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Control and Rent-Seeking: The Role of the State in the Thai Cassava Industry

Siriprachai, Somboon LU (1998)
Abstract
What we can conclude from this study is that the state and the market are not perfect substitutes in allocating resources and sustaining economic development separately. The case of the Thai cassava industry seems to suggest that the Thai state is not benevolent, but predatory in nature. The central point is that the Thai state cannot be simply seen as weak and predatory without understanding the dysfunction of the Thai institutions. Both formal and informal institutions in Thai society have been playing a significant role in shaping the economic policy choice. The case of the cassava industry shows that the administrative law is the main legal system empowering the elected politicians and government bureaucrats to administer the country.... (More)
What we can conclude from this study is that the state and the market are not perfect substitutes in allocating resources and sustaining economic development separately. The case of the Thai cassava industry seems to suggest that the Thai state is not benevolent, but predatory in nature. The central point is that the Thai state cannot be simply seen as weak and predatory without understanding the dysfunction of the Thai institutions. Both formal and informal institutions in Thai society have been playing a significant role in shaping the economic policy choice. The case of the cassava industry shows that the administrative law is the main legal system empowering the elected politicians and government bureaucrats to administer the country. This path-dependency has allowed élite groups to easily abuse power without being checked by the legislative and judicial systems like in other developed countries. Since the middle of the 1970s, the Thai political economy has been seen as semi-democratic. However, the roles of vested-interest groups and other non-government groups have been growing, but they are limited by the fact that the country has been ruled by the administrative law. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Booth, Anne
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Social and economic history, Cassava, The Thai State, Transaction Costs, Rent-Seeking, New Institutional Economics, Ekonomisk och social historia
pages
297 pages
publisher
Lund University Press
defense location
Crafoordssalen, Holger Crafoords Ekonomicentrum
defense date
1998-05-25 10:15:00
external identifiers
  • other:ISRN: LUSADG/SAEH--98/1052--SE
ISBN
91-7966-533-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dbfcd85f-4d54-4297-b843-91b303ffc1bd (old id 18726)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:26:36
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:34:28
@phdthesis{dbfcd85f-4d54-4297-b843-91b303ffc1bd,
  abstract     = {{What we can conclude from this study is that the state and the market are not perfect substitutes in allocating resources and sustaining economic development separately. The case of the Thai cassava industry seems to suggest that the Thai state is not benevolent, but predatory in nature. The central point is that the Thai state cannot be simply seen as weak and predatory without understanding the dysfunction of the Thai institutions. Both formal and informal institutions in Thai society have been playing a significant role in shaping the economic policy choice. The case of the cassava industry shows that the administrative law is the main legal system empowering the elected politicians and government bureaucrats to administer the country. This path-dependency has allowed élite groups to easily abuse power without being checked by the legislative and judicial systems like in other developed countries. Since the middle of the 1970s, the Thai political economy has been seen as semi-democratic. However, the roles of vested-interest groups and other non-government groups have been growing, but they are limited by the fact that the country has been ruled by the administrative law.}},
  author       = {{Siriprachai, Somboon}},
  isbn         = {{91-7966-533-0}},
  keywords     = {{Social and economic history; Cassava; The Thai State; Transaction Costs; Rent-Seeking; New Institutional Economics; Ekonomisk och social historia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University Press}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Control and Rent-Seeking: The Role of the State in the Thai Cassava Industry}},
  year         = {{1998}},
}