Business Structure in Thailand and Community Self-Reliance: A Critical Analysis and Policy Recommendations
Keywords:
Business Structure , Community, Self-Reliance, Critical Analysis, Policy, RecommendationsAbstract
This article is a conceptual and narrative literature analysis that rigorously analyzes the correlation between company structure in Thailand and the policy of community self-reliance. The objectives are threefold: to research capitalist economic systems, to examine collective organizational structures, and to evaluate family enterprises as micro-level entrepreneurial units. The review utilizes political economy, organizational theory, family business research, and entrepreneurship literature. The results demonstrate that Thailand's business framework is significantly influenced by household and family-owned firms, which advantageously possess concentrated ownership, adaptable decision-making, and immediate entrepreneurial motivations. Conversely, collective-based models such as cooperatives, community enterprises, and OTOP promote social inclusion and local engagement but frequently encounter challenges in governance, incentives, market adaptability, and scalability. The comparative research indicates that community self-reliance policy should not depend exclusively on communal ownership models but should also enhance household-level entrepreneurship via financial resources, business training, market access, and institutional support. The paper reframes homes and family enterprises as significant components of community economic growth. This study mostly relies on secondary literature and conceptual analysis, lacking actual empirical testing or field-based evidence, which should be addressed in future research.
References
Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2012). Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. Crown Business. https://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/publications/why-nations-fail-origins-power-prosperity-and-poverty
Acs, Z. J., Autio, E., & Szerb, L. (2014). National systems of entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications. Research Policy, 43(3), 476–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.08.016
Anderson, R. C., & Reeb, D. M. (2003). Founding-family ownership and firm performance: Evidence from the S&P 500. The Journal of Finance, 58(3), 1301–1328. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6261.00567
Baumol, W. J. (1990). Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive. Journal of Political Economy, 98(5), 893–921. https://doi.org/10.1086/261712
Beck, T., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Levine, R. (2007). Finance, inequality and the poor. Journal of Economic Growth, 12(1), 27–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-007-9010-6
Berrone, P., Cruz, C., & Gómez-Mejía, L. R. (2012). Socioemotional wealth in family firms: Theoretical dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research. Family Business Review, 25(3), 258–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894486511435355
Bertrand, M., Johnson, S., Samphantharak, K., & Schoar, A. (2008). Mixing family with business: A study of Thai business groups and the families behind them. Journal of Financial Economics, 88(3), 466–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2008.04.002
Bijman, J., Muradian, R., & Cechin, A. (2013). Agricultural cooperatives and value chain coordination. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 84(4), 445–462. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12024
Birchall, J. (2011). People-centred businesses: Co-operatives, mutuals and the idea of membership. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230295292
Boonlert-U-Thai, K., & Sen, P. K. (2019). Family ownership and earnings quality of Thai firms. Asian Review of Accounting, 27(1), 112–136. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARA-03-2018-0085
Bruton, G. D., Ketchen, D. J., Jr., & Ireland, R. D. (2013). Entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty. Journal of Business Venturing, 28(6), 683–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.05.002
Carney, M. (2005). Corporate governance and competitive advantage in family-controlled firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(3), 249–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2005.00081.x
Carney, R. W., & Child, T. B. (2013). Changes to the ownership and control of East Asian corporations between 1996 and 2008: The primacy of politics. Journal of Financial Economics, 107(2), 494–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2012.08.013
Charoenrat, T., & Harvie, C. (2014). The efficiency of SMEs in Thai manufacturing: A stochastic frontier analysis. Economic Modelling, 43, 372–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2014.08.009
Charoenrat, T., & Harvie, C. (2017). The performance of Thai manufacturing SMEs: Data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Global Business Review, 18(5), 1178–1198. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150917710346
Charoenrat, T., Harvie, C., & Amornkitvikai, Y. (2013). Thai manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise technical efficiency: Evidence from firm-level industrial census data. Journal of Asian Economics, 27, 42–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2013.04.011
Chrisman, J. J., Chua, J. H., Pearson, A. W., & Barnett, T. (2012). Family involvement, family influence, and family-centered non-economic goals in small firms. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36(2), 267–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00407.x
Claessens, S., Djankov, S., & Lang, L. H. P. (2000). The separation of ownership and control in East Asian corporations. Journal of Financial Economics, 58(1–2), 81–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(00)00067-2
Connelly, J. T., Limpaphayom, P., & Nagarajan, N. J. (2012). Form versus substance: The effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on firm value in Thailand. Journal of Banking & Finance, 36(6), 1722–1743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2012.01.017
