Labour Flexibility and productivity: an Inquiry into the Thai Labour Regime”.

Knowledge is presented as the new driving force of competitiveness. It is usually defined as including formal innovation such as R&D and all forms of learning opportunities occurring during economic activities like work and relations with suppliers and customers. Our communication will focus on knowledge, labour markets and work in the context of Thailand. Thailand is an interesting case because it is representative of second-tier high-growth Asian economies, and most of all, because it is a full-employment economy. This means that if workers are not satisfied with their job, they can easily change their employer. If the company wants to retain them, they have to offer something in exchange: higher wages, bonus, and welfare allowances. This has consequences for the diffusion of knowledge. When workers' mobility is high and employment tenure low, workers are the conduits through which knowledge is transferred across firms, leading to possible increases in productivity. When firms prefer to create an internal labour market in order to retain their workers and accumulate knowledge internally, the diffusion of knowledge relies on linkages between firms and their customers. Our objective is to assess the viability of these scenarios in Thailand. We start with a short analysis of the state of science, technology and education in Thailand (section 1). The conclusion is that formal knowledge is lagging behind and that improvements will take time. The diffusion of knowledge through workers' mobility does not seem viable at this stage and the accumulation of knowledge in internal labour market is a better option. Because internal labour markets involve high employment tenure, we then turn to the analysis of mobility and employment tenure (section 2). The objective is to see if there is any tendency towards the strengthening of internal labour markets. We use an in-depth field survey realised by the Centre for Education and Labour Studies (Chiang Mai University, Thailand). This is the first nation-wide survey on these topics. A questionnaire has been applied to interview 1543 industrial workers, staff employees and engineers in 85 private and state companies and to 1567 self-employed and 454 employees of the informal sector. Data on education, workers mobility, employment tenure, wages, bonuses and welfare have been collected and are analysed in the paper. The results show that several elements characteristics of internal labour markets are present in big companies with higher than average technological intensity. International comparisons show that average employment tenure in Thailand is intermediate, inferior to the European and Japanese levels but close to the US level, and much higher than in Latin American countries. We conclude that Thailand has the potential to improve its competitiveness by upgrading the level and the quality of education and by strengthening internal labour markets. Competitiveness could be based on the accumulation of knowledge with a positive impact on productivity rather than cheap labour.Thailand, Labour Flexibility, Internal Labour Market, Employment, Tenure

THE COGNITIVE INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOUR HYPOTHESIS: WHAT POSSIBLE EFFECTS FOR THAI LABOUR AND EDUCATION?

Late capitalism has entered a new phase. It is not only global and financialised, but also based on a new technological revolution that gives a special emphasis to knowledge ( ). Not all these trends are at work in developing countries. Financialisation for instance, i.e. the priority given to the remuneration of share-holders by all means, which is much debated in developed countries for its impact on employment, wages and the welfare state, is not an issue at stake in Thailand for the simplest reason that the stock and bond markets do not play a decisive role in its economy. But globalization, the ICT revolution and knowledge will impact Thailand in the near future because they are shaping a new international division of labour ( ), the so-called “cognitive division of labour”, alongside the traditional international division of labour, sometimes pinned as the “taylorist” division of labour”. Thailand has benefited for decades from the “taylorist” division of labour to launch and reinforce its industrialisation process for it offered cheap and disciplined labour to multinational companies eager to produce at low cost for the Thai and foreign markets. The question for the future is as simple as that: can Thailand go on the same way or will it have to engage profound reforms in order to be part of the new division of labour? A subsequent question is: why is it of interest for specialists of education? We don't pretend in this modest contribution to answer comprehensively and definitely such a complex question. But we would like to present some arguments that can be of help for a collective debate. We will first explain what the “cognitive international division of labour” is about, which leads us to define what we mean exactly by “knowledge” (part 1). We will then turn to the consequences on employment and education in Thailand by engaging in some tentative assumptions (part 2).Education, employment, knowledge, tacit knowledge, cognitive international division of labour, labour market, Thailand, National Innovation System

THE COGNITIVE INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOUR HYPOTHESIS: WHAT POSSIBLE EFFECTS FOR THAI LABOUR AND EDUCATION?

