Vietnamese Footwear Export: The Direction of Trade and Determinants of Firms' Market Penetration

Abstract

We investigate determinants of firms’ direction of trade by using panel data of Vietnam’s footwear firms for the 2006-2010 period. Since no variance was found between firms, a pooled multinomial logit model is consequently preferable. Notably, the economies of scale show positive and significant effects for footwear firms serving the USA and EU markets. Although Vietnamese footwear firms are less likely to export to the ASEAN countries, they tend to focus on the diversification of products in this market. Both private and FDI firms are less likely to export to the EU compared with their counter parts owned by the State (SOEs). However, private firms outperform SOES in the U.S market.