Big data has swept over the entire world. Most private companies know well that data is essential in making smart decisions but Thailand’s expenditure on research and development amounts to only 1% of its GDP, ranking at 38th in the world behind countries like South Korea, Japan, China, and our neighbors: Singapore and Malaysia.
Why is research and development so significant?
Raj Chetty and his research team from Harvard University evaluated the long-term impact of education and found that good education enhanced the ability to pay higher tax – the better education the child had, the more they are likely to earn more and pay more tax when they grow up. This shows that investment in children is significant to human capital investment, it helps the government to earn more income in the future and has social impacts such as a decrease in crime rates.
Another study found that students in rural China improved their scores on standardized tests for up to 18% after receiving eyeglasses that enhanced their eyesights. This is perhaps why China has increased its investment in research and development to the highest in its history at 2.44% of GDP in 2021.
‘Data and statistics’ can have enormous impacts on our lives.
Another study which was awarded a Nobel Prize found that anthelmintic drugs help children study better. The research team gave antihelminthic drugs to several schools and later on, the number of students who were absent from school decreased. Taking children’s health care into consideration can positively affect their education. And the ministry of education benefits from this study as well as the ministry of public health that gets to reduce healthcare costs.
There are still many doors left unopened in the field of information and data in Thailand, and investment in research is the key to knowledge that can help us solve difficult problems in this society. ‘Research, data, and statistics’ are the tools that policy makers should utilize and focus on for better policy-making and better society, for all.
Sources:
https://www.nber.org/papers/w16381
http://emiguel.econ.berkeley.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Paper__Worms.pdf
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/glasses-chinese-children-031114.html
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS?end=2019&name_desc=false&start=2019&view=map