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This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on the potential benefits of the Internet on rural livelihoods. We estimate the relationship between Internet access and agricultural production in rural Viet Nam using a panel dataset from 2008–2012. This is a time span during which Internet access increased substantially and government‐run and private online outlets providing information about agriculture started to operate. Our findings suggest that Internet access is associated with a 6.8% higher volume of total agricultural output. We find that this result is manifested through more efficient use of fertilizer. Our findings are stronger for younger households. The less developed northern provinces have benefited the most from the arrival of the Internet. The results are weaker in the case of rice, which is related to strong government involvement in rice production and prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatility in commodity markets poses a distinct risk to farmers in developing countries who rely on cash crop agriculture. We combine a time series of international coffee prices with a long-running panel on coffee-growing households in Vietnam to investigate coping mechanisms employed by farmers in a transitioning economy. We find that households cope with lower coffee prices by increasing wage labor of adults, with children and adolescents substituting for adults on the farm. Heterogeneity analysis indicates a stronger substitution pattern among women, ethnic minorities, and households with fewer assets. A variety of robustness checks corroborate these findings. Account of this finding should be taken in formulating and implementing social protection and inclusive growth policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a unique survey data set this paper documents a positive effect of self-employment in farming on subjective well-being. This direct effect is only partly offset by negative, indirect effects working through income and other variables. These findings are interpreted as effects of self-employment in farming on perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness. The results suggest that economic transformation is associated with a psychological cost, which may contribute to explaining earnings gaps between sectors and types of employment. We also investigate other determinants of happiness, and for example find strong positive effects of own income and strong negative effects of neighbors’ income, suggesting the importance of relative rather than absolute levels of income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia has grown more slowly than GDP over the last several decades. This means GDP per capita is rising. Vietnamese policymakers, however, are concerned that ongoing structural transformation is creating too few jobs. We use data for seven aggregated sectors and the overall Vietnamese economy to examine the roles played by structural transformation, technical change and institutional bias towards capital-intensive development to evaluate the Vietnamese development experience. We find that while some of the difference between GDP and employment growth can be attributed to capital-intensive investment by the state, the majority of the difference is because of technical change. A positive rather than pessimistic overall assessment is warranted based on the available evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine whether self-exposure to gender documents can reduce gender bias of men in Vietnam. • Commenting on gender-related laws does not reduce men's bias against women. • Writing stories on gender has a strong effect on reducing existing prejudice against women. • Writing stories also has a small and positive effect on doing housework. • Changing men's behaviour in practice requires stronger, more sustained interventions. In this study, we use a randomized control trial to examine whether asking Vietnamese men to reflect on gender equality can reduce their gender bias. We randomly selected two groups of married men in four rural provinces and asked the first group to make comments on gender-related laws and the second group to write stories about gender equality. We find that commenting on gender-related laws does not reduce men's bias against women, while writing stories has a strong effect on reducing prejudice against women. Writing stories increases the index of gender attitudes of men in the second group by 0.29 standard deviations. The assignment also has a small effect on their contribution to housework. Changing men's behaviour in practice requires stronger and more sustained interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information failures are a major barrier to formal financial saving in low-income countries. We explore the extent to which social capital in rural Vietnam plays a role in increasing formal savings where knowledge gaps exist. Social capital is defined as information sharing and the elimination of information asymmetries through active participation in the Women's Union. We consider high- and low-quality networks in terms of the quality of information transmitted. We find that membership of high-quality networks leads to higher levels of saving in formal financial institutions and saving for productive investments. Our results support a role for social capital in facilitating savings and suggest that transmitting financial information through the branches of the Women's Union could be effective in increasing formal savings at grassroots level. We also conclude that it is important to ensure that the information disseminated is accurate given that behavioral effects are also found in networks with low-quality information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firm turnover (i.e., firm entry and exit) is a well-recognized source of sector-level productivity growth. In contrast, the role and importance of firms that switch activities from one sector to another is not well understood. Firm switchers are likely to be unique, differing from both newly established entrants and exiting firms that are closing down operations. In this study, we develop an empirical model that examines switching behavior using data from Vietnamese manufacturing firms during the 2001–2008 period. The diagnostic shows that switching firms exhibit different characteristics and behavior than do entry and exit firms. Switchers tend to be labor intensive and to seek competitive opportunities in labor-intensive sectors in response to changes in market environments. Moreover, resource reallocation resulting from switching forms an important component of productivity growth. The topic of switching merits attention in the future design of firm surveys across developing countries and in associated analytical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic growth generally reduces income poverty, there are pronounced differences in the strength of this relationship across countries. Typical explanations for this variation include measurement errors in growth-poverty accounting and different compositions of economic growth. We explore the additional influence of economic structure in determining a country's growth-poverty relationship and performance. Using structural path analysis, we compare the experiences of Mozambique and Vietnam-two countries with similar levels and compositions of economic growth but divergent poverty outcomes. We find that the structure of the Vietnamese economy more naturally lends itself to generating broad-based growth. A given agricultural demand expansion in Mozambique will, ceteris paribus, achieve much less rural income growth than in Vietnam. Inadequate education, trade and transport systems are found to be more severe structural constraints to poverty reduction in Mozambique than in Vietnam. Investing in these areas can significantly enhance the effectiveness of Mozambican growth to reduce poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Studies of land property rights usually focus on tenure security and transfer rights. Rights to determine how to use the land are regularly ignored. However, user rights are often limited. Relying on a unique Vietnamese panel data set at both household and plot levels, we show that crop choice restrictions are widespread and prevent crop diversification. Restrictions do not decrease household income, but restricted households work harder, and there are indications that they are supplied with higher quality inputs. Our findings are consistent with the view