Vietnamese Provinces Research Articles

EFFECTS OF MICROCREDIT PROGRAMS ON HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL PORTFOLIOS: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL VIETNAM

Although microcredit is generally regarded as an excellent instrument for assisting borrowers in improving their well-being, its contribution to improving family financial status is often overlooked. This study addresses this issue by examining the effects of microcredit programs in Vietnam on household financial portfolios. We utilize a balanced panel dataset of 1157 identical households from two Vietnamese provinces collected in 2016, 2017, and 2022. The estimated results are calculated using the multivariate Tobit method and the instrumental variable regression method. The findings prove that microcredit increases households' lending, savings, and investments. The results are consistent with the conceptual framework and robust to different econometric models and samples. The study suggests some policy implications based on its findings.

Education and healthcare services for children and young people with intellectual disability in Vietnam: an ecological systems analysis

Purpose This paper examines the current state of services and support for children and young people with intellectual disability in Vietnam through the perspectives and experiences of parents and professionals in the education and health systems. Materials and methods We undertook 24 semi-structured interviews with parents and professionals from two Vietnamese central provinces to ask about their experiences and support needs. We draw on the networked model of ecological systems to identify contextual factors in the micro-, meso-, exo- and macro-systems. Results Access to education and healthcare services were found to be limited for children, young people, and families in central Vietnam. Barriers to provision, accessibility and quality of services were identified at multiple intersecting levels and systems. Parents reported high needs for formal services provided by trained professionals as well as information and education for themselves to provide optimum support for their children. For professionals, further training and government investment and oversight are needed to improve access and ensure quality of services. Conclusions Services and support in education and healthcare for children and young people with intellectual disability and their families remains lacking and needs significant improvement. Further information and support for parents, capacity building for professionals, strengthened disability policies and regulations, and public awareness are required.

Potential distribution of malaria vectors in Central Vietnam: A MaxEnt modeling approach.

In Central Vietnam, Anopheles dirus and Anopheles minimus are the primary malaria vector species. These Anopheles spp.' distribution and prevalence are determined by environmental, climatic, and socioeconomic conditions. This study aimed to predict the potential distribution of these two Anopheles spp. in this region. This study was conducted in 15 Central Vietnamese provinces. From 2014 to 2018, we utilized An. dirus and An. minimus presence records. Proxy data from the Google Earth Engine platform for the study area, encompassing environmental, climatic, and socioeconomic factors. MaxEnt software predicted the potential environmental, climatic, and socioeconomic suitability of these two Anopheles spp. in Central Vietnam. The test area under the curve values for An. dirus and An. minimus MaxEnt models averaged 0.801 and 0.806, respectively, showing excellent performance. Minimum air temperature had the greatest impact on the distribution of both species. A negative correlation between precipitation and normalized difference water index influences the occurrence of An. dirus. In the temperature range of 13-19.5°C, An. minimus is most likely to be present, with nighttime light detrimentally influencing its distribution. The Central Highlands region is inhabited by both species, with some presence in North-Central and South-Central Coastal areas. The importance of temperature in determining the presence of both species is emphasized by our findings, with subtle differences in the temperature-related factors shaping their distributions. The results highlight the need for focused malaria vector control and surveillance initiatives in the study area.

Impacts of fiscal decentralization on performance of local government expenditure: Evidence from Vietnam

This article aims to examine the impact of fiscal decentralization on the performance of local government expenditure in Vietnam. By using a dataset including 63 provinces from 2012 to 2021, the research shows the more expenditure-based fiscal decentralization occurs, the better is the performance of local expenditure. Moreover, the level of provincial literacy and the size of the private sector have positive impacts on the local expenditure index, while the opposite effect can be seen in the case of the ratios of local citizens to total citizens of the country. Besides this, the study also provides some recommendations which are strictly related to the mechanism of fiscal decentralization to improve local expenditure performance of Vