In late 2019, the Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce had the pleasure of hosting two scholars from The Faculty of Engineering at Lund University, Elizabeth Merkoulova and Elin Karlsson Nycander, who were conducting their research for their Master’s thesis and exploratory study on the potential impact by Middle-Income Trap on Sweden-related companies in Thailand and interviewed many of our member companies.
The Chamber is now very pleased to welcome them back for a webinar presenting their research findings on this important question on 28 October.
More about the event:
The term Middle-income Trap (MIT) is relatively new, originating thirteen years ago, but has generated significant debates. It is used by politicians to channel national reforms and has given rise to a vast amount of research on growth slowdowns in middle-income countries (MICs). The term describes the higher prevalence of economic growth slowdowns in MICs, which impedes their transition into high-income countries.
Today, three-quarters of the world live in MICs, many of which are dependent on the presence of foreign firms for continued growth and development. This research explores the phenomenon from a new perspective – studying its effects on international companies.
The phenomenon MIT was investigated using five factors identified in previous research (namely, Human capital, Political Regime Changes, External Factors, High-technology, and Financial Instability), combined with the theory of internationalization. This framework was applied to Sweden-related companies established in Thailand by conducting 18 interviews in Bangkok.
The results showed that all five factors affected the companies to varying degrees. However, one factor of the Middle-Income Trap–the Human Capital– affected almost all of the companies regardless of their internalization strategy. How does it affect the business and how is this mitigated by the companies today?
Come join the webinar to learn about the results and join the discussions afterward!
Find more information and sign up here
