in Thailand

Abstract

This paper explores the dynamics of economic growth, poverty, inequality and migration in Thailand, and evaluates the relevance of Lewis model to Thailand's long-term development. Thai economy seems to follow the latter part of the Kuznets curve since mid-1990s, amidst the global trend of rising internal inequality. Also, Lewis model's predictions were not present, both in the overall pattern of internal migration and the labor market conditions in either urban or rural areas. Dualism in Thailand is better characterized by formal/informal dichotomy. However, the Lewis model can be relevant if modified by including the role of foreign workers.

The Difficult Escape From Dualism: The Green Morocco Plan at a Crossroads

“…For instance, according to Bourguignon and Morrisson (1988), increasing rural productivity in developing countries has been a major element for decreasing inequality. In the case of Thailand, according to Jitsuchon (2014), rural-to-urban migration does not fit into Lewis' model. In Mexico, Hernández Laos and Velázquez Roa (2003) find evidence of persistent and even worsening dualism in the context of globalization.…”