Patrilineality, Son Preference, and Sex Selection in South Korea and Vietnam

Recent advances in promoting the rights of women and girls globally have been partially offset by increasing implementation of son preference through offspring sex selection, leading to rising sex ratios at birth1 (SRB) and child sex ratios throughout Asia, as well as parts of Eastern Europe and Africa. The past two decades have seen the number of countries with high child sex ratios increase from five to nineteen (Hudson and den Boer 2015). In recent history, only one country has reduced its sex ratio at birth from extremely high levels to biologically normal levels: South Korea, from a peak of 116.5 males per 100 females in 1990 to 106.2 in 2007. While South Korea's sex ratio at birth was declining throughout the early to mid 2000s, the sex ratio at birth in another Asian country, Vietnam, began an erratic rise, reaching 113.8 in 2013 (see Figure 1). How can we explain this recent rise in Vietnam's sex ratio, and are there lessons for Vietnam, or for other countries facing high sex ratios at birth, from the experience of South Korea

The Relationship between Budget Revenue - expenditure and Inflation in Vietnam: Viewed from the Results of Quantitative Analysis

The research examines the relationship between budget revenue expenditure and inflation in Vietnam, with time series data on budget revenue expenditure and the consumer price index (CPI) (representing the inflation variable in Vietnam). Data were collected from the International Financial Statistics (IFS-IMF), General Statistics Office (GSO) in the period of 2005-2022. The author used Eview software to build a linear relationship log-log of budget revenue - -expenditure and CPI in the case of the Vietnamese economy. Quantitative analysis results show that when budget revenue increased by 1%, CPI increased by 0.249674%, when budget expenditure increased by 1%, CPI increased by 0.298316%. Raising budget revenue to raise budget expenditure will result in higher inflation during the research period in Vietnam. From the theoretical basis, research overview, and quantitative analysis results, the research team makes some recommendations for fiscal policy in Vietnam in the current context

Sub-National Institutions and Firm Survival in Vietnam

By combining two sets of survey data - provincial competitiveness index (PCI) from VNCI-VCCI and USAID and annual enterprise census from Vietnam General Statistics Office (GSO) for the period between 2005 and 2011, we estimate the effects of sub-national institutions measured by Provincial Competitiveness Index on firm survival in Vietnam. Our results show that sub-national institutions have a positive effect on firm’s survival in both short-run and long-run. The effect, however, diminishes over time, indicating that newly entered firms are more likely to survive

Sub-National Institutions and Firm Survival in Vietnam

By combining two sets of survey data - provincial competitiveness index (PCI) from VNCI-VCCI and USAID and annual enterprise census from Vietnam General Statistics Office (GSO) for the period between 2005 and 2011, we estimate the effects of sub-national institutions measured by Provincial Competitiveness Index on firm survival in Vietnam. Our results show that sub-national institutions have a positive effect on firm’s survival in both short-run and long-run. The effect, however, diminishes over time, indicating that newly entered firms are more likely to survive

Trade and Development in Vietnam: Exploring Investment Linkages

This paper presents and uses a new, stylized single country dynamic CGE model to explore the trade-development linkages in Vietnam. Application of this framework involves addressing three basic questions: 1. Does a model that properly determines capacity additions and more fully captures macroeconomic accounting and growth dynamics predict trade levels in a satisfactory manner? 2. Are those capacity additions determined by trade liberalization, and if so, which aspects of trade liberalization? 3. Under this framework what are expected impacts of trade liberalization initiatives, such as past bilateral trade agreements and recent WTO accession, taking into account their potential effect on incentives to invest via both tariff changes and institutional reforms? We also explore the role of the state in determining investment patterns, since the government of Vietnam has played a crucial role in setting both the aggregate level and sectoral pattern of investment in the past. But recently there has been a recovery of foreign investment as well as an upsurge of investment by the domestic private sector. Moreover, Vietnam’s WTO accession agreement was as much about incentives to FDI as it was about tariff concessions, and it spurred ongoing institutional reforms that impact the investment climate.trade, development, Vietman, investment linkages

A little engine that could: domestic private companies and Vietnam?s pressing need for wage employment

