Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' Strategy for Enhancing Thai farmers' Escape from the Middle-income trap

Abstract

"Behavioral Economy" is an interdisciplinary field that combines knowledge of economics and psychology to explain irrational behavior, which is difficult to predict and affects an individual's decision-making process. A fundamental aspect of most individuals is their preference for freedom and dislike for being controlled, and this tendency is often leveraged as a tool to persuade and guide individuals towards beneficial actions or to encourage them to make decisions or behave in a certain way. While this approach is widely used in healthcare and finance, there are relatively few academic works that apply behavioral theories to government policy and administration. This article aims to examine economic behaviorism through the lens of "Nudge Theory" and propose ways to apply these theories to establish, implement, and improve government policies or administration in order to achieve desired outcomes in various contexts of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' strategy. The study finds that "Nudge Theory" can be used to design activities for government administration that comprehensively meet the objectives and indicators of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' strategy. The study suggests that the E A S T principle, which encompass (a) making it easy for individuals, (b) making it attractive, (c) promoting social norms, and (d) making it timely, can serve as a guideline for integration to encourage desirable behavior and should be implemented in accordance with the strategic plan in the context of each area. This will help improve the performance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and solve long-term problems for Thai farmers, enabling them to escape the middle-income trap and achieve the targets and indicators of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' strategy sustainably.