Thailand and The World Economy

Potential Thai Tourist Segmentation to Reduce Dependency on Foreign Tourists highlighted by the COVID-19 Crisis

Chayapoj Lee-Anant — 2024-09-05

Tourism is highly vulnerable to both internal and external factors ranging from political crises, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks. The popularity of Thai tourism has substantially increased over the last decade with international tourist arrivals exceeding 40 million in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted Thai tourism and international travel plunged. This article studied the segmentation of potential Thai tourists to replace the downturn in foreign tourists after the COVID-19 crisis using both quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Data were collected using a questionnaire from 1,200 Thai tourists aged 20 years and over, earning more than 50,000 baht per month, and living in provinces with municipal administration and populations of more than 1 million. Data from the questionnaire were incorporated with information gained from in-depth interviews with 41 key informants who were representatives of national tourism agencies. The results of K-means cluster analysis, behavioral analysis, and crosschecking with national tourism agencies showed that high-end domestic tourists could be divided into three groups as Trend Escape, Fun Escape, and Away Escape. This research promoted quality domestic market tourism as a stabilization measure to increase tourism income, while also reducing the economic risks of relying on international tourists.

The Impact of Public Investment on Private Investment in Vietnam’s Central Key Economic Region and the Mekong Delta Key Economic Region: A PMG Approach

Ho Thi Hoai Thuong — 2024-09-05

The purpose of this study is to find out the impact of public investment on private investment in the localities of the Mekong Delta Key Economic Region and the Central Key Economic Region. Using data on public investment (state sector’s investment) and private investment (non-state sector’s investment excluding FDI) in the period 2010-2021 with the PMG (Pool Mean Group) method, the research results show that in the long run, public investment creates a crowding-in effect on private investment in two Key Economic Regions. However, in the short term, public investment creates a crowding - out effect or does not affect private investment. Based on empirical research results, some relevant policy implications are suggested.

How Does Internationalization Affect The Performance Of Indonesian Family Firms With CEOs’ Demographics As Moderators?

Wisudanto Mas Soeroto — 2024-09-05

This article examines how internationalization affects Indonesian family firm performance, with CEO demographics as moderators. We use least-squares regression using 1,097 observations of family firms listed in Indonesia from all industries except the financial sector from 2015 to 2021. The results indicate a positive relationship between internationalization and long-term firm performance, as measured by Tobin’s Q. We also demonstrate that demographic characteristics of CEOs, such as education level, tenure, age, and international experience, can weaken the relationship between internationalization and firm performance. This study provides a novel moderation of characteristics of demographic CEO between internationalization and firm performance. These findings will interest politicians and firms when recruiting CEOs because demographics affect internationalization decisions that affect firm performance. The study has been limited to using only one measure of internationalization and six CEO demographic characteristics.

Urbanization and Income Inequality in Vietnam: An Empirical Investigation at Provincial Level

Quynh Anh Do — 2024-09-05

The article studies the impact of urbanization on income inequality in Vietnam, using panel data for 63 provinces and cities in the period 2010-2018. The study applies the fixed-effects regression model estimation method with the standard error of (Driscoll & Kraay, 1998) to test the relationship between urbanization and income inequality in Vietnam. Besides, the study also considers this relationship under the influence of human capital. The study has found that urbanization tends to increase income inequality in localities. On the other hand, urbanization can reduce the income inequality between rich and poor under the influence of human capital. Based on the research results, the study has some policy implications for state agencies in realizing the goals of equality and social justice through the process of urbanization, contributing to solutions for the common socio-political stability of the country.

