A synthetic cohort analysis of female labour supply: the case of Thailand

This study analyzes trends and patterns in employment, hours worked, and women's wages for Thai women, and relations among these variables in models of female labour supply. Labour supply behaviour of Thai women is investigated with synthetic cohort data defined by age, year of birth, and level of educational attainment, constructed from annual labour force surveys from 1985 to 2004. According to pseudo-panel estimates, wage increases lead to a reduction in hours worked, but also an increase in the employment/population ratio, with elasticity estimates that are robust across a variety of specifications. Estimates based on disaggregation by marital status show that marriage provides protection against wage decreases, allowing married women greater choice between hours of work and other household activities. Alternative disaggregations find that younger cohorts of women and those with the highest education show the greatest (positive) response of the employment rate to wage changes, leading to a future Thai labour force with more women and higher educational attainment.