Townsend Thai Project Key Informant Annual Resurvey, 2008

The project is carried out in Thailand under the direction of Khun Sombat Sakuntasathhien and dedicated staff. The project is administered in the United States at the National Opinion Research Center and the University of Chicago. Survey design and research collaborators include Anna Paulson of Northwestern University, Tae Joeng Lee of Yonse University, and Michael Binford of the University of Florida. Robert M. Townsend is overall project director and principal investigator. The initial purpose of the NICHD-NSF funded project was to evaluate the role of informal institutions such as the family and local networks in helping to support the welfare and well-being of individuals in semi-urban and rural areas of Thailand. Risk, and the potentially adverse and direct consequences of household- and firm-specific shocks is a key part of project. The mediating role of the family and social and economic networks in the mobilization of savings and allocation of c redit was also deemed essential. These networks are not viewed in isolation but rather are part of the larger village, regional, and national level financial system. Thus the project includes an evaluation of village-level financial institutions, such as Production Credit Groups and rice banks, and national-level financial institutions such as commercial banks and the government agricultural bank, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC). Indeed, the project has both micro and macro aspects. It seeks to evaluate informal and formal financial institutions and markets and to construct and evaluate macro models of growth, fluctuations, and crisis. The macro models are based on the measured micro- underpinnings. For this part of the study, the headman from each village was interviewed.

本项目于泰国落地实施，由Khun Sombat Sakuntasathhien与专业敬业的团队主导推进。本项目在美国的执行管理工作由全国民意研究中心（National Opinion Research Center）与芝加哥大学（University of Chicago）负责。调查设计与研究合作者包括西北大学的Anna Paulson、延世大学（Yonsei University）的Tae Joeng Lee，以及佛罗里达大学（University of Florida）的Michael Binford。Robert M. Townsend担任项目总负责人与首席研究员。本由美国儿童健康与人类发展研究所与国家科学基金会（National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-National Science Foundation, NICHD-NSF）资助的项目，初始立项目标为评估家庭、地方网络等非正式制度，在助力泰国半城市化与农村地区个体维系福利与福祉方面的作用。家庭与企业层面特定冲击所引发的风险，及其潜在的负面直接影响，是本项目的核心研究内容。家庭与社会经济网络在储蓄动员及信贷配置中的中介作用，同样被视作关键研究环节。此类网络并非孤立存在，而是更大范畴的村级、区域级及国家级金融体系的有机组成部分。据此，本项目同时涵盖对村级金融机构（如生产信贷小组与稻米银行），以及国家级金融机构（如商业银行与政府农业银行——农业与农业合作社银行（Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, BAAC））的评估工作。事实上，本项目兼具微观与宏观双重研究维度：其既旨在评估非正式与正式金融机构及市场，又致力于构建并评估围绕增长、波动与危机的宏观模型。此类宏观模型以实测获取的微观基础为依据。针对本研究的该部分内容，研究人员对各村庄的村长进行了访谈。