Cook, M. L., & Burress, M. J. (2009). A cooperative life cycle framework. Journal of Cooperatives, 23, 1–16. https://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/en/events/p-cook.pdf
Cook, M. L., & Iliopoulos, C. (2000). Ill-defined property rights in collective action. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 82(2), 412–418. https://doi.org/10.1111/0002-9092.00036
De Soto, H. (2000). The mystery of capital: Why capitalism triumphs in the West and fails everywhere else. Basic Books. https://archive.org/details/mysteryofcapital00soto
Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Klapper, L., Singer, D., Ansar, S., & Hess, J. (2018). The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring financial inclusion and the fintech revolution. World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/ed800062-e062-5a05-acdd-90429d8a5a07
Djankov, S., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (2003). Courts. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(2), 453–517. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355303321675437
Djankov, S., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (2002). The regulation of entry. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(1), 1–37. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355302753399436
Ebrahim, A., Battilana, J., & Mair, J. (2014). The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 34, 81–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2014.09.001
Gedajlovic, E., Carney, M., Chrisman, J. J., & Kellermanns, F. W. (2012). The adolescence of family firm research: Taking stock and planning for the future. Journal of Management, 38(4), 1010–1037. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311429990
Gereffi, G., Humphrey, J., & Sturgeon, T. (2005). The governance of global value chains. Review of International Political Economy, 12(1), 78–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290500049805
Hansmann, H. (1996). The ownership of enterprise. Harvard University Press. https://www.sscc.wisc.edu/soc/faculty/pages/wright/929-utopias-2013/Real%20Utopia%20Readings/HansmannCh1-2.pdf
Harvie, C. (2010). SMEs and regional production networks. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 17(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/13571510903461130
La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (1999). Corporate ownership around the world. The Journal of Finance, 54(2), 471–517. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-1082.00115
Lussier, R. N., & Halabi, C. E. (2010). A three-country comparison of the business success versus failure prediction model. Journal of Small Business Management, 48(3), 360–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-627X.2010.00298.x
Miller, D., & Le Breton-Miller, I. (2005). Managing for the long run: Lessons in competitive advantage from great family businesses. Harvard Business School Press. https://books.google.com/books/about/Managing_for_the_Long_Run.html?id=5fqYqzlWU5IC
North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678
Olson, M. (1965). The logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups. Harvard University Press.
Ortmann, G. F., & King, R. P. (2007). Agricultural cooperatives I: History, theory and problems. Agrekon, 46(1), 18–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/03031853.2007.9523760
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807763
Peredo, A. M., & Chrisman, J. J. (2006). Toward a theory of community-based enterprise. Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2006.20208683
Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. Free Press. https://books.google.com/books/about/Competitive_Advantage.html?id=9C-5AAAAIAAJ
Porter, M. E. (1998, November–December). Clusters and the new economics of competition. Harvard Business Review, 76(6), 77–90. https://hbr.org/1998/11/clusters-and-the-new-economics-of-competition
Sitthipongpanich, T., & Polsiri, P. (2015). Do CEO and board characteristics matter? A study of Thai family firms. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 6(2), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2015.01.002
Somboonvechakarn, C., Taiphapoon, T., Anuntavoranich, P., & Sinthupinyo, S. (2022). Communicating innovation and sustainability in family businesses through succession. Heliyon, 8(11), Article e11760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11760
Stam, E. (2015). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional policy: A sympathetic critique. European Planning Studies, 23(9), 1759–1769. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2015.1061484
Suehiro, A., & Wailerdsak, N. (2004). Family business in Thailand: Its management, governance, and future challenges. ASEAN Economic Bulletin, 21(1), 81–93.
Welter, F., Baker, T., Audretsch, D. B., & Gartner, W. B. (2017). Everyday entrepreneurship—A call for entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(3), 311–321. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12258
Williamson, O. E. (1985). The economic institutions of capitalism: Firms, markets, relational contracting. Free Press. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Economic_Institutions_of_Capitalism.html?id=lj-6AAAAIAAJ
Yabushita, N., & Suehiro, A. (2014). Family business groups in Thailand: Coping with management critical points. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 31(4), 997–1018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-014-9388-6
Yoshino, N., & Taghizadeh-Hesary, F. (2016). Major challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia and solutions for mitigating them (ADBI Working Paper No. 564). Asian Development Bank Institute. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/182532/adbi-wp564.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nakhon Ratchasima Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.