Middle Income Trap

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Event Details

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 Masters 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.

We are now very pleased to welcome them back for a webinar presenting their research findings on this important question!

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 lives 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 internationalisation. 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 internalisation 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 afterwards!

Event Details

Date: Thursday, 28 October 2021

Time: 13:00-14:00 (Thailand time)

Location: Via online platform (link will be sent to participants before the event starts)

Entry:

SweCham Members, Free of Charge

Non-members, 500 THB

About the speakers:

Elizabeth Merkoulova and Elin Karlsson-Nycander studied the economic phenomenon Middle-Income Trap and its potential impact on international companies during their master's thesis. For their research, they interviewed 18 Sweden-related companies based in Thailand during the autumn of 2019.

In 2020 they graduated with a Master's in Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Management at Lund University in Sweden. Today, both Elizabeth and Elin are based in Stockholm. Elizabeth works as a financial analyst at Northvolt and Elin as an IT Management Consultant at Olingo Consulting.