How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand's Economy
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How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand’s Economy The effects of immigration on the Thai economy are considerable, as the number of Economy Thailand’s to Contribute Immigrants How immigrants has increased rapidly since the turn of the century. Immigrant workers now contribute to all economic sectors, and are important for the workforce in industrial How Immigrants Contribute sectors, such as construction and manufacturing, and in some service sectors, including private household services. Immigration in Thailand is associated with an improvement of labour market outcomes of the native-born population, and in particular appears to to Thailand’s Economy increase paid employment opportunities. Immigration is also likely to raise income per capita in Thailand, due to the relatively high share of the immigrant population which is employed and therefore contributes to economic output. Policies aiming to further diversify employment opportunities for immigrant workers could be benefi cial for the economic contribution of immigration. How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand’s Economy is the result of a project carried out by the OECD Development Centre and the International Labour Organization, with support from the European Union. The project aimed to analyse several economic impacts – on the labour market, economic growth, and public fi nance – of immigration in ten partner countries: Argentina, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa and Thailand. The empirical evidence stems from a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of secondary and in some cases primary data sources. Consult this publication on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264287747-en This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and statistical databases. Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org for more information. THAILAND ISBN 978-92-64-28774-7 This project is co-funded by 41 2017 27 1 E1 THAILAND the European Union How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand’s Economy This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the member countries of the OECD, its Development Centre or of the ILO. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Please cite this publication as: OECD/ILO (2017), How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand’s Economy, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264287747-en ISBN 978-92-64-28774-7 (PDF) ILO: ISBN 978-92-2-131444-8 (web pdf) The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. Photo credits: Cover design by the OECD Development Centre. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. © OECD/ILO 2017 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgment of the source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. Foreword Foreword Immigration has gained importance in Thailand since the beginning of the 1990s, and migrant workers currently contribute significantly to the economy. Although the effects of immigration have been investigated in Thailand before, there is a need for more systematic empirical research into how immigrants contribute to the economy. Such research informs the debate on migration flows, which are increasing globally in particular outside the traditional high-income regions, while research also constitutes a basis to understand which policy responses should be instituted for the good of both immigrants and the destination countries. The OECD Development Centre, the International Labour Organization and the European Commission have worked together to tackle these challenging questions. Working across different contexts, the goal is to help countries design effective policies for leveraging immigration for positive development outcomes. This has included providing advice on the governance of comprehensive immigration systems and linking development strategies for policy coherence within a country and across countries. This report, How Immigrants Contribute to Thailand’s Economy, is another step forward. It builds upon comparable analyses for Thailand and nine other countries – Argentina, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Rwanda and South Africa – to present a greater understanding of immigration’s economic impacts. The research team benefitted from close co-operation with governmental focal points as well as the Delegations of the European Union, the national ILO Offices and research partners in each country. The government’s focal point in Thailand was the Ministry of Labour. The report examines how immigrants affect key segments of the labour market, workers’ characteristics and human capital, and the contribution of immigration to sectoral and national value added. Different key components of the economy are explored through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The report also analyses the political and historical context of immigration and suggests ways to maximise the impact of immigrants in different contexts through appropriate policy responses. The report highlights the fact that the impact of immigration is not straightforward. It depends on the country context and economic conditions. However, any country can maximise the positive impact of immigration by improving policies to better manage and integrate immigrants so that they can invest and contribute to the economy where they work and live while staying safe and leading a fulfilling life. The report also provides a How IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE to THAILAND’S ECONOMY © OECD/ILO 2017 3 Foreword basis for dialogue and policy guidance for development practitioners and policy makers who attempt to integrate immigrants into their economy and society for the benefit of both immigrants and native-born citizens. Following the discussion on guidance for action with key stakeholders and policy makers to be held in Bangkok, the European Commission, the OECD Development Centre and the ILO look forward to continuing their co-operation with Thailand with a view to decent work for migrant workers and better economic and development outcomes. Mario Pezzini Manuela Tomei Director of the OECD Development Director of the Conditions of Work Centre and Special Advisor to the and Equality Department OECD Secretary-General on Development of the International Labour Organization 4 How IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE to THAILAND’S ECONOMY © OECD/ILO 2017 A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements How immigrants contribute to Thailand’s economy is the fruit of the joint OECD-ILO project, Assessing the Economic Contribution of Labour Migration in Developing Countries as Countries of Destination (ECLM), carried-out in ten low and middle- income countries. The project was managed by David Khoudour, Head of the Migration and Skills Unit of the OECD Development Centre, under the guidance of Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre and Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development, Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO’s Conditions of Work and Equality Department, and Michelle Leighton, Chief of the ILO’s Labour Migration Branch. Shinyoung Jeon and Hyeshin Park, from the OECD Development Centre, co-ordinated the project, while Theodoor Sparreboom, Chief Technical Advisor in the Labour Migration Branch, led the ILO team. The OECD team included Maria Alejandra Betancourt, Bram Dekker, Fatoumata Diarrassouba and Sarah Kups. The ILO team was composed of Sandra Berger and Jesse Mertens. Theodoor Sparreboom managed the overall co-ordination of the report and the following authors prepared draft chapters: Chapter 2 Srawooth Paitoonpong (Thailand Development Research Institute) and Theo Sparreboom Chapter 3 Theo Sparreboom and Sandra Berger Chapter 4 Jesse Mertens and Kaewkwan Tangtipongkul (Thammasat University) Chapter 5 Theo Sparreboom, Nattapong Puttanapong (Thammasat University), Kitti Limskul (Chulalongkorn University) and Thongchart Bowonthumrongchai (Saitama University) The rest of the project team provided significant contributions, including valuable comments, advice and feedback on previous versions of the report. Alexandra Le Cam, OECD Development Centre, and Hélène Lombard, ILO, provided administrative support for the project, including country missions and event organisation. Jill Gaston edited the report and the OECD Development Centre’s publications team, led by Delphine Grandrieux and Henri-Bernard Solignac- Lecomte, turned the draft