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Social and economic policies are too often skewed by political considerations. The Townsend Thai Project offers another basis for policy: accurate measurement based on thoroughly collected data. From this, a clear template emerges for understanding poverty and alleviating it. Since 1997, the project has tracked millions of observations about the economic activities of households and institutions in rural and urban Thailand. The project represents one of the most extensive datasets in the developing world. Chronicles from the Field offers an account of the design and implementation of this unique panel data survey. It tells the story not only of the origins and operations of the project but also of the challenges and rewards that come from a search to understand the process of a country's economic development. Read more and watch video
Reviews
"… a brilliant read. The human aspect that is more than often missing from economic research books is one of the most important features… will appeal to readers from a wide variety of disciplines, and to both academic and nonacademic readers alike." - London School of Economics Review of Books
"... an excellent reminder for all development economists that vigorous and persistent research entrepreneurship focused on economic data collection pays in terms of new knowledge gained and, with some luck, in terms of better economic policies too." - Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture
"... fascinating... enlightening for economists, anthropologists, and sociologists, and a must for whoever wants to embark in field surveys for development economics." - Patrick Rey, Professor of Economics, Toulouse School of Economics
"... very interesting and will be valuable to researchers who are thinking about running such a project themselves. Graduate-level students in economics, sociology, geography, and political science will benefit from reading this book." - Amrita Daniere, Vice Dean, Graduate, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Mississauga