2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Determinants, wage inequality, and occupational risk exposure of informal workers: A comprehensive analysis with a case study of Thailand
| Project/Area Number |
20K22135
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
0107:Economics, business administration, and related fields
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| Research Institution | 国際連合大学サステイナビリティ高等研究所 (2021)
Waseda University (2020) |
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Principal Investigator |
Korwatanasakul Upalat 国際連合大学サステイナビリティ高等研究所, サステイナビリティ高等研究, 研究員 (50879830)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Informal worker / Occupational risk / Sectoral transition / Thailand / Wage inequality |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of informal workers in Thailand by utilising the 2006-2019 Thai Informal Employment Survey data. The estimated results reveal the adverse effects of informal employment on workers’ economic and social conditions: 1) the wages gap working against informal employment, confirming that informal employment is not a choice but rather an unavoidable constraint, 2) a negative relationship between informal employment and wages, and 3) a positive association between informal employment and occupational risks. Furthermore, the analyses manifest the importance of schooling in reducing the tendency to work in the informal sector, narrowing the wages gap, and lowering occupational risks and injury severity. However, the estimated results from the pseudo-panel fixed effects regression show no relationship between schooling and informal workers’ wages but a positive relationship between their wages and working experience.
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| Free Research Field |
Development economics
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
Policymakers may adopt schooling-related policies to improve informal workers’ welfares. In contrast, to help workers who inevitably remain in the informal sector, the government may resort to policies regarding working experience to help informal workers earn more wages and become less vulnerable.
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