Abstract:

While greater trade liberalisation is expected to boost Vietnam's economic growth and contribute to the country's market economy transition, there are concerns about potentially negative impacts on vulnerable groups.

To explore the possible impacts of trade liberalisation on children in poor communities, this paper examines key mediating factors that impact child well-being and the ways trade reforms could affect these variables. It employs a sequential mixed methods approach: econometrics analysis of household survey data followed by complementary in-depth qualitative analysis of two key agricultural commodity sectors, aquaculture and sugarcane, expected to be significantly impacted by Vietnam's increasing market integration.

The quantitative findings identify significant differences in child well-being outcomes based on household poverty status and vulnerability to declining living standards, parental education levels, and overall community poverty status. The qualitative results provide complementary insights on underlying intra-household dynamics and familial coping strategies in the context of economic shocks that contribute to a richer understanding of the potential linkages between trade reforms and intra-household poverty. The paper concludes by discussing policy implications.

Abstract:

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.