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This paper uses multi-country, firm-level data covering 109 countries for the period 2005 to 2017, to examine the effects of bribery on export decisions for firms facing institutional constraints. Bribery consists of “greasing” and rent-seeking behavior. Firms’ self-evaluations of the extent of obstacles affecting their business operations, including corruption, political instability, tax administration, and business license regulations, were used to capture the institutional constraints. Our empirical results provide evidence to support the “greasing-the-wheels-of-trade” hypothesis. The positive effect of greasing bribery is particularly sizable for large-sized firms or those facing no institutional constraints. In other words, firms with strong bargaining power proxied by firm size obtain more benefits from paying bribes if there are no institutional constraints; thus, they are more likely to export. These results hold when we specify almost all types of institutional constraints except for political instability. Lastly, when the endogeneity problem is controlled, the effect of greasing bribery becomes pronounced.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of lending standards in macroprudential policy (MaPP) transmission mechanism in Viet Nam during 2000–2016. By employing the regression model, the paper suggested that restriction on institutional entities that could borrow foreign currency denominated loans from banks was the most effective MaPP instrument in Viet Nam. However, the paper provides empirical evidence that setting higher risk weights on loans to securities and housing sectors than other types of loans has an unexpectedly reverse impact on credit growth. In spite of mix results among each MaPP measures, interestingly, the model suggested that overall macroprudential package expressed by the MaPP index was effective in Viet Nam.

The paper aims at identifying and evaluating differences between microeconomic determinants of remittance from immigrant workers and migrants based on a survey of 1680 responders in Vietnam. Unlike previous studies, we add foreign language proficiency, costs for obtaining permission to work abroad (for oversea workers), home town as variables into the model. It found that female workers had a lower propensity to support their household of origin via remittances than the male worker, while female migrants seemed to send more money to their home countries rather than male migrants. Interestingly, from the North to the South, the paper found that oversea workers seemed to send more money to those they left behind, while migrants are found to send less remittance. In addition, the empirical evidence suggests that other demographic determinants including income, age, and marital status play a very important role in attracting remittance flows into Vietnam. Lastly, language proficiency might cause positive impact on amount for both migrants and immigrant workers, but it will be resulted in a decrease in frequency of remittance per year.

The paper’s objective is to assess the impact of the ceiling and zero interest rate for US dollar deposits on dollarization index and, more generally, to find factors affecting dollarization in Vietnam. By employing the VAR model with six variables, the paper found empirical evidence that the ceiling on the interest rate for US dollar deposits and the interest rate differentials are important factors affecting deposit dollarization in Vietnam. These results are in agreement with the fact that after the ceiling rate for US dollar deposits was decreased from three percent to zero while maintaining a positive interest rate differential, the deposit dollarization ratio decreased significantly. Inflation, parallel market premium, and international reserves are also found to be important determinants of dollarization status in Vietnam.

ObjectiveTo provide the first ever published estimates of the price and expenditure elasticities of demand for beer and wine in Vietnam and thereby contribute to policy initiatives aimed at reducing the excessive consumption of alcohol.MethodsWe use a linear approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System and data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey for 2010, 2012 and 2014.ResultsWe find that the demand for beer and wine in Vietnam is price and expenditure inelastic with average price elasticities of −0.283 and −0.317 and average expenditure elasticities of 0.401 and 0.156, respectively. That is, we find that beer and wine consumption decline whenever their respective prices increase and their consumption increases whenever expenditure rises.ConclusionsThe results of the study lend confidence to calls for increased taxation of alcoholic products on public health grounds in Vietnam.

