Reports
Discussion Papers
No.945 The Wage Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic by Company Size: Evidence from Thailand
by Kazunobu Hayakawa, Sasatra Sudsawasd
October 2024
ABSTRACT
Large enterprises tend to perform better than small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in normal times. However, this general principle may not hold true during periods of instability such as large-scale pandemics. While large companies may be able to implement a work-from-home system more flexibly, SMEs may require government support. Against this backdrop, we empirically investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market, especially wages, in Thailand. By using the individual-level quarterly data in Thailand from 2019 to 2022, we examine the differences in the wage impact of the COVID-19 pandemic according to company size. Our finding is that, as in other countries, workers in larger-sized companies had significantly higher wages. However, we also find that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to reducing the wage gap across company sizes on average, especially in the manufacturing sector.
Keywords: Covid-19, wages, Thailand
JEL classification: I14, R11
PDF available at https://hdl.handle.net/2344/0002001136
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