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This study examines the linkages between foreign investment and the total factor productivity of local enterprises within manufacturing industry in Vietnam. The Wooldridge GMM estimation approach is applied to panel data to estimate production function, which allows us to obtain total factor productivity of local firms. We then investigate how foreign investment influences local enterprise productivity through different spillover channels using two-step system GMM, FE and RE estimations. Our consistent findings show that foreign investment has a negative impact on the total factor productivity of domestic enterprises through the competition channel within an industry. There are strong positive spillovers associated with backward rather than forward linkages. Further insights relate to firm ownership, location, and the state of technology in which the different spillovers occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the linkages between foreign and domestic investment at sector level in a transitional economy. Using System Generalized Method of Moments estimation on a strong balanced dataset covering all sectors across the country, our results consistently suggest that foreign direct investment in Vietnam positively motivates domestic private investment in the same sector. Examination of the linkages finds evidence of crowding-in effects from foreign investment on domestic private investment in downstream sectors that have strong linkages with foreign investment in upstream sectors. No significant impact is found in upstream domestic investment that has linkages with foreign investment in downstream sectors. State-owned investment and joint-venture investment by foreign and domestic investors have a generally negative effect on the investment behavior of private investors. Domestic private investment in export-oriented sectors appears to be more responsive to the presence of foreign investment in both upstream and downstream sectors through vertical linkages. • This paper examines the linkages between foreign and domestic investment at sector level in Vietnam over the period 2010–2015. • Our results consistently suggest that foreign direct investment in Vietnam positively motivates domestic private investment in the same sector. • In particularly, we find evidence of crowding-in effects from foreign investment to domestic private investment in the downstream sectors that have strong linkages with foreign investment in upstream sectors. • There is no significant impact found in terms of upstream domestic investment that has linkages with foreign investment in downstream sectors. State-owned investment and joint-venture investment involving foreign and domestic investors have a generally negative impact on the investing behavior of private investors. • Domestic private investment in export-oriented sectors appears to be more responsive to the presence of foreign investment in both upstream and downstream sectors through vertical linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the gender income inequality between male and female workers in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Vietnam. Using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach to a dataset obtained from a unique employee survey during the 2011-2015 period, we find that the gender income gap (7.4%) in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is smaller than the common gendered wage gap (10%) in the general workforce in Vietnam. Our results reveal that education and experience play less important roles in the workers' earning in SMEs where education and high skills may not highly demanded. The gender wage gap is mostly unexplained by observed factors or endowments in our models. The largest part of the gendered wage gap is still mystified which may include gender discrimination that is unobservable. Overall, the gender income inequality in the sector in Vietnam is not as worse as seen in higher skilled sectors as well as in many other countries. This helps shed light on the mechanism of gender income inequality and helps policy makers to tackle the causes of income gap or inequality between sexes as well as amongst all workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between FTAs and inward FDI in Vietnam using panel data for Vietnam's 17 main foreign investors over the period 1997–2016, and 23 partners for the sub-period 2005–2016. In contrast to past studies that focus on either multiple FTAs for a group of countries or case studies for a well-known FTA, we evaluate whether the overall involvement in FTAs of a developing country such as Vietnam increases FDI inflows. Results from gravity models strongly indicate that FTAs, overall, are associated with increased FDI inflows, with a much greater impact in the sub-period. We also find evidence of the prevalence of vertical FDI in Vietnam. Further examination of the later sub-period shows that FTAs also have a significant effect on inward FDI through interactions with the real exchange rate, human capital, and factor endowments. Interestingly, all of the three FDI determinants have more important roles following the FTAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Vietnamese firm-level data to examine the relationship between firm productivity and exporting. In particular, this paper shows that more productive firms are more likely than less productive firms to export, consistent with the extensive prior literature. However, this paper finds no evidence that exporting affects productivity, which can be decomposed into technical efficiency change, technological progress, and scale change. Thus, the findings support a large role of self-selection in accounting for export decision, but little gain from learning-by-exporting in the case of Vietnamese Small medium sized enterprises (SMEs). These findings imply that export promotion policies may not be effective unless accompanied by strategies to help SMEs become more productive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a novel dataset of poor households in peri-urban areas in Vietnam to estimate impacts of small loans on child schooling. The Probit and Negative Binomial model estimates roughly indicate no strong evidence of the effect. However, breaking down credit into formal and informal credit and credit for boy and girl schooling provides better insights. The paper suggests that to obtain the target of sustainable poverty reduction, easing access to formal credit sources and exempting tuition and other school contributions are necessary steps to keep poor children in schools longer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an ongoing debate about whether microfinance has a positive impact on education and health for borrowing households in developing countries. To understand this debate, we use a survey designed to meet the conditions for propensity score matching (PSM) and examine the impact of household credit on education and healthcare spending by the poor in peri-urban areas of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In addition to matching statistically identical non-borrowers to borrowers, our estimates also control for household pre-treatment income and assets, which may be associated with unobservable factors affecting both credit participation and the outcomes of interest. The PSM estimates show a significant and positive impact of borrowing on education and healthcare spending. However, further investigation of the effects of the treatment reveals that only formal credit has a significant and positive impact on education and healthcare spending, while informal credit has an insignificant impact on spending. This paper contributes to the limited literature on peri-urban areas using evidence from one of the largest and most dynamic cities in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the linkage between exports and profitability often use mean regression approaches and focus only on European countries. Using a panel data quantile regression approach, this study analyses the linkage between export behaviour and profit growth in Vietnam. Using a panel dataset from 2005 to 2009, our results show an insignificant linkage between export status and firm profit growth when using OLS. However, when using a quantile approach, export participation is found to be positively related to profitability for those firms with high profit growth but negatively related for those firms with low profit growth. This might suggest that the productivity advantages of exporters with low profit growth are absorbed by costs relating to trading activities in overseas markets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]