タイ輸出工業の発展(<特集>経済特集 : 貿易・直接投資と経済発展)

Abstract

For a long time, Thailand was under the strong inhibiting influence of patrimonialism, and was unable to develop either agricultural or industrial technology. Even in the period after 1950, patrimonial forces tended to twist the direction of industrial development by the so-called import-substitution policy. Manufactured exports (exclusive of tin) accounted for only 5.4% of total exports as late as 1970. A change in government policy towards export promotion, investment in infrastructure, improvement in education and the transfer of technology appears to have started to cause an increasingly rapid development of the most labor-intensive type of manufactures since 1970. The proportion of manufactured exports in total exports increased to 14.6% in 1975 and then to 28.8% by 1980. The rise in this ratio is particularly impressive, since the 1970's was a period in which Thai exports grew at a very high average rate of 11.7% per year. In an effort to shed more light on the cause of such a rapid structural change, the author interviewed the managers of 13 Thai corporations in the fall of 1980. The findings are quite interesting. First, in the last five years, the productivity of labor-intensive industries tended to increase rapidly coupled with the rapid expansion of exports, where-as most heavy industries failed to raise productivity and remained domestic-market oriented. Secondly, the most important cause of the productivity increase was, according to these managers, the improvement in the quality of labor. This took place in all industries but its effect was felt most dramatically in labor-intensive industries. Finally, one of the important characteristics of the improvement of labor quality was the dramatic reduction of the turn-over ratio. This was caused by changes in managerial attitude, the wage system, paternalistic practices, work conditions at factories and so on, and these were further affected by the lower turn-over ratio. The lower turn-over ratio also encouraged on-the-job training and helped improve productivity. Finally, the paper speculates on the future of manufactured exports and its effect on the nature of economic development. Though more time is apparently needed before the Thai economy can develop equitably, the rise of manufactured exports indicates the possibility of such a development in the future.