Rice Prices and Income Distribution in Thailand: A Non-Parametric Analysis

Rice is a staple crop in Thailand, significantly entering both household production and consumption. This paper examines the effect of rice prices on the distribution of real income across households, taking into account household characteristics and geographical location. The data set is a large-scale survey of 11, 893 households. Simple nonparametric techniques for regression and density estimation are used. These methods depend on few assumptions and generate flexible graphical results that are directly informative about the problem at hand. The main results are that higher rice prices should benefit all rural households, but the largest benefits accrue to rural households in the middle of the income distribution.