Better information on the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection is needed in many world areas.Cross-sectional study of population-based samples of nonpregnant women aged 15 to 44 years in Nigeria, Colombia, Argentina, Vietnam (2 areas), China, Thailand (2 areas), Korea, and Spain. 5,328 consenting women aged 15 to 44 years participated. Exfoliated cervical cells were collected and testing for CT and NG and human papillomavirus (HPV) was done using PCR-based assays.Age-standardized CT prevalence ranged between 0.2% (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.0-0.7%) in Spain and 5.6% (95% CI: 3.4-7.8%) in Nigeria. NG ranged between 0% (with broad CIs) in several areas and 2.6% (95% CI: 1.0-4.2%) in Nigeria. Prevalence of CT in all areas combined was greater in women aged 15 to 24 (4.5; 95% CI: 3.4-5.8%) than 25 to 44 (2.6; 95% CI: 2.1-3.1%), whereas NG prevalence was similar in the 2 age groups (0.3%). The only significant risk factors were NG infection (for CT), CT infection (for NG) and infection with high-risk HPV types (for both).The prevalence of CT and, most notably, NG was relatively low in a variety of countries. Our findings, however, do not apply to subsets of high-risk women who are likely to be underrepresented in our population-based samples.

The paper aims at identifying leading indicators and a suitable EWS model of a currency crisis in Vietnam based on a combination of parametric and non-parametric approach with the EMP index for period 1996-July 2012. The paper found that model in which dependent variable - CC is defined based on the EMP and other event, and all explanatory variables are expressed in its absolute values with window length of 2 months is outperformed for predicting a currency crisis in Vietnam. Empirical results suggested that probability of predicting a true currency crisis was 80.7 percent; probability of predicting a crisis-hit period with signal was 94 percent. In addition, empirical evidence concluded that real overvaluation, international reserves in import’s weeks, and domestic credit growth rate are leading indicators of a currency crisis in Vietnam. The other indicators such as deficits in trade balance, industrial production value, money supply growth rate could be a good indicator but are all insignificant.

An inverse relationship between age and human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence has been reported in many developed countries, but information on this relationship is scarce in many other parts of the world. We carried out a cross-sectional study of sexually active women from the general population of 15 areas in 4 continents. Similar standardised protocols for women's enrolment, cervical specimen collection and PCR-based assays for HPV testing were used. HPV prevalence in different age groups was compared by study area. 18,498 women aged 15-74 years were included. Age-standardised HPV prevalence varied more than 10-fold between populations, as did the shape of age-specific curves. HPV prevalence peaked below age 25 or 35, and declined with age in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Korea and in Lampang, Thailand and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. This was not the case in Songkla, Thailand nor Hanoi, Vietnam, where HPV prevalence was low in all age groups. In Chile, Colombia and Mexico, a second peak of HPV prevalence was detected among older women. In the poorest study areas in Asia (Shanxi, China and Dindigul, India), and in Nigeria, HPV prevalence was high across all age groups. The substantial differences observed in age-specific curves of HPV prevalence between populations may have a variety of explanations. These differences, however, underline that great caution should be used in inferring the natural history of HPV from age-specific prevalences.

We evaluated associations between reproductive and lifestyle risk factors with breast cancer tumor marker status in a case-control study. Cases were premenopausal women living in Vietnam and China who were eligible for a clinical trial of oophorectomy and tamoxifen as treatment for breast cancer (n = 682). Controls were nonrelative hospital visitors, matched on age to the cases (n = 649). Immunohistochemical analysis was used to identify the presence of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor and the overexpression of HER-2/neu oncogene. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression, adjusted for known confounders. Overall, 280 (61%) tumor samples were ER positive and 176 (38%) were ER negative. HER-2/neu overexpression was detected in 161 (35%) samples, whereas 286 (26%) samples were HER-2/neu negative. We observed an inverse trend between increasing parity and decreasing breast cancer risk (P = 0.002). Women ages ≥25 years at first birth had increased breast cancer risk compared with women ages

Condensed. Among 550 women reporting a lump as the first sign of breast cancer, those with this sign for 6–29 months compared to those with 1–6 months, had bigger tumors and more frequent axillary node involvement. Overall survival, however, was not significantly different in these two groups. Background. The relationship of delay in diagnosis of breast cancer to survival is uncertain. Methods. We evaluated the relationship of patient-reported duration of signs of breast cancer to survival in participants in a clinical trial of adjuvant hormonal therapy in Vietnam and China. Results. Among 550 women reporting a lump as the first sign of breast cancer and information on when this appeared, the median duration of this sign before diagnosis was 6 months. Comparing two groups of patients with durations of lumps 1–6 months and 6–29 months, the group with longer duration of lumps had larger tumors clinically and pathologically (p= 0.0006, and p= 0.004), more frequent axillary node involvement (p= 0.008), and shorter but not statistically different disease-free and overall survival from the time of diagnosis (p= 0.09 and 0.35, respectively). Conclusions. Breast cancer evolves slowly in the detectable period of its natural history. The impact of delays in diagnosis of less than 6 months is likely to be very limited; delays more than 6 months appear to have some, but marginal impact on survival.

