Message from the Director
The Research Institute for Policy Evaluation and Design (RIPED) aims to be the leading interdisciplinary research institute in South East Asia. Our immediate priorities are to build research capacity and enhance research reputation by publishing in high quality, peer-reviewed journals. Our long-term objective is to maximize our impact on public policies through independent and impartial policy evaluation analysis and rigorous policy designs. Again publishing in leading academic journals is the best way to ensure the soundness of our methodology and the quality of our findings.
The interdisciplinary research fellows enable RIPED to cover a wide range of relevant policy issues. At the same time, each research fellow’s interests are very focused. Researchers at RIPED continuously improve their expertise by conducting rigorous research and presenting in internal seminars as well as international conferences. To help our research fellows produce cutting-edge research, RIPED has established a close collaboration with Professor Robert M. Townsend from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and periodically invited academics and experts from around the world to visit the Institute.This gives our researchers a unique opportunity to work closely with the world’s leading scholars.
RIPED is currently running a quarterly panel survey of approximately 2,400 households: the Thailand Enterprise Panel Survey (TEPS). TEPS is funded by the Templeton Foundation (through the Enterprise Initiative), the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation (through the Consortium for Financial Systems for Poverty), and the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. This survey is unique in that it strikes a balance between traditional firm-level surveys and household surveys. The survey collects not only detailed household information but also thorough set of firm-related variables. TEPS data offers great opportunities for researchers, our research fellows in particular, to investigate and better understand the roles of financial system, family networks, and technology on economic development. This body of knowledge from research will provide the basis for our robust policy recommendations.