Critical Factors Affecting Construction Price Index: An Integrated Fuzzy Logic and Analytical Hierarchy Process

Nowadays, many construction engineering and technology enterprises are evolving to find that prosperity is driven and inspired by an open economy with dynamic markets and fierce multifaceted competition. Besides brand and product uniqueness, the ability to quickly provide customers with quotes are matters of concern. Such a requirement for prompt cost estimation of construction investment projects with the use of a construction price index poses a significant challenge to contractors. This is because the nature of the construction industry is shaped by changes in domestic and foreign economic factors, socio-financial issues, and is under the influence of various micro and macro factors. This paper presents a fuzzy decision-making approach for calculating critical factors that affect the construction price index. A qualitative approach was implemented based on in-depth interviews of experts in the construction industry in Vietnam. A synthetic comparison matrix was calculated using Buckley approach. The CoA approach was applied to defuzzified the fuzzy weights of factors that affect the construction price index. The research results show that the top five critical factors affecting the construction price index in Vietnam are (1) consumer price index, (2) gross domestic product, (3) basic interest rate, (4) foreign exchange rate, and (5) total export and import

Social capital and job search success: The case of undergraduates in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The literature has proven the positive role of social capital on job search success, but the researchers' community has not been convinced completely because social capital is not always good. Moreover, only certain dimensions of the two latent variables were analyzed in the previous research though they are multidimensional. This paper approached the social capital and job search success multidimensionally by applying Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to explore the path that social capital impacts on job search success. The primary data of 400 undergraduates in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam were used in the model. The results have confirmed the positive role of bonding social capital and general trust in acquired job quality, job search cost and job search convenience

Investigating determinants of quality of life: The case of older people in Ho Chi Minh City

This study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting the quality of life in terms of the health of the elderly in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. Health production theory was used to form the analytical framework for the study. The data set of 300 surveyed elderly people, which was randomly drawn from the list of 841,000 older people in HCMC by Excel random function, was used for quantitative analysis, including Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and linear regression. Research results show that gender and marital status are not statistically significant while education, employment, bonding, bridging, and linking social capital statistically significant impact on the quality of life of the elderly. Specifically, the level of education improves the quality of life while employment reduces the quality of life. This finding is an important implication for policies related to the retirement age of employees. The research results have also provided empirical evidence on the potential of social capital, a resource existing in the network of relationships, in improving the quality of life besides other traditional resources. This finding is an important basis for policymakers in mobilizing social capital resources in the context of resource scarcity

Social Capital and Corporate Performance: Evidence from State Capital Enterprises in Vietnam

The research has been conducted to explore the combination of three intangible resources, including social capital, entrepreneurship, and resilience capability on the performance of State Capital Enterprises (SCEs) in Vietnam. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied in the study. An in-depth interview of ten CEOs at SCEs in Vietnam was made to explore new indicators for the contextual latent variables in the research models. By employing the data from the authors’ survey of 568 SCEs in Vietnam in 2019, using Cronbach’s alpha, confrmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis (SEM), the mechanism that social capital impacts on SCE performance has been analyzed. In addition to the direct role, social capital indirectly affects corporate performance through entrepreneurship and resilience capability. It was found that social capital has a larger impact on entrepreneurship than resilience capacity. However, the contribution of resilience capacity to the frm performance is much more than the entrepreneurship’s in Vietnamese context. This study enriches the theory by proposing a measurement scale of the contextual latent variables as a result of in-depth interviews with experts using a qualitative analysis technique. In addition, the path analysis fndings suggest practical implications for managers to effectively use their resources in SCEs