Late capitalism has entered a new phase. It is not only global and financialised, but also based on a new technological revolution that gives a special emphasis to knowledge ( ). Not all these trends are at work in developing countries. Financialisation for instance, i.e. the priority given to the remuneration of share-holders by all means, which is much debated in developed countries for its impact on employment, wages and the welfare state, is not an issue at stake in Thailand for the simplest reason that the stock and bond markets do not play a decisive role in its economy. But globalization, the ICT revolution and knowledge will impact Thailand in the near future because they are shaping a new international division of labour ( ), the so-called “cognitive division of labour”, alongside the traditional international division of labour, sometimes pinned as the “taylorist” division of labour”. Thailand has benefited for decades from the “taylorist” division of labour to launch and reinforce its industrialisation process for it offered cheap and disciplined labour to multinational companies eager to produce at low cost for the Thai and foreign markets. The question for the future is as simple as that: can Thailand go on the same way or will it have to engage profound reforms in order to be part of the new division of labour? A subsequent question is: why is it of interest for specialists of education? We don't pretend in this modest contribution to answer comprehensively and definitely such a complex question. But we would like to present some arguments that can be of help for a collective debate. We will first explain what the “cognitive international division of labour” is about, which leads us to define what we mean exactly by “knowledge” (part 1). We will then turn to the consequences on employment and education in Thailand by engaging in some tentative assumptions (part 2)

Le développement économique de la Thaïlande est-il socialement soutenable ?

La première partie de ce texte sera consacrée à l'analyse des inégalités de revenus en Thaïlande. Nous verrons que la croissance élevée a permis de faire reculer la pauvreté absolue mais pas les inégalités de revenus. Dans la deuxième partie, nous montrerons que l'évolution démographique de la Thaïlande va renforcer au cours des décennies à venir les conséquences sociales des inégalités de revenus. En l'absence d'une reprise de la croissance à un rythme élevé, seule une redistribution des revenus et des politiques sociales actives, en particulier la création d'un système de retraite universelle, pourra permettre d'éviter une régression sociale d'ampleur

Financial Integration and Common Payment Systems:

Fragmented payment systems are a major obstacle to financial integration at the regional and international levels. The European Union has launched ambitious policies for the ceation of common payment systems among its country members. Significant results have been achieved in some aspects, but one can say that the European Union is still largely caracterised by fragmented payment systems. This means that one of the basic conditions for financial integration is not fullfilled in the European Union. The purpose of this paper is, in the first place, to present the situation of the different payment systems in the European Union (I), and then, to draw lessons from the European experience for financial integration and payment systems in Asia (II).Financial Integration, payment systems, European Union, Asia

ASEAN Economic Community: the shift from absolute to relative poverty, and the rise of the middle class

International audienceIn 2015 ASEAN has become a community which rests on three pillars: political-security, economic and social-cultural (Jetin and Mikic, 2016). The underlying assumption is that economic development will be fostered by a regional integration deepening, namely a "single market and single production base" which should lead to a convergence of social-cultural development thanks to a catching up process of the latecomers and poorest member states vis-à-vis the more advanced ASEAN Member States (AMS) (Jetin, B. 2016a). This implies a convergence of living standards and a strong decline of poverty. The purpose of this paper is precisely to verify the existence of such a process of convergence among AMS and the nature of this convergence. Which countries are converging? How did poverty evolve and what is the social dynamics implied? Section 1 checks if the existence of ASEAN has favoured a process of convergence of living standards or in other terms a reduction of inequality between countries. In section 2, we show that in several ASEAN countries, absolute poverty has receded but has been replaced by relative, poverty which creates its own set of expectations and potential frustrations. Finally, in section 3, we focus on the emergence of the middle classes and their potential effect on the socioeconomic dynamic of ASEAN countries

L’Asie du Sud-Est et les chaînes de valeur

International audienceEn Asie du Sud-Est, l’après-Seconde Guerre mondiale a ouvert la voie à une vaste recomposition des politiques publiques grâce à la libéralisation des échanges et à la réaffirmation des formes autoritaires de domination politique. S’inspirant peu ou prou du développement nippon, on a assisté à une montée en puissance économique de l’Asie du Sud-Est à partir du tournant des années 1960-1970, ascension économique s’inscrivant dans la foulée de la politique des nouveaux pays industrialisés (NPI) asiatique. Le Japon s’est d’autant plus imposé comme modèle à suivre pour les États du Sud-Est asiatique ont cherché à s’intégrer dans la chaîne mondiale de valeurs. Les composantes structurelles de l’économie de la région sont bien connues : elles se caractérisent par la forte imbrication des élites politiques et du monde des affaires, la nette séparation de l’économie cédée aux entreprises étrangères et les entreprises d’État dominant les marchés nationau

