From a supply-side perspective, Thailand should be able to sustain a high rate of growth in future years. Labor force growth will be about 2 percent per year; and improvement in education and skills would augment that by 0.8 (low) to 1.2 (high) percent annually. Furthermore, if the incremental employment growth is concentrated in industry and services, gains from reallocation should continue to contribute to TFP growth in the range of 1.5-2 percent annually. A simple growth model framework suggests a sustainable output growth rate (y) of :
y = h +a/(1- α), where h = growth of the quality adjusted labor force, a = rate of TFP increase, and (1-α) = labor’s share of total income. The labor share within the total economy averaged 56 percent in 2000-2004, suggesting a future sustainable rate of output growth of 5.5 (low) to 6.8 (high) percent annually. Sustained output growth, however, requires a matching rate of capital accumulation. In recent years, the capital-output ratio has averaged about 2.7 and the implicit rate of capital depreciation is 5.5 percent per year. That suggests that sustained output growth of 5.5 to 6.8 percent would require a gross investment rate in the range of 29.5 to 33.2. That rate is below the 34 percent average of 1977-96, but substantially in excess of the 22 percent rate achieved in 2004.