Income Distribution, Poverty and Economic Crisis in Southeast Asia

本研究的目的是（1）分析1997年7月以泰铢贬值为开端的亚洲经济危机对东南亚国家收入分配和贫困的影响;调查能够充分和及时反映收入分配和贫困状况的统计系统，并利用初步和有限的数据进行估计，以便经济和社会政策能够在货币和经济危机开始的泰国，自1986年以来每两年进行一次家庭社会经济调查。有了这些数据，可以分析泡沫经济给泰国带来的原因，危机后收入分配和贫困的变化。1999年的调查数据是不定期进行的，显示了结构性变化，如从城市向农村地区的移徙。除泰国外，我们还分析了菲律宾、印度尼西亚、马来西亚、新加坡和老挝的收入分配和贫困状况。对于那些接受货币基金组织援助的国家，统计数字的透明度很高，分析是根据公布的数据进行的。然而，那些没有接受的国家，如马来西亚，不愿意向公众开放统计数据，可能是担心这会使政治局势不稳定。虽然资料有限，但由于收入分布的特点，我们可以估计收入分布。本研究中的一些分析是基于初步数据或对某些变量的估计。因此，当出现新数据或修订数据时，将重新检查本研究的结果。

The aims of this study are (1) to analyze the impact of the Asian economic crises that started in July 1997 by the devaluation of Thai baht on income distribution and poverty in Southeast Asian countries and (2) to investigate the statistical system that adequately and timely capture the situation of income distribution and poverty and to estimate them with preliminary and limited data so that economic and social policies are formed to relieve the poverty as well as worsening income inequality.In Thailand where the currency and economic crises started, household socio-economic survey has been conducted every two years since 1986. With these data the causes that brought about the bubble economy to Thailand, the changes in income distribution and poverty after the crisis can be analyzed. The survey data of 1999, which was conducted irregularly, revealed the structural change such as migration from urban to rural areas. This impact was analyzed by the regional income disparity.Beside Thailand, we analyzed the situation of income distribution and poverty for the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Laos. For those countries that accepted the aid from IMF the transparency of statistics is very high and the analysis was conducted with published data. However, those countries that did not accepted such as Malaysia are not willing to make statistics open to general public, maybe with a fear that it makes the political situation unstable. Even though the information is limited, we can estimate the income distribution because the characteristics of the distribution of income.Some of the analyses conducted in this study are based on preliminary data or estimation of some variables. Therefore the results of this study will be re-examined when new data or revised data will appear.