To assess how differences in the availability of local public goods and infrastructure affect local
prices, we apply the hedonic pricing method to the non-urban provinces of Thailand in the period from
1996 to 2002. Thailand is administratively divided into three layers: central, provincial, and local. The
provincial administration (which is the relevant one for our purposes) is composed of 75 provinces
(changwats). Bangkok, as the capital city, is a local autonomous body. Provinces are grouped
geographically into four regions: Central, North, Northeast, and South. Provincial governors, who are
the administrative heads of government, supervise all department personnel and programmes.
Although they exercise a small degree of independence, provincial governments are still primarily
concerned with executing central government policies. Provinces are further subdivided into districts,
sub-districts (tambon) and villages, each with their own administrative organization; we do not analyse
these finer structures here.