The incidence rate of invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) is 4-fold higher in Ho Chi Minh City, in the South of Vietnam, than in Hanoi, in the North. Thus, we explored the prevalence of and the risk factors for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in these 2 areas. A population-based random sample of married women aged 15-69 years were interviewed and had a gynaecological examination in the urban district of Ho Chi Minh City and in a peri-urban district in Hanoi. HPV DNA detection was performed using a GP5+/6+ primer-mediated PCR enzyme immunoassay. A total of 922 women from Ho Chi Minh and 994 from Hanoi, for whom a Pap smear and HPV-status were available, were evaluated. HPV DNA was detected among 10.9% of women in Ho Chi Minh City and 2.0% in Hanoi (age standardized prevalence, world standard population: 10.6% and 2.3%, respectively). In the 2 areas combined, 30 different HPV types were found, the most common being HPV 16 (in 14 single and 18 multiple infections), followed by HPV 58, 18 and 56. A peak of HPV DNA detection in women younger than age 25 was found in Ho Chi Minh City (22.3%) but not in Hanoi. Major risk factors for HPV DNA detection were indicators of sexual habits, most notably the presence of HSV-2 antibodies, nulliparity and the current use of oral contraceptives. Women in Hanoi showed the lowest HPV prevalence ever reported so far, suggesting that HPV has not spread widely in this population. As expected, HPV prevalence in a population seemed to be closely correlated with ICC incidence rates.

The first results from the population-based cancer registry for the city of Hanoi, in northern Vietnam, are presented. In men, incidence rates are moderate-low with the most common cancers being lung, stomach and liver. Cancer of the penis, reportedly very common in early case series from Vietnam, is now rarely seen. In women, incidence rates are low with the most common cancer, breast cancer, having a recorded incidence similar to that in China. Cervix cancer incidence is very low, which contrasts strongly with hospital series from the south of Vietnam, and of 30 years earlier in Hanoi. The incidence of choriocarcinoma is high, and that of nasopharynx cancer (in both sexes) moderately so; both findings are typical of southeast Asian populations. The incidence rates are coherent with the results from recent studies of Vietnamese migrants in the USA and UK.

Silvia de Sanjosé, [et al.], Background: Few human papillomavirus (HPV) seroprevalence studies have been carried out in women from low-resource countries. Methods: Seroprevalence of antibodies against HPV16 and HPV18 was assessed in 7,074 women ≥15 years of age (median 44 years) from eight world areas. Serum antibodies against HPV16 and HPV18 were tested for using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HPV DNA was assessed using a general primer GP5 +/6+-mediated PCR. Results: HPV16 and HPV18 seroprevalence both ranged from, Grant Support: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant 35537).

Background. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in the female general population, to define geographic variation in and heterosexual transmission of the virus. Methods. The study included 10,963 women from 9 countries for whom information on sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive, sexual, and smoking behaviors were available. Antibodies against KSHV that encoded lytic antigen K8.1 and latent antigen ORF73 were determined. Results. The range of prevalence of KSHV (defined as detection of any antigen) was 3.81%-46.02%, with significant geographic variation noted. In Nigeria, the prevalence was 46.02%; in Colombia, 13.32%; in Costa Rica, 9.81%; in Argentina, 6.40%; in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 15.50%; in Hanoi, Vietnam, 11.26%; in Songkla, Thailand, 10%; in Lampang, Thailand, 8.63%; in Korea, 4.93%; and in Spain, 3.65%. The prevalence of KSHV slightly increased with increasing age among subjects in geographic areas where the prevalence of KSHV was high, such as Nigeria and Colombia, and it significantly decreased with increases in the educational level attained by subjects in those areas. KSHV was not statistically associated with age at first sexual intercourse, number of sex partners, number of children, patterns of oral contraceptive use, presence of cervical human papillomavirus DNA, or smoking status. Conclusions. The study provides comparable estimates of KSHV prevalence in diverse cultural settings across 4 continents and provides evidence that sexual transmission of KSHV is not a major source of infection in the general population. © 2009 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America., Financial support: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (contract N01-CO-12400); Spanish platform Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (grant 06/0673).

