Impact of Chemical Pesticides Use in a Social Accounting Matrix Framework: A Case Study of Thailand

Abstract

Although there are several studies on the impact of pesticides use, there is no consistent conclusion about such evidence on capturing the socioeconomic independence. The propose of this paper is to investigate the economy-wide impact of pesticide use in Thailand. The research data and methodology in this paper are depended on a social accounting matrix framework incorporating the pesticide-related illness as an additional sector, following Resosudarmo and Thorbecke (1998), to explain the impact of the pesticides on the related agricultural sector, food sector, and the social welfare of different households. Thus, the main characteristics of the Thai economy can be comprehensively described by providing information contained in this framework. In this respect, the several data sets are constructed to include the economic and social structure interdependencies, which are necessary to analyze the policy implications, especially industrial policy. The results were analyzed according to the general equilibrium theory and the Leontief multiplier matrix. It reveals that the food industry and the economy are significantly affected by the pesticides. One of the most interesting findings of this paper suggest that the food sector needs to determine its output to avoid bottleneck situations and create equality across the food production system.