The political economy of productivity : Thai agricultural development, 1880-1975 / David Feeny.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Feeny, David, 1948-

Series:

Asian studies monographs ; 3.

Asian studies monographs ; 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agriculture--Economic aspects--Thailand--History.

Agriculture.

Thailand--Economic conditions.

Thailand.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 238 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Press, c1982.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The economic history of Thailand between 1880 and 1975 contrasts sharply with the development experiences of other Third World countries. Between the opening of trade in 1850 and 1941, when war halted economic activity, Thailand became a major exporter of rice in the world market. Although conditions for further growth seemed highly favourable, Thailand's rapid integration into the world economy failed to improve living standards, and rice yields actually declined. In examining the causes of the underdevelopment of Thai agriculture over the last 100 years, Feeny introduces supply and demand models of technical and institutional change to analyse why the rice export boom did not result in more development. This book, much of which is based on primary research in the Thai National Archives, is one of the few quantitative economic histories of a less developed country.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

A Theory of Technical and Institutional Change

Economic Change in Thailand, 1880 to 1940

The Technology of Rice Production, 1880-1940

Institutional Change: Irrigation Policy

From Property Rights in Man to Property Rights in Land

Technical and Institutional Change in Thai Agriculture, 1880 to 1940

Post-World War II Thai Agricultural Development

Economic Data

A General Equilibrium Model with Two Goods and Three Factors

Explanations of the Yield Decline in the Central Plain, 1920-21 to 1941

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

"... an extensively revised version of a doctoral thesis submitted to the Department of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison."--Prelim.

Includes bibliography and index.

ISBN:

1-283-22670-7

9786613226709

0-7748-5776-5

OCLC:

243613721