Performance of small and medium enterprises and the impact of environmental variables: evidence from Vietnam

thesis is developed from a real life application of performance evaluation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. The thesis presents two main methodological developments on evaluation of dichotomous environment variable impacts on technical efficiency. Taking into account the selection bias the thesis proposes a revised frontier separation approach for the seminal Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model which was developed by Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (1981). The revised frontier separation approach is based on a nearest neighbour propensity score matching pairing treated SMEs with their counterfactuals on the propensity score. The thesis develops order-m frontier conditioning on propensity score from the conditional order-m approach proposed by Cazals, Florens, and Simar (2002), advocated by Daraio and Simar (2005). By this development, the thesis allows the application of the conditional order-m approach with a dichotomous environment variable taking into account the existence of the self-selection problem of impact evaluation. Monte Carlo style simulations have been built to examine the effectiveness of the aforementioned developments. Methodological developments of the thesis are applied in empirical studies to evaluate the impact of training programmes on the performance of food processing SMEs and the impact of exporting on technical efficiency of textile and garment SMEs of Vietnam. The analysis shows that training programmes have no significant impact on the technical efficiency of food processing SMEs. Moreover, the analysis confirms the conclusion of the export literature that exporters are self selected into the sector. The thesis finds no significant impact from exporting activities on technical efficiency of textile and garment SMEs. However, large bias has been eliminated by the proposed approach. Results of empirical studies contribute to the understanding of the impact of different environmental variables on the performance of SMEs. It helps policy makers to design proper policy supporting the development of Vietnamese SMEs

The Impact of the Economic Stimulus on Domestic, Private Enterprises

In the year 2008 and the first half of 2009, the world witnessed the unfolding and heavy repercussions of the global financial crisis which affected Vietnam, among others, through the reduction of investments inflow, lower global commodity prices and trade. The government of Vietnam has acted quickly with its stimulus package, including a 4% interest rate subsidy for enterprises with the objective of preventing the economy from falling further. While there are some anecdotal evidences about the effectiveness of the stimulus package, there is no systematic evidence of the impact of the stimulus package. This paper makes use of the PCI 2008 enterprise survey data, a unique dataset which is only recently made by available to investigate the impact of the 4% interest rate subsidy component of the stimulus package. We find strong statistical evidence that the 4% interest rate subsidy has positive and important impacts on the enterprises, easing the severe effects of the global crisis.Freeware; Global financial crisis, fiscal stimulus, interest rate subsidy, Vietnam.

Innovation and Export of Vietnam’s SME Sector

Innovation has long been considered an important factor for creating and maintaining the competitiveness of nations and firms. The relationship between innovation and exporting has been investigated for many countries. However, there is a paucity of research in Vietnam with respect to this issue. In this paper we examine whether innovation performed by Vietnam’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enhances their exporting likelihood. Using the recently released Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Survey 2005, we find that innovation as measured directly by ‘new products’, ‘new production process’ and ‘improvement of existing products’ are important determinants of exports by Vietnamese SMEs.Vietnam; Export; Innovation; Small and Medium Enterprise

The substitution effect of preferential tariffs on non-tariff measures: evidence from Vietnam

This study empirically investigates the effects of ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) tariffs on non-tariff measures (NTMs) in Vietnam from 2012 to 2018. Our findings reveal the following. First, o ur gravity estimation demonstrates that although the reduction of ATIGA tariffs increases Vietna m’s imports, the introduction of certain NTM types, particularly price control and finance measur es, decreases them. Second, the reduction of ATIGA tariffs tends to introduce price control measur es in particular. Third, when ATIGA tariffs decrease, the pre-shipment inspection, non-automatic licensi ng, and finance measures are more likely to be eliminated for products in which Vietnam has high export competitiveness. Fourth, both ATIGA tariffs and ASEAN+1 free trade agreement tariffs have signific ant effects on the introduction of NTMs in Vietnam. Finally, we found that the reduction in ATIGA tariffs a lso results in decreasing most favored nation tariffs