Pauvreté et régime de croissance en Thaïlande

Dans un processus de développement caractérisé par une croissance économique forte, comme c'est le cas en Asie du sud-est, la question de la pauvreté est indissociable de celle de la répartition des fruits de la croissance, elle-même déterminée par les rapports sociaux et leur traduction politique. La question, débattue depuis plusieurs décennies mais toujours d'actualité, est de savoir si la croissance permet une meilleure distribution des revenus ou au contraire si une inégale répartition des revenus est une étape nécessaire dans un processus de développement. Nous considérons ici que la question de la pauvreté est une question plus précise de la question générale de la distribution des revenus. Nous verrons plus bas que la réduction de la pauvreté peut s'accompagner d'une distribution inégalitaire des revenus.Pauvreté, croissance, distribution des revenus, inégalités, Thaïlande, Asie

Labour Flexibility and productivity: an Inquiry into the Thai Labour Regime

Knowledge is presented as the new driving force of competitiveness. It is usually defined as including formal innovation such as R&D and all forms of learning opportunities occurring during economic activities like work and relations with suppliers and customers. Our communication will focus on knowledge, labour markets and work in the context of Thailand. Thailand is an interesting case because it is representative of second-tier high-growth Asian economies, and most of all, because it is a full-employment economy. This means that if workers are not satisfied with their job, they can easily change their employer. If the company wants to retain them, they have to offer something in exchange: higher wages, bonus, and welfare allowances. This has consequences for the diffusion of knowledge. When workers' mobility is high and employment tenure low, workers are the conduits through which knowledge is transferred across firms, leading to possible increases in productivity. When firms prefer to create an internal labour market in order to retain their workers and accumulate knowledge internally, the diffusion of knowledge relies on linkages between firms and their customers. Our objective is to assess the viability of these scenarios in Thailand. We start with a short analysis of the state of science, technology and education in Thailand (section 1). The conclusion is that formal knowledge is lagging behind and that improvements will take time. The diffusion of knowledge through workers' mobility does not seem viable at this stage and the accumulation of knowledge in internal labour market is a better option. Because internal labour markets involve high employment tenure, we then turn to the analysis of mobility and employment tenure (section 2). The objective is to see if there is any tendency towards the strengthening of internal labour markets. We use an in-depth field survey realised by the Centre for Education and Labour Studies (Chiang Mai University, Thailand). This is the first nation-wide survey on these topics. A questionnaire has been applied to interview 1543 industrial workers, staff employees and engineers in 85 private and state companies and to 1567 self-employed and 454 employees of the informal sector. Data on education, workers mobility, employment tenure, wages, bonuses and welfare have been collected and are analysed in the paper. The results show that several elements characteristics of internal labour markets are present in big companies with higher than average technological intensity. International comparisons show that average employment tenure in Thailand is intermediate, inferior to the European and Japanese levels but close to the US level, and much higher than in Latin American countries. We conclude that Thailand has the potential to improve its competitiveness by upgrading the level and the quality of education and by strengthening internal labour markets. Competitiveness could be based on the accumulation of knowledge with a positive impact on productivity rather than cheap labour

Electric batteries and critical materials dependency: a geopolitical analysis of the USA and the European Union

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Electric batteries and critical materials: a geopolitical analysis’ presented at the 31st GERPISA International Conference, “Toward Sustainability? The Electrification of the Automotive Industry”, Université Libre de Bruxelles, June, 27-30, 2023.International audienceThis article estimates the import dependency of the USA and the European Union on the raw materials needed to produce batteries that equip Electric Vehicles. The dependency is very high on many critical materials and on batteries themselves. In a geopolitical context marked by the rising US-China rivalry and new cold wars, it has prompted the USA and the EU to support local mining and processing of critical materials in an attempt to recover their strategic autonomy. They have also deployed raw material diplomacy to secure access to resource-rich countries by favouring allied countries whenever possible. Both decisions are difficult to implement, and progress is slow. China's dominance over the electric battery is difficult to circumscribe, especially since the USA, with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), does not hesitate to defend its interests at the expense of the EU. The result is a politicisation of business, forcing global production networks to align themselves with the opposing blocs