On Sustainability
Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Global StudiesPattaraphongpan Chaiyamart’s Shares
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Marginal rate of substitution of multidimensional well-being for affected residents of the dam, Pak Mun Dam
The marginal rate of substitution shows that negatively affected residents of Pak Mun Dam are willing to trade three units of economic well-being to gain one more unit of social well-being. Marginal rate of substitution (MRS) provides important information to the government regarding such trade-offs. Given the limited budget and resources, the optimal point of the combination of these dimensions of well-being should be determined in order to provide better strategy and policy to improve the conditions for residents affected by the dam’s construction. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to find a standardized estimate of each dimension and used it for MRS calculation.
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Pak Mun Dam’s long term impact on local residents’ livelihood
Multidimensional well-being is an important method for understanding the social functioning of communities affected by the Pak Mun Dam, 26 years after its construction. This is the first quantitative research on the well-being of these communities. In six of eight well-being dimensions, the more distant communities are faring better than those in close proximity to the dam. Furthermore, 24 of 40 items that represent each dimension have statistically significant lower means in the affected community. This result shows the long-lasting nature of negative effects on communities and without appropriate policy action, negative impacts will linger preventing developmental progress from occurring.