High parity, early age at first full-term pregnancy (FTP), and long-term oral contraceptive (OC) use increase cervical cancer risk, but it is unclear whether these variables are also associated with increased risk of acquisition and persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the main cause of cervical cancer. Information on reproductive and menstrual characteristics and OC use were collected from 14 areas worldwide, among population-based, age-stratified random samples of women aged 15 years or older. HPV testing was done using PCR-based enzyme immunoassay. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) of being HPV-positive according to reproductive and menstrual factors and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). When more than two groups were compared, floating CIs (FCI) were estimated. A total of 15,145 women (mean age, 40.9 years) were analyzed. Women with ≥5 FTPs (OR, 0.90; 95% FCI, 0.76-1.06) showed a similar risk of being HPV-positive compared with women with only one FTP (OR, 1.00; 95% FCI, 0.86-1.16). However, nulliparous women showed an OR of 1.40 (95% CI, 1.16-1.69) compared with parous women. Early age at first FTP was not significantly related to HPV positivity. HPV positivity was similar for women who reported ≥10 years of use of OCs (OR, 1.16; 95% FCI, 0.85-1.58) and never users of OCs (OR, 1.00; 95% FCI, 0.90-1.12). Our study suggests, therefore, that high parity, early age at first FTP, and long-term OC use are not associated with HPV prevalence, but rather these factors might be involved in the transition from HPV infection to neoplastic cervical lesions. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(11):2148–53)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection but it is unclear whether differences in transmission efficacy exist between individual HPV types. Information on sexual behavior was collected from 11 areas in four continents among population-based, age-stratified random samples of women of ages ≥15 years. HPV testing was done using PCR-based enzyme immunoassay. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) of being HPV positive and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Variables were analyzed categorically. When more than two groups were compared, floating confidence intervals were estimated by treating ORs as floating absolute risks. A total of 11,337 women (mean age, 41.9 years) were available. We confirmed that lifetime number of sexual partners is associated with HPV positivity (OR for ≥2 versus 1, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.63-2.11) but the association was not a linear one for HPV18, 31, and 33 (i.e., no clear increase for ≥3 versus 2 sexual partners). Women who had multiple-type infection and high-risk HPV type infection reported a statistically nonsignificant higher number of sexual partners than women who had single-type and low-risk type infections, respectively. Early age at sexual debut was not significantly related to HPV positivity. Husband's extramarital sexual relationships were associated with an OR of 1.45 (95% CI, 1.24-1.70) for HPV positivity in their wives after adjustment for age and lifetime number of women's sexual partners. We did not observe a significant association with condom use. Our study showed an effect of both women's and their husbands' sexual behavior on HPV positivity. Furthermore, it suggests some differences in the pattern of the association between sexual behavior and different HPV types.(Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(2):326–33)

Objective To estimate the direct and indirect costs of active smoking in Vietnam. Method A prevalence-based disease-specific cost of illness approach was utilised to calculate the costs related to five smoking-related diseases: lung cancer, cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischaemic heart disease and stroke. Data on healthcare came from an original survey, hospital records and official government statistics. Morbidity and mortality due to smoking combined with the average per capita income were used to calculate the indirect costs of smoking by applying the human capital approach. The smoking-attributable fraction was calculated using the adjusted relative risk values from phase II of the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study (CPS-II). Costs were classified as personal, governmental and health insurance costs. Results The total economic cost of smoking in 2011 was estimated at 24 679.9 billion Vietnamese dong (VND), equivalent to US$1173.2 million or approximately 0.97% of the 2011 gross domestic product. The direct costs of inpatient and outpatient care reached 9896.2 billion VND (US$470.4 million) and 2567.2 billion VND (US$122.0 million), respectively. The government’s contribution to these costs was 4534.3 billion VND (US $215.5 million), which was equivalent to 5.76% of its 2011 healthcare budget. The indirect costs (productivity loss) due to morbidity and mortality were 2652.9 billion VND (US$126.1 million) and 9563.5 billion VND (US $454.6 million), respectively. These indirect costs represent about 49.5% of the total costs of smoking. Conclusions Tobacco consumption has large negative consequences on the Vietnamese economy.