that it is possible to intervene effectively in agricultural production to promote output and food security. Nevertheless, potential benefits of a more diversified crop pattern must be carefully considered in a period where global food markets are in turmoil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution studies the provision of fringe benefits using a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Analysis of the survey reveals that women who own SMEs are more likely than men who own similar firms to provide employees with fringe benefits such as annual leave, social benefits, and health insurance. This gender effect exists especially with regard to mandatory social insurance and is robust to the inclusion of standard determinants of wage compensation. The study also explores whether this finding is linked to gender differences in social networks and workforce structure, worker recruitment mechanisms, and the degree of unionization. However, these factors cannot fully account for the observed differences in fringe benefits along the 'gender of owner' dimension. There remains a sizable and unexplained fringe benefits premium paid to employees in women-owned firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether direct government assistance during start-up and other forms of interaction with the state sector have influenced the long-run performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Using three partly overlapping surveys during the period 1990-2000, we find strong effects on firm dynamics from interaction with state institutions. Enterprises which have the state sector as their main customer perform better. This is so for both survival and growth. Moreover, temporary tax exemptions during firm start-up had a separate and positive influence on long-run growth for non-household enterprises and initial credit support seems to benefit rural firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a survey of 932 rural households to uncover how the rural credit market operates in Vietnam. Households obtain credit through formal and informal lenders. Formal loans are almost entirely for production and asset accumulation, while informal loans are used for consumption smoothening. The determinants of formal and informal credit demand are distinct. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. A 'one size fits all' approach to credit policy in Vietnam would be inappropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors calibrate two static computable general-equilibrium (CGE) models with 16 and 5999 representative households. Aggregated and disaggregated household categories are consistently embedded in a 2000 social accounting matrix (SAM) for Vietnam, mapping on a one-to-one basis. Distinct differences in poverty assessments emerge when the impact of trade liberalization is analyzed in the two models. This highlights the importance of modeling micro-household behavior and related income and expenditure distributions endogenously within a static CGE model framework. The simulations indicate that poverty will rise following a revenue-neutral lowering of trade taxes. This is interpreted as a worst-case scenario, which suggests that the government should be proactive in combining trade liberalization measures with a pro-poor fiscal response to avoid increasing poverty in the short to medium term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the relationship between exposure to local corruption and mental health in rural Vietnam. • Using two datasets, we find strong and consistent evidence that petty corruption is positively associated with psychological distress. • Suggestive evidence that a recent anti-corruption campaign had significant positive effects on mental health. • There may be substantial psychosocial and mental health benefits from efforts to reduce corruption and improve governance. While there is substantial corruption in developing countries, the costs imposed by corruption on individuals and households are little understood. This study examines the relationship between exposure to local corruption and mental health, as measured by depressive symptoms. We use two large data sets – one cross-sectional and one panel – collected across rural Vietnam. After controlling for individual and regional characteristics, we find strong and consistent evidence that day-to-day petty corruption is positively associated with psychological distress. Our results are robust to a variety of specification checks. Further, we find that the relationship between corruption and mental health is stronger for women, and that there are no heterogeneous effects by poverty status. An examination of the underlying mechanisms shows that reductions in income and trust associated with higher corruption may play a role. Finally, using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, we also provide suggestive evidence that a recent high profile anti-corruption campaign had significant positive effects on mental health. Overall, our findings indicate that there may be substantial psychosocial and mental health benefits from efforts to reduce corruption and improve rural governance structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We provide new empirical evidence on the way in which the import of inputs impacts on firm-level productivity. • We find a positive association between imports into a sector and firm productivity and a productivity premium for firms using imported inputs. • There are also productivity gains downstream for firms using domestically-produced inputs from more import-intensive sectors. • We find suggestive evidence that import competition leads to product differentiation and better quality domestically-produced inputs. • Ignoring gains from trade through the supply chain may underestimate the impact of trade on the productivity of domestic firms. This paper explores how competition-induced productivity gains from imports in intermediate producing sectors transmit through the supply chain. Based on firm-level panel data from Vietnam, we show that in addition to the productivity premium associated with importing intermediate inputs, firms that use domestically-produced inputs from more import-intensive sectors also have higher productivity. We find evidence that import competition leads to product differentiation, in particular higher quality output in sectors where there is greater scope for quality variation, leading to better quality domestically-produced inputs. We also find evidence that non-importing firms that experience productivity gains due to greater import intensity in upstream sectors change their input mix and become more capital intensive. We conclude that ignoring the gains from trade through this mechanism may significantly underestimate the impact of trade on productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: History, not predictions of CGE models or cross-country growth studies, shows a strong relationship between trade and development. Vietnam’s experience with bilateral trade agreements, comparing actual outcomes with predictions from existing models, demonstrates this and the limitations of research methodologies. Forecasts for Vietnam greatly underestimated the impact of past agreements because tariff reform was not the main factor driving adjustments. Addressing market imperfections through institutional reform was central to bringing output and trade expansion. Key questions for future research are whether policy reform will result in new institutional changes, and how resulting incentives determine the evolution of investment by sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Agriculture is the backbone of most developing economies and structural transformation an important vehicle for economic development in low-income agrarian contexts. This special issue brings together a set of high quality academic studies to answer key research questions of importance to understanding agricultural development and change in developing country settings. Using the case of Vietnam, this collection provides comprehensive analytical contributions, that rely on detailed microdata, to understand crucial topics within the fields of agricultural and development economics. Together, these studies provide important insights into the mechanisms underlying structural transformation and its consequences that can contribute to the design of policies to manage the structural transformation process effectively, particularly for the most vulnerable groups in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]