Greenwashing: An Integrated Thematic and Content Analysis of Literature through Scientometrics Methods

Dileep Singh — 2024-09-05

Academic studies and business practices are paying more and more attention to the topic of "greenwashing," or the organizations' false marketing of their environmental sustainability initiatives. To obtain insight into the current state of knowledge, this article offers a thorough investigation that combines topic and content analysis of the greenwashing literature. The study begins with bibliometric analysis to examine patterns of publication, collaboration networks, and citation trends and later uses scientometrics to explore collaboration networks. Then thematic analysis is employed to identify key themes and concepts prevalent in the literature. In the third stage, content analysis has been done by examining five clusters formed by thematic analysis using SciMAT. The integrated approach of thematic and content analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge on greenwashing, identifying research gaps and emerging trends. It sheds light on the most influential authors, journals, and institutions in the field and examines the evolution of research over time. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of greenwashing by offering a structured and systematic analysis of the existing literature. The insights gained can guide future research directions, inform policymakers and practitioners, and help develop effective strategies to mitigate greenwashing practices.

Firm Performance: A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Social Responsibility and its Societal Impact

Berto Usman — 2024-09-05

The goal of this study is to investigate how social impact, corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices, and firm performance relate to one another in the context of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) banking. The sample was screened from 27 publicly listed banks in five ASEAN member countries (i.e., Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand), with the period of observations ranging from 2011 to 2019 fiscal year. Social impact is a measure of social performance pillar scores provided by the ASSET4 CSR ranking companies. While, CSR reporting practices used three surrogate indicators: (i) the presence of CSR report; (ii) the existence of CSR assurance; and (iii) the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) disclosure framework. Firm performance used accounting-based (i.e., return on asset and revenue) and market-based (i.e., market capitalization) measures. This study used longitudinal panel data analysis, including the fixed effect model with robust standard errors. The obtained empirical evidence shows that social impact is positively and significantly associated with three proxies of firm performance (ROA, REVENUE, and MCAP), while the proxies of CSR reporting practices show a partial positive and significant association with the proxies of firm performance. The additional analysis using lagged independent variables and an alternate measure of firm performance (ROE) shows slightly more consistent results relative to the main analysis, suggesting that firm performance needs some time lag so as to allow the impact of CSR reporting practices to be reflected in the variance of firm performance. The empirical tests using the ASEAN setting suggest that the idea of CSR has consistently evolved from being noticed as one of the detrimental factors to banks’ profitability to being deemed as one of the prerequisite conditions for gaining more potential benefits as strategic initiatives and objectives. Given that, banks should consider the importance of mandatory non-financial information publication to their stakeholders. This research paper advances the works of literature by enriching the limited empirical evidence in the context of social impact, CSR reporting practices, and firms’ performance in Non-Environmentally Sensitive Industries (NESIs). Apart from that, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first studies that elaborate on the particular interplay between the so-called “social impact,” CSR reporting practices, and firms’ performance in ASEAN.

Composition of Growth, Institution and External Debt Reduction in Africa

Anayochukwu Basil Chukwu — 2024-09-05

This study investigates the link between the composition of growth, institutions, and external debt reduction. Despite the rising external debt stock profile and dwindling domestic revenue of almost all the African countries, very few or no studies have investigated the composition of growth-external debt link to determine which productive sectors of the economy contribute more resources for the purpose of policy targeting. Applying the ‘System’ generalized method of moments (Sys-GMM), Two-stage Least Square (TSLS) and Panel Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) estimation techniques on panel data from 41 African countries spanning the period 1980–2019, our results suggest that among the three productive sectors —agriculture, industrial, and services —only the services sector showed a significant positive impact on external debt stock. The results of the control variables are broadly consistent with theoretical expectations. A policy framework that encourages the improvement of institutional and macroeconomic qualities and huge investments in the three sectors (most especially in the services sector) will generate substantial resources to aid the servicing and repayment of Africa’s high external debt obligations.

Empathy and Social Entrepreneurial Intention: The Role of Social Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Institution Support Structure

Trong Nghia Vu — 2024-09-05

The article aims to develop a comprehensive framework to explain how empathy impacts social entrepreneurial intention. Specifically, this article answers two questions: How does social entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediate the relationship between empathy and social entrepreneurial intention? and How is the nexus between empathy and social entrepreneurial intention moderated by institutional support structure? A sample of 502 university students in Vietnam was utilized to examine the research model. Hayes’ PROCESS macro, especially Model 4 and Model 5, was respectively employed to estimate the mediating role of social entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the moderating effect of the institution’s support structure in the nexus of empathy and social entrepreneurial intention. Our study found that empathy has a direct positive effect on social entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, we discovered that this effect is amplified by social entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the support provided by institutions. Our findings shed light on the complex interplay between empathy, self-efficacy, and institutional support in shaping social entrepreneurial intention. This knowledge can help educators, policymakers, and aspiring entrepreneurs foster a more supportive and empathetic ecosystem for social innovation.

