Household's willingness-to-pay estimation for safe drinking water: a case study in Vietnam

2013 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis explores consumer behavior of households for drinking water by surveying and analyzing 235 households (HHs) in Hanoi and Hai Duong in the North of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh in South of Vietnam. Two classical methods have been employed, Contingent valuation method (CVM) and averting behavior method (ABM). Binary logit regression can help to identify internal and external factors influencing the decision of whether or not to pay for clean drinking water. In addition, the linear regression method allows to explore and to quantify the magnitude of relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. Generally, about half of the households surveyed are willing to pay for better drinking water. Most of them are HHs living in two major cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. On average for all of the sampled households, the value of willingness-to-pay makes up small percentage of household income, just 0.247% of total household income. The decision to pay for water depends on both internal factors: the level of education and awareness, as well as external factors: living conditions and existing water source. For those households that are willing to pay to get clean water services, income, and current status of water resources are strong variables. In addition, those households that are actively looking for information and learning related to water often pay a fee for water use. Different measures are practiced by HH's to prevent diseases caused by possible polluted drinking water. Of the five averting activities, boiling water is HHs' priority in rural areas due to low cost while buying bottled water is HH's choice in the city because of the convenience. Young people tend to use bottled water more than old people. Using a water filter increases amount of money they would be willing to pay for clean water, while income and habitat of using drinking water are also strong factors in determining willingness to pay a higher monthly water bill. This survey has compared two values: the value of WTP and the cost of averting expenditure (CAE). My results showed that WTP is not always greater than CAE. Empirical results have policy implications on drinking water price strategies and drinking water related projects investment in Vietnam. Policy-makers or planners should consider income, gender, level of education, existing water sources, lifestyles, and locale when making drinking water price strategies and water related investment

Cultural additivity – means of human survival and evolution

This week, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the names of Nobel laureates in different fields. This year, the Nobel Prize in Biomedical Sciences was awarded to Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo for his discoveries concerning the DNA sequence of apes and human evolution. His work is especially meaningful as the question of human origin has long been a major concern to mankind. Modern-day wise humans belong to the genus Homo sapiens, along with seven ancient human races that existed millions of years ago. Over time, many species became extinct and Professor Paabo discovered the gene transfer of these extinct species to Homo sapiens. With this discovery, he laid the foundation for other scientists to continue to search for the origin of modern humans

Estimating Urban Households’ Willingness-to-Pay for Upland Forest Restoration in Vietnam

Increased urbanization coupled with increased reliance of urban communities on rural areas for ecosystem service provision is a challenge faced by many nations. The ability of urban households to directly support restoration efforts in surrounding rural regions represents an underappreciated funding stream for ecological restoration. This study explored the willingness of urban households to support forest restoration in Vietnam. We surveyed 211 households (HHs) in the capital city Hanoi, Vietnam. A Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) model allowed us to obtain the parameters of our model and quantify mean Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for a program of forest restoration in addition to identifying factors influencing the decision of WTP. Generally, over forty percent of the households surveyed are willing to pay for forest restoration and the mean value of WTP is 37,830 VND ($1.73) per household per month. WTP depends on endogenous and exogenous factors including level of education, income, female-to-male ratio in the household, attitude toward payment for monthly electricity consumption, and awareness of payment for environmental service. Our results suggest that urban household’s demand for forest restoration is real, and represents an untapped source of restoration funding. Policy-makers should take actions to apply charges on water bills to turn this potential into reality for restoration projects in Vietnam if the benefits from restoration outweigh the costs based on our findings

The seventh bibliometric finding on deforestation and cultural studies

This short piece of communication has the sole purpose of identifying some evidence, supporting our view regarding a possible missing environment-nurturing cultural value. Here, we attempt to examine the presence of cultural studies within the boundary of deforestation research

Experiment and FEM Modelling of Bond Behaviors between Pre-stressing Strands and Ultra–High–Performance Concrete

The objective of this paper is to investigate the bond properties of prestressing strands embedded in Ultra–High–Performance Concrete (UHPC).The UHPC was made in laboratory using local materials in Vietnam.Its mixture contains: silica aggregates, portland cement PC40, fly ash, silica fume, polycarboxylate superplasticizer and the micro steel fibers.The experimental process is realized on a pull-out test. The volume fraction of micro steel fibers in UHPC was 2%. The prestressing strand with diameters of 15.2mm was considered. The interface shear strength between strand and UHPC is identified based on the results of force and displacement obtained during the pull-out test. The Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) is implemented in finite element model to study this interface behavior. This model described by a piecewise linear elastic law. The CZM’s parameters are identified based on experimental results of pull-out test.The numerical studies are used the CZM in ANSYS software. Two numerical tests are realized and compared with experimental results: pull-out test and other test to verify the deflection of I girder due to prestressing force

Experiment and FEM Modelling of Bond Behaviors between Pre-stressing Strands and Ultra–High–Performance Concrete

The objective of this paper is to investigate the bond properties of prestressing strands embedded in Ultra–High–Performance Concrete (UHPC).The UHPC was made in laboratory using local materials in Vietnam.Its mixture contains: silica aggregates, portland cement PC40, fly ash, silica fume, polycarboxylate superplasticizer and the micro steel fibers.The experimental process is realized on a pull-out test. The volume fraction of micro steel fibers in UHPC was 2%. The prestressing strand with diameters of 15.2mm was considered. The interface shear strength between strand and UHPC is identified based on the results of force and displacement obtained during the pull-out test. The Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) is implemented in finite element model to study this interface behavior. This model described by a piecewise linear elastic law. The CZM’s parameters are identified based on experimental results of pull-out test.The numerical studies are used the CZM in ANSYS software. Two numerical tests are realized and compared with experimental results: pull-out test and other test to verify the deflection of I girder due to prestressing force

Policy Response, Social Media and Science Journalism for the Sustainability of the Public Health System Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Vietnam Lessons

Vietnam, with a geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, was the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. While the country was expected to have a high risk of transmission, as of April 4, 2020—in comparison to attempts to contain the disease around the world—responses from Vietnam are being seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis

Extent to which people perceive and accept Covid-19 vaccines in north central Vietnam

To achieve herd immunity against Covid-19, the willingness of residents to get vaccinated and successful vaccination policies go hand in hand. This paper aims to understand the perceptions, acceptance, hesitation, and refusal of Covid-19 vaccines in Nghe An, Vietnam. We used an online survey to collect data during March of 2021. The Bayesian regression model (BRM) was used to identify the factors affecting vaccination decisions. The empirical results show that respondents’ livelihoods were considerably affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and there was a subtle difference in Covid-19 impacts on the lives of urban residents and their rural counterparts. In addition, respondents reported an overall positive attitude towards Covid-19 vaccination in which 84.28% were willing to get vaccinated, 14.85% were hesitant, and 0.87% refused vaccination. Their vaccination decisions were associated with vaccine side effects, information, income, job type, gender, and trust in government. Our findings offer policy implications for devising strategies for vaccine distribution in the study area and beyond

Covid-19 vaccines production and societal immunization under the serendipity-mindsponge-3D knowledge management theory and conceptual framework

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), tremendous efforts have been made by scientists, health professionals, business people, politicians, and laypeople around the world. Covid-19 vaccines are one of the most crucial innovations that help fight against the virus. This paper attempts to revisit the Covid-19 vaccines production process by employing the serendipity-mindsponge-3D creativity management theory. Vaccine production can be considered an information process and classified into three main stages. The first stage involved the processes of absorbing information (e.g., digital data and open science) and rejecting unhelpful information (e.g., misinformation and fake news) for effectively acquiring useful insights. Useful insights were later employed by experts, enterprises, governments, and international organizations through interdisciplinary coordinated efforts for developing vaccines within a short period. Finally, the appearance of multiple types of vaccines enabled more strategic options for vaccine distribution and administration. Findings from this vaccine creativity management process could be used as critical lessons for further improvements of vaccination programs

Integrated eco-socio-economic analysis of forest transition and forest restoration in Vietnam, An

2018 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Forests provide numerous benefits to human well-being, so changes in forest cover have large societal impacts from local to global scales. Several studies in Vietnam and elsewhere have found single solutions for increasing forest cover. However, a comprehensive solution for harnessing forest restoration to satisfy growing demands for sustainable global development that improves rural community livelihood, enhances biodiversity and environmental services, and mitigates climate change is lacking. This dissertation focuses on obtaining a deeper understanding of forest transition, forest restoration, and their proximate drivers as well as trade-offs of land use in upland forests in Vietnam. This dissertation is a collection of four independent studies. The first study quantified the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation at a national scale in Vietnam. Results show that around 1.77 and 0.65 million hectares of forests were lost or degraded, respectively, between 2000 and 2010. Deforestation and forest degradation declined in Vietnam between 2000 and 2010, but these processes remain significant. The extent and magnitude of deforestation and degradation vary across provinces and were most notable in the north central, northeast, central highland, and northwest areas of the nation. Poverty, initial forest cover, governance, and population growth were the top drivers of deforestation and degradation. The second study investigated the extent of forest restoration and its proximate drivers at the local-communal scale in Vietnam's Dien Bien Province. Geographic information system (GIS) tools, a structural regression model based on forest cover maps, and a field survey were employed while numerous socio-economic variables that were potentially associated with forest restoration were examined. I found that around 118,000 hectares of forests were restored between 1990 and 2010. Restored forest comprised the largest share (above 84%) of total forest gain and this share increased from 1990-2000 to 2000-2010. Expansion of restored forest was mainly driven by the presence of migration, lower population density, higher income, and the implementation of forestry policies. The third study explored the willingness of urban households to support forest restoration in Vietnam. I randomly surveyed over 200 households in the capital city Hanoi and a maximum likelihood estimator model was used to obtain the parameters of a model to quantify willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a program of forest restoration. Over forty percent of the households surveyed were willing to pay for forest restoration. As well as quantified determinants of WTP, my findings suggest that either improving households' income and educational level or focusing on females in the family may represent untapped sources of restoration funding among urban households. Finally, in a fourth study, the potentials and challenges of climate change mitigation programs in the north central region of Vietnam demonstrate possible scenarios associated with many levels of uncertainty. The role of plantation forests in total household income was quantified, trade-offs between shifting cultivation and plantation forests were analyzed and the factor groups that constrain plantation forest expansion were highlighted. My empirical results offer several important policy implications, not only for forest restoration practices as part of forest-based climate change mitigation programs but also for sustainable mountainous rural livelihood development in Vietnam and beyond