Disputes in Managing Projects: A Case Study of Construction Industry in Vietnam

The construction industry in developing countries like Vietnam, which incorporates small and medium construction enterprises, is typically more prone to disputes and contract dispute-related lawsuits. A dispute may occur at any time in the life cycle of the project. It is sometimes solved with the intermediation of a lawyer or directly by stakeholders. Understanding the causes of disputes in a construction project not only improves the efficiency of a company but also increases the success of projects. This study was carried out using a questionnaire survey at construction projects in Ho Chi Minh City. Sample data with 117 observations were analyzed to find the disputing factors in construction projects: diversity of working style among the parties; reluctance to work; and poor teamwork. Correlation coefficient on a rank of factors between design consultant and contractor; Design consultant and project owners are positively correlated. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) analysis identified six groups of factors in construction disputes: cooperation, technology, economics, productivity, information, and behavior. The findings are useful for enterprise practice and provide participants with an overview of sources of dispute. Thus, a more complete risk management plan can be formulated, which will accelerate project progress and improve the likelihood of success

Measurement Quality of Life of Rural to Urban Migrants in Ho Chi Minh City by Using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model

Ho Chi Minh City is among the top cities in Vietnam with a high proportion of rural to urban migration. This strongly contributes to the economic growth of the city but challenges the infrastructure, social security services, health care, clean water, education, traffic, safety, and social order which negatively impacts the quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore the life quality of rural to urban migrants in Ho Chi Minh City. A quantitative method was employed to confirm the measurement model and structural model. Probability sampling was applied for the field survey. The final data of 272 migrants have been analyzed, using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). Social capital, a special resource of the vulnerable like rural to urban migrants has been investigated. This contributes to the theory that both social capital and quality of life have been approached multi-dimensionally. Bonding, bridging, and linking dimensions have all been approached to construct the social capital measurement model. Five aspects of life quality including work, housing, environment, finance, and social cohesion have been measured to reflect the quality of life multi-dimensionally. The research results showed the reliability and validity of the measurement model. The positive impact of social capital on quality of life has empirically been confirmed. The findings implied the prompt strategies for mobilizing social capital effectively and efficiently, including the exploitation of bonding, bridging, and linking to improve the quality of life

Measuring production efficiency level of Vietnam for inputs imported from China

In recent years, many countries in ASEAN have depended significantly on products imported from China. This study presents the analysis of dependence level of inputs imported by Vietnam from China. Using production elasticity index as the measurement, the results of research shows that the imported inputs from China are effective for Vietnam’s economy. In addition, in comparison to the inputs imported from other remaining countries in the world, the import from China brought higher production efficiency for Vietnam in most of the industries

China Trade Expansion: A Case Study of Vietnam

Vietnam encountered the unexpected trade deficit with China in the recent years. Upon establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community on December 31st, 2015, the import tax rates of the regional countries have been reduced significantly. This facilitates the quality goods from the ASEAN countries overflowing into Vietnam. Nevertheless, a few research and analysis on the challenge of importing goods from China under the regional economic integration. To settle these issues, this paper analyzes the China‘s market expansion into Vietnam. In addition, it also compares the Vietnam's import structure from China and other countries in ASEAN. The results showed that China is always the top export partner of Vietnam, particularly, machinery and raw materials. Keywords: Economics, import structure, China, Vietnam JEL Classifications: A1, D5, F

Calculating Weights of Social Capital Index Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

This study aims at identifying and ranking social capital indicators in the measurement model for Vietnam context. The analytic hierarchy process is adopted to explore the relative importance of each dimension in the integrated social capital index. The opinions from the in-depth interviews with experts, scholars and practitioners in social capital theory in Vietnam are employed to calculate the indicators’ weights in the model. The empirical fndings indicate the superior impact of trust to network in the integrated index. Moreover, bridging and bridging-link are found to be more important than bonding and bonding-link. The result implies the potential of leveraging this resource for the development of individuals and community

Critical Factors Affecting The Happiness: A Vietnamese Perspective

It can be said that happiness and searching for happiness are the goals, aspirations and rights of every one. Increasing the happiness of their own country’s population is an ultimate goal being widely interested by the policy makers. However, in Vietnam, there have been a few studies about the factors affecting the happiness. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework model to identify critical factors influencing the happiness of Vietnamese people