Authors : Kittisak Jermsittiparsert, Thanaporn Sriyakul and Chayongkan Pamornmast
Abstract: This research has an objective to empirically analyze the discourse on the correlations between minimum wage and the country’s economic competitiveness which has been severely criticized by authoritative individuals from both public and private sectors, especially after pheu thai party announced the 300 Baht guaranteed minimum daily wage policy. The research employs an advanced quantitative methodology; analyzing time-series data of minimum wage, foreign direct investment in the industrial sector, import of capital goods, domestic machinery sales and export by advanced statistical methods, regression analysis, Johansen’s cointegration test and Pairwise Granger’s causality test. The regression analysis has revealed that minimum wage is positively correlated with all 4 concerning variables, foreign direct investment in the industrial sector, import of capital goods, domestic machinery sales and export. Whereas, the Johansen’s cointegration test has contrarily indicated that only export has a long run relationship with minimum wage. Moreover, minimum wage has a causal relationship with export, according to the Pairwise Granger’s causality test. This indicates that under the superior status of the authorities who dominate the process of building a body of knowledge, as well as distort the truth, so as to seize control over the society, the claim that the minimum wage increase will affect the country’s economic competitiveness with regard to the investment and export sector is not a good-faith mistake but an effort of discourse fight on the economic unfairness and social-class discrimination which is still the root of Thailand’s critical structural problems.
Kittisak Jermsittiparsert, Thanaporn Sriyakul and Chayongkan Pamornmast, 2014. Minimum Wage and Country’sEconomic Competitiveness:An Empirical Discourse Analysis. The Social Sciences, 9: 244-250.