Role of Labor Market Education Quality in Driving Economic Growth and Value-Added Agriculture: A Malaysian Perspective

Neng Long Hii — 2024-09-05

This paper examines the impacts of the labor market’s educational quality on value-added agriculture and economic growth in Malaysia during the period 1982-2019, using the VAR Granger causality test, variance decomposition, and impulse response function (IRF). The paper explores how educational attainment, and foreign workers affect value-added agriculture and economic growth. The empirical results of Model 1 (meso) reveal the existence of unidirectional causality running from no formal education to value-added agriculture. The IRF further underscores that no formal education negatively affects value-added agriculture in 50 years, whereas attaining a tertiary education positively impacts value-added agriculture, but no causality exists during the study period. The IRF also underlines the fact that employing foreign workers had an adverse impact on value-added agriculture over 50 years, although no causality existed between 1982-2019. Additionally, Model 2 (macro) shows there is a unidirectional causality running from secondary education to agricultural GDP and from tertiary education to agricultural GDP. The IRF affirms that tertiary education will positively impact agricultural GDP in 50 years. Surprisingly, the graph exhibits that the significantly positive effect of tertiary education diminished the negative effect of secondary education on agricultural GDP in the first five years. The findings demonstrate that there is a need to hasten the transformation of agriculture towards high-skilled labor to expand its production output.

How Facebook Has Enhanced Thailand’s Ethnic Women Entrepreneurs’ Community-Based Homestay Tourism Development

Tanya Promburom — 2024-09-05

This study inquired into a community of ethnic Lahu women in northern Thailand who utilize social media in community-based homestay tourism businesses to transform their socioeconomic statuses and negotiate traditional gender power relations. As a social construction, they have traditionally been limited to the domestic sphere, requiring them to do housework entirely, while men engage in the public sphere to generate family income. This scenario has maintained male superiority in ways that perpetuate gender inequality and the sociopolitical dichotomy of the public and private spheres. Due to technological modernity and economic development, social media has become a public sphere that these women are empoweringly using to cultivate economic and social capital. For example, as a marketing strategy, they use Facebook to promote their homestay tourism businesses locally and internationally. This space is also being used to negotiate gender power relations within their families and communities. Another notable element of this modern phenomenon is that these marginalized ethnic people, men and women alike, now transformatively realize the modern-day value of their ethnic identities. They are using social media and homestay tourism as soft-power tools for countering a national sociopolitical discourse that inaccurately portrays them as rural, uncivilized “forest destroyers.” This study underlines that the process of social empowerment includes gaining a sense of independence while taking individual and collective actions to transform discourses, institutions, and social norms to reflect a holistic understanding of traditional and modern social phenomena.

Impact of Demographic Dividend on Economic Growth in Developing Countries

Mohammad Yaqoob — 2024-09-05

This study investigates the impact of demographic dividends on economic growth by employing the dynamic common correlated effect (DCCE) as a panel data estimation technique. The analysis encompasses 71 developing countries from 1980 to 2019, further divided into lower- and higher-income countries. This study found that the demographic dividend, measured as the ratio of the working-age group in the population, significantly and positively influenced the economic expansion of overall developing countries and lower-income countries; however, the demographic dividend has an insignificant effect on higher-income countries. The results further demonstrate that the young population has a significant negative impact, and the elderly population positively affects economic growth. In addition to that, the study also found that physical capital per capita is negative, while human capital and trade openness offer a favourable outcome for economic growth. These results underscore the potential benefits of demographic change in most developing countries. However, investment in developing human and physical capital can enhance and promote the favourable effect of the working-age population ratio, fostering rapid economic growth.