Thailand's Growth Path : From Recovery to Prosperity

Thailand is one of the most successful developing countries. After decades of rapid growth, the economy rebounded quickly from the 1997-98 Asian crisis and is set to continue its expansion into the future. Nevertheless, there are doubts about the resilience of the Thai economy. The country appears t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Richter, Kaspar
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
GDP
TFP
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/05/6770835/thailands-growth-path-recovery-prosperity
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8671
Description
Summary:Thailand is one of the most successful developing countries. After decades of rapid growth, the economy rebounded quickly from the 1997-98 Asian crisis and is set to continue its expansion into the future. Nevertheless, there are doubts about the resilience of the Thai economy. The country appears to be on a lower growth projectory now than before the crisis. What growth can Thailand realistically expect? And what can the government do to sustain such growth into the future? Using a new methodology for identifying binding constraints to growth (Rodrik 2004 and Hausmann and others 2005), the author argues that Thailand's challenge is to maintain growth levels of 4 to 5 percent over the medium term. To achieve this goal, Thailand needs to continue its efforts of improving business infrastructure, trade integration, and skills, as well as intensifying its governance reforms.