NEWS
2023.06.15
【Report】The 54th AJI Frontier Seminar on "Relationship between Education and Wage Inequality in Thailand: A Quantile Regression Analysis"
On May 9th, 2023, the 54th AJI Research Frontier Seminar took place online. Dr. Variya Kunapasut, a Senior Researcher at Asia-Japan Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University gave a presentation entitled "Relationship between Education and Wage Inequality in Thailand: A Quantile Regression Analysis."
Dr. Kunapasut began her presentation by stating that Thailand has one of the highest income inequality rates in the world, where the wealthiest 1% of the total population owns more than 67% of the national net worth. Meanwhile, people in rural areas suffer from lower rates of income and low education opportunities, a large number of dependents, and difficult living conditions. To address the income inequality problem her study, conducted from 2009 to 2018, investigated the relationship between educational attainment and income inequality in central Thailand. Her methodology employed Mincerian wage equations and quantile regression to reveal the improvement in wage distribution as a result of enhanced educational levels and provided insights into the dynamics of within-groups and between-groups inequalities and the changes in the wage gap over time.
The results suggested that education positively contributes to income inequality and the effects become greater the higher education level is. Analysis indicated some decline in the income gap over the period in all levels, but mostly income level, and university graduates experienced the largest negative changes in income inequality compared to other education categories. The reduction in income disparity was attributed to changes in Thailand’s wage policy targeting university graduates at the lower end of the wage distribution which was in accord with the findings in this study.
Dr. Kunapasut’s lecture was followed by a Q & A session in which she discussed her methodology and the difficulty of explaining specific scientific data to non-specialists. She answered each question carefully and explained that her precise investigation of different sectors of society was necessary to accurately determine how to address the problems of income disparity in the future.
Dr. Variya Kunapasut delivering her presentation