Vietnam's young private sector is growing fast. Crucial to this growth has been a policy environment that increasingly recognizes the importance of private entrepreneurship-particularly its potential to help address the country¹s pressing need for significantly increased wage employment creation. Expanding the benefits of private sector growth beyond urban centers out into the rural areas where most Vietnamese live-and where poverty and underemployment are heaviest-will require significantly increased information flows on what is working and what is not. This paper presents an objective picture of Vietnam's emerging private sector, two years after initial implementation of the country's much praised Enterprise Law. The country's private companies are significantly better off than they were just a couple years earlier, when regional economic recession and stagnation on domestic policy reforms had brought development of the formal private sector to a near standstill. At the same time, the sector's small base means that its impressive rates of job creation still fall far short of matching the booming growth of the overall work force. Information for this paper is based on data collected from Vietnam's General Office of Statistics, a small number of individual company case studies, and a national firm-level survey designed and implemented by the authors. Research for the paper revealed significant gaps in available private sector data and flaws in current data gathering methodologies-calling into question the ability of policy makers and advisors to understand rapid, ongoing economic developments and make appropriate and timely policy decisions. The authors hope that this paper can serve as a starting point and an impetus for more targeted research aimed at identifying and addressing specific obstacles to sustainable and broad based job and wealth creation.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Small Scale Enterprise,Microfinance,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Public Health Promotion,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Microfinance,Small Scale Enterprise,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Small and Medium Size Enterprises

Population dynamics, delta vulnerability and environmental change: comparison of the Mekong, Ganges–Brahmaputra and Amazon delta regions

Tropical delta regions are at risk of multiple threats including relative sea level rise and human alterations, making them more and more vulnerable to extreme floods, storms, surges, salinity intrusion, and other hazards which could also increase in magnitude and frequency with a changing climate. Given the environmental vulnerability of tropical deltas, understanding the interlinkages between population dynamics and environmental change in these regions is crucial for ensuring efficient policy planning and progress toward social and ecological sustainability. Here, we provide an overview of population trends and dynamics in the Ganges–Brahmaputra, Mekong and Amazon deltas. Using multiple data sources, including census data and Demographic and Health Surveys, a discussion regarding the components of population change is undertaken in the context of environmental factors affecting the demographic landscape of the three delta regions. We find that the demographic trends in all cases are broadly reflective of national trends, although important differences exist within and across the study areas. Moreover, all three delta regions have been experiencing shifts in population structures resulting in aging populations, the latter being most rapid in the Mekong delta. The environmental impacts on the different components of population change are important, and more extensive research is required to effectively quantify the underlying relationships. The paper concludes by discussing selected policy implications in the context of sustainable development of delta regions and beyond

Geographic Agglomeration and Colocalization of Two -Digits Manufacturing in Vietnam Using Discrete-Space Models

The paper aims to investigate the geographic employment distribution and the industrial concentration of two-digit manufacturing industries in 2010 among provinces and the main five municipalities in Vietnam using discrete and continuous-space statistics. The evidence shows that Vietnam was characterized by high inequality in terms of employment concentration where the strength flows of dwellers’ migration towards more developed areas reinforced the disparity. It is notable that few locations led the country’s economic growth such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Dang Nang, Long An, Binh Duong and Dong Nai. Besides this imbalance, an agglomeration bell emerged around Ho Chi Minh favouring a regional integration. Furthermore, the research shows a relative high concentration of low technology intensity industries, whereas medium-high and high technology intensity industries have a relative low employment concentration in Vietnam in 2010. This could be explained as the difficulties of those industries to recruit suitable skilled workers as low trained labour forces characterized the country, which does not favour business localization and start-up

Impacts of the global economic crisis on foreign trade in lower-income economies in the Greater Mekong Sub-region and policy responses: the case of Vietnam and its implications for Lao PDR and Cambodia

This research seeks to better understand the impacts of the global economic crisis on Vietnam’s foreign trade and policy responses, and from this, draw inferences for Lao PDR and Cambodia.Global economic crisis, lower-income economices, GMS, CLMV