Thailand's computer industry : comparative advantage and contribution to economic growth

The examination of the performance of Thailand's computer industry, and its contribution to the country's economic growth, are the two major objectives of my research. I study whether the computer industry in Thailand has acquired a comparative advantage. Then, I examine how investment in information technology (IT) has contributed to the growth of total factor productivity for the economy as a whole.
The methodology I adopt for measuring the performance the computer industry is based on a number of indices including unit labor cost, revealed comparative advantage, net export index and labor productivity.
Estimating the contribution of information technology to the growth of total factor productivity requires two estimation steps. First, I estimate the production function for Thailand where aggregate output depends on human capital, physical capital and labor. Total factor productivity then emerges as the residual of this production function regression. In the second stage, I estimate the effect of investment in IT on total factor productivity, after contributing for its other important determinants. The results suggest that the computer industry in Thailand has indeed acquired a comparative advantage
recently. Moreover, an increase investment in information technology significantly influences the growth of total factor productivity in the economy. / Graduation date: 2000

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33166
Date10 June 1999
CreatorsOrdeedolchest, Isara
ContributorsUpadhyay, Mukti P.
Source SetsOregon State University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation

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