Vietnam is one of the poor, developing countries. Malnutrition and infectious diseases are still major health problems. Cancer ranks in a relatively modest position of priority. The reason is partly explained by a shortage of treatment facilities and poor quality of health and vital statistics. The leading cancers in the country are lung, liver, stomach, colon-rectum and nasopharynx in males and breast, cervix, stomach, liver, colon-rectum and lung in females. Although the country has some common patterns of cancer such as a relatively high incidence of nasopharynx, liver and stomach and a relatively low incidence of breast and prostate cancer compared with international data, the geographical distribution of cancer is not homogenous within the country. The most remarkable difference is observed in cancer of the cervix uteri, of which the incidence in the South is, at least four times higher than that in the North. Other less extensive differences are observed in cancer of the lung, stomach, nasopharynx and breast, the incidence of which seems to be higher in the North than in the South, and the liver, which seems to be more frequent in the South than in the North. It was estimated that in 1990 the cancer incidence in Vietnam was about 133 per 100 000 in males and 91.7 per 100 000 in females and that the mortality was 105.9 and 58.5 per 100 000, respectively (standardization to the world's population). In that year, Vietnam had at least 52 700 new cancer cases and 37 700 dead from cancer. Although the National Cancer Control Program is still in preparation, some efforts by the government have already been made with tobacco control, improving the cancer treatment net, mass media education and production of vaccine against HBV. Cancer control in Vietnam still has to deal with challenges such as poor quality of cancer morbidity and mortality data, shortage of resources for establishing a comprehensive cancer control network from the center to the peripheries, lack of data for an anti-tobacco program and misunderstanding or limited knowledge of general practitioners and the public about the disease.

Four homemade (artisanally manufactured and unrecorded) and seven commercial (industrially manufactured and taxed) alcohol products from Vietnam were collected and chemically analyzed for toxicologically relevant substances. The majority of both types had alcohol contents between 30 and 40% vol. Two homemade samples contained significantly higher concentrations of 45 and 50% vol. In one of these homemade samples the labeled alcoholic strength was exceeded by nearly 20% vol. All other analyzed constituents of the samples (e.g., methanol, acetaldehyde, higher alcohols, esters, metals, anions) were found in concentrations that did not pose a threat to public health. A peculiarity was a homemade sample of alcohol with pickled snakes and scorpions that contained 77% vol of alcohol, allegedly used as traditional Chinese medicine. Based on this small sample, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that alcohol quality, beyond the effects of ethanol, has an influence on health in Vietnam. However, future research with larger samples is needed.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant global health issue because it is widespread and persistent and can cause serious liver diseases. Objectives: The aim of this study is to estimate HCV prevalence in women from the general population in different geographical areas worldwide and to assess the potential role of sexual behaviour in the virus transmission. Study design: Each participating centre recruited a random sample of women from the general population aged from less than 20 to more than 75 years. The study included 8130 women from 8 countries with information on sociodemographic factors, reproductive and sexual behaviour, smoking habit and HPV DNA through individual interviews. A blood sample was also collected to perform serological tests. We estimated the prevalence ratios associated to HCV to evaluate the effect of sexual behaviour in viral transmission. Results: Women were reactive to a minimum of two HCV antigens, including at least one non structural protein were considered as positive (33% of the samples were classified as positive, 40% as negative, and 27% as indeterminate (N = 402), that were considered as not positive). The age-adjusted HCV seroprevalence varied significantly by regions (0.3% in Argentina to 21.1% in Nigeria). We found no association between HCV prevalence and age, educational level, smoking habit and any of the available variables for sexual behaviour and reproductive history. Conclusions: This large study showed heterogeneous distribution of HCV seroprevalence in female and provides evidence of the null impact of sexual behaviour in HCV transmission. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.