VARIETIES OF STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THAILAND: PERSPECTIVE FROM INPUT FACTORS

Economic development comes together with technological progress as well as structural changes of
factor inputs’ utilization. In a general perspective, both capitals and skilled labor tend to be gradually utilized
more in production processes. Looking closely at an industrial level, though, the structural change is varied. This paper examines varieties of structural changes at an industrial level by using Thailand as a preliminary case study. This article uses two datasets from the national statistical of Thailand Office (NSO). The Labor Force Survey is used for calculating the numbers of unskilled and skilled labor. The Industrial Census is used for estimating capital input, wage, and innovation expenditure at the firm level of Industrial sectors. The microdata can help to describe the actual firm-level behavior about input factors usage. These variables have been represented and compared between 1997 and 2017. Moreover, the article analyzes R&D and Human Resource Development (HRD) expenditure at the firm level of the sub-sectoral industries. Four types of industries are classified: (1) a labor-intensive industry dominated by unskilled labor, (2) a labor-intensive industry dominated by skilled labor, (3) a capital-intensive industry dominated by unskilled labor, and (4) a capital-intensive industry dominated by skilled labor. Three critical findings are discovered. First, majorities of selected industries did not change their types; however, seven out of ten were deskilled and decapitalized. It implies that supportive financial, education and training policies are required. Second, only three industries that entrepreneurs increased skilled labor and/or capital inputs. Third, half of the studied industries reduced the innovation-related investments from 2007 to 2017.These findings do not only make a vibrant portrait of the Thai economy at the industrial level during 1997-2017 but also help policymakers to identify structural problems and prepare supportive schemes for industrial upgrading.