Does trade integration matter for reducing intra-regional disparities? ASEAN evidence from a panel co-integration approach

Needless to say, it is necessary to study the relative scales of the trade creation effect and the trade diversion effect to evaluate success of ASEAN trade integration and to determine whether or not the intra-bloc trade share is appropriate as an indicator of the progress of reducing intra-regional disparities in ASEAN. Therefore, this paper first uses descriptive statistics and some key indicators to track the progress in economic growth and in trade integration that is the main pillar of building ASEAN Economic Community. Second, we make an attempt to provide answers to the question of whether trade integration matters for reducing intra-regional disparities among ASEAN member states over the period 1995-2007. We perform the panel co-integration method developed by Pedroni (1999) that allows for heterogeneity across ten ASEAN countries. Our major finding shows that trade integration, which is captured by intra-regional exports and imports flows, is appropriate as an indicator of progress of reducing income disparities in the ASEAN zone. Finally, applying the General Method of Moments (GMM) estimation, we also find that deepening of intra-regional trade integration creates more trade flows among ASEAN member states without diverting trade flows with non-members.Growth, Trade Integration, Intra-regional disparities, Co-integration, ASEAN

Effects of the 2008 Financial Crisis on developing Asia's Economic Growth

The aim of this paper is to study macro aspect of the virulent impacts of the 2008 financial crisis on Asian developing economies. To do this, we apply the Pedroni panel co-integration technique developed to examine the long-run relationship between economic growth, exports and inward FDI on a sample of selected Asian developing countries over the period 1995-2008. Our main finding is that FDI inflows and exports exert a significant and positive impact on developing Asia's economic growth. The 2008 global financial crisis is, therefore, likely to have a significant effect on developing Asia's economic growth through two main transmission channels - FDI and exports channels.Financial crisis, Exports, FDI, Economic growth, Developing countries.

Equivariant Crossed Modules and Cohomology of Groups with Operators

In this paper we study equivariant crossed modules in its link with strict graded categorical groups. The resulting Schreier theory for equivariant group extensions of the type of an equivariant crossed module generalizes both the theory of group extensions of the type of a crossed module and the one of equivariant group extensions.Comment: 20 pag

Changes of benthic macroinvertebrates in Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries under polluted conditions with industrial wastewater

The pollution on the Thi Vai River has been spreading out rapidly over the two lasted decades caused by the wastewater from the industrial parks in the left bank of Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries. The evaluation of the benthic macroinvertebrate changes was very necessary to identify the consequences of the industrial wastewater on water quality and aquatic ecosystem of Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries. In this study, the variables of benthic macroinvertebrates and water quality were investigated in Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries, Southern Vietnam. The monitoring data of benthic macroinvertebrates and water quality parameters covered the period from 1989 to 2015 at 6 sampling sites in Thi Vai River and Cai Mep Estuaries. The basic water quality parameters were also tested including pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. The biodiversity indices of benthic macroinvertebrates were applied for water quality assessment. The results showed that pH ranged from 6.4 – 7.6 during the monitoring. The DO concentrations were in between 0.20 – 6.70 mg/L. The concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorous ranged from 0.03 – 5.70 mg/L 0.024 – 1.380 mg/L respectively. Macroinvertebrate community in the study area consisted of 36 species of polychaeta, gastropoda, bivalvia, and crustacea, of which, species of polychaeta were dominant in species number. The benthic macroinvertebartes density ranged from 0 – 2.746 individuals/m2 with the main dominant species of Neanthes caudata, Prionospio malmgreni, Paraprionospio pinnata, Trichochaeta carica, Maldane sarsi, Capitella capitata, Terebellides stroemi, Euditylia polymorpha, Grandidierella lignorum, Apseudes vietnamensis. The biodiversity index values during the monitoring characterized for aquatic environmental conditions of mesotrophic to polytrophic. Besides, species richness positively correlated with DO, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. The results confirmed the advantage of using benthic macroinvertebrates and their indices for water quality assessment

Antibacterial activity of Piper betle extracts on Helicobacter pylori and identification of potential compounds

Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common infectious bacteria in the world that causes gastric diseases leading to cancer. The increase of multiple antibiotic resistance rates of H. pylori have been reported worldwide. Thus, development of novel drugs is urgently required. Piper betle has many therapeutic values in traditional medicine. In this study, therefore, we investigated antibacterial activity of P. betle extracts and their fractions against a H. pylori strain isolated in Vietnam. The agar disk diffusion assay showed inhibition zone of ethyl acetate extract and methanol extract from P. betle leaf that of were 46 mm and 32 mm in diameter, respectively. After fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract through silica gel column chromatography, two peaks, PD2 and PD3, out of 12 fractions showed the strongest antibacterial activity. PD2 was sub-fractionated further by re-chromatography on the silica gel column, and subfraction TK12 gave best resolution on LC-MS analysis. Finally, 4 potential compounds, quercetrin, calodenin B, vitexin and plicatipyrone, were identified in TK12 fraction.

The influence of CEO characteristics on corporate environmental performance of SMEs: Evidence from Vietnamese SMEs

Drawing on upper echelon theory, this study investigates the impact of CEOs’ (chief executive officers) demographic characteristics on corporate environmental performance (CEP) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We hypothesized that CEO characteristics, including gender, age, basic educational level, professional educational level, political connection, and ethnicity, affect SMEs’ environmental performance. Using the cross-sectional data analysis of 810 Vietnamese SMEs, this study provides evidence that female CEOs and CEOs’ educational level (both basic and professional) are positively related to the probability of CEP. We also find that based on the role of institutional environment on CEP, political connections had a negative effect on CEP in the context of Vietnam. Another finding is that SMEs with chief executives from ethnic minority groups show a higher level of the probability of corporate environmental performance than companies operated by Kinh chief executives. Since CEP is an essential dimension of corporate social responsibility, a strategic decision for SMEs, it is crucial for the company to select appropriate CEOs based on their demographic characteristic