Impact of Welfare Card Scheme on Household Economic Development in Rural Thailand
Issued Date
2026-01-01
Resource Type
ISSN
01161105
eISSN
19967241
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-105037195822
Journal Title
Asian Development Review
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Asian Development Review (2026)
Suggested Citation
Torut B. Impact of Welfare Card Scheme on Household Economic Development in Rural Thailand. Asian Development Review (2026). doi:10.1142/S0116110526400032 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/116526
Title
Impact of Welfare Card Scheme on Household Economic Development in Rural Thailand
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Author's Affiliation
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Abstract
This study examines the effectiveness of the welfare card program—an unconditional cash transfer program—in reducing poverty in rural Thailand. The study uses a difference-in-differences framework incorporated with coarsened exact matching from the Thailand–Vietnam Socio-Economic Panel project to assess both targeting effectiveness and household economic impact. The findings revealed significant targeting challenges, with both inclusion and exclusion errors. There is no significant evidence that unconditional cash transfers affect recipients’ economic outcomes in terms of increased accumulated wealth, savings, productive assets, or reduced debt. However, welfare cards increase the consumption expenditure of households earning below the minimum wage. Poverty reduction in Thailand requires shifting from marginal liquidity supplements to a holistic policy framework that combines rigorous eligibility screening with public investments in resilient coping capacities for rural households.