Innovation and Export of Vietnam’s SME Sector

Innovation has long been considered an important factor for creating and maintaining the competitiveness of nations and firms. The relationship between innovation and exporting has been investigated for many countries. However, there is a paucity of research in Vietnam with respect to this issue. In this paper we examine whether innovation performed by Vietnam’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enhances their exporting likelihood. Using the recently released Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Survey 2005, we find that innovation as measured directly by ‘new products’, ‘new production process’ and ‘improvement of existing products’ are important determinants of exports by Vietnamese SMEs

Innovation and Export of Vietnam’s SME Sector

Innovation has long been considered an important factor for creating and maintaining the competitiveness of nations and firms. The relationship between innovation and exporting has been investigated for many countries. However, there is a paucity of research in Vietnam with respect to this issue. In this paper we examine whether innovation performed by Vietnam’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enhances their exporting likelihood. Using the recently released Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Survey 2005, we find that innovation as measured directly by ‘new products’, ‘new production process’ and ‘improvement of existing products’ are important determinants of exports by Vietnamese SMEs

Foreign direct investment in Vietnam: Is there any evidence of technological spillover effects

In the context of integrating more deeply into the world economy the Vietnamese policy makers have undertaken several measures to attract foreign direct investment to the country, with the culmination of FDI inflows in 2007 reaching over USD 20 billion, an increase of 69% over 2006. The policy has been taken on the ground that the FDI inflows will create employment and bring along the much needed technological advances, which will spill over to domestic firms. In this paper, we use a firm-level panel data constructed from the Census 2000-2005 to investigate not only the horizontal spillovers but also the backward and forward linkages. Adding to the current literature which focused mainly on the spillovers in the manufacturing sector, our paper provide the first estimates of the spillover effects in the service sector (at least in the context of developing countries). We also distinguish between the horizontal output spillovers (which capture demonstration effects and competition effects) and the horizontal employment spillover (which captures the labour mobility effect). The results obtained from our regression models are mixed. Different channels of spillovers are at work for the manufacturing and the service sectors. We find evidence of the positive backward technological spillovers for the manufacturing and positive horizontal spillovers for the service sector

Foreign direct investment in Vietnam: Is there any evidence of technological spillover effects

In the context of integrating more deeply into the world economy the Vietnamese policy makers have undertaken several measures to attract foreign direct investment to the country, with the culmination of FDI inflows in 2007 reaching over USD 20 billion, an increase of 69% over 2006. The policy has been taken on the ground that the FDI inflows will create employment and bring along the much needed technological advances, which will spill over to domestic firms. In this paper, we use a firm-level panel data constructed from the Census 2000-2005 to investigate not only the horizontal spillovers but also the backward and forward linkages. Adding to the current literature which focused mainly on the spillovers in the manufacturing sector, our paper provide the first estimates of the spillover effects in the service sector (at least in the context of developing countries). We also distinguish between the horizontal output spillovers (which capture demonstration effects and competition effects) and the horizontal employment spillover (which captures the labour mobility effect). The results obtained from our regression models are mixed. Different channels of spillovers are at work for the manufacturing and the service sectors. We find evidence of the positive backward technological spillovers for the manufacturing and positive horizontal spillovers for the service sector

Dynamics of the informal sector : evidence from Vietnam

Findings imply that the Vietnamese government should provide more assistance to weak firms and release regulation interventions to promote formalisation. Firms moving from formal to informal conditions are often either weak businesses that have no potential to expand or strong enterprises which want to escape from government regulations. This first-ever study creates an informality index to capture the nature of informality using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA). By using Cluster Analysis to segment firms and investigate factors associated with each cluster, the paper contributes enormously to studies focusing on the high heterogeneity of informal enterprises in Vietnam

Expanding HIV Testing Efforts in Concentrated Epidemic Settings: A Population-Based Survey from Rural Vietnam

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