FACTORS AFFECTING ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
USING PANEL DATA ANALYSIS
WARATTAYA CHINNAKUM
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ECONOMICS)
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY
AUGUST 2012
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FACTORS AFFECTING ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
USING PANEL DATA ANALYSIS
WARATTAYA CHINNAKUM
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ECONOMICS)
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY
AUGUST 2012
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been finished without the help of my thesis committee, family, friend and faculty’s staff. I would like to thank you all for my success.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Songsak Sriboonchitta, Professor and former Dean of the Chiang Mai School of Economics, for the continuous support of my Ph.D study and research, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Ph.D study. At the same time, this work would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Professor Dr. Peter H. Calkins who provided technical support to help me finish two papers as a part of my thesis and also gave me the most precious advice on my thesis and valuable comments for further studies as well.
I am sincere thanks to my chairperson Prof. Dr. Hung T. Nguyen, for his continuous and kind supervision and guidance. He gave valuable suggestions in detail for the methodological part in my thesis and suggested me about one paper as a part of my thesis. His guidance has served me well and I owe him my heartfelt appreciation. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanchana Chokethaworn and Dr. Pathairat Pastpipatkul, lecturer at Faculty of Economic, Chiang Mai University, to their valuable comments and suggestions.
The financial support of the Higher Education Commission is gratefully acknowledged.
I am sincerely indebted to my parent, Santad Chinnakum and Malai Chinnakum, my brother and my grandparents, who always taking care of me and supporting me.
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My hard-working parents have sacrificed their lives for my brother and myself and provided unconditional love and care. I love them so much, and I would not have made it this far without them. I would like to thanks my best friend, Trai Aueapisithwong, for helping me get through the difficult times, and for all the emotional support, entertainment, and caring he provided. I also would like to thanks my PhD’s friends, Pimpimon Kaewmanee, Siwarat Kusol, and Orakanya Kanjanatarakul, for all the fun and liveliness we have had in the five years.
Furthermore, I also would like to thanks staff of Faculty of Economic, Chiang Mai University, for their care and attention.
Beyond the names mentioned here, there have been numerous people who have helped me during my thesis research and writing, I offer you my deepest thanks.
All of the above individuals have contributed to whatever vision, creativity and academic value the present dissertation may have. Any errors and short-comings remain of course mine alone.
Warattaya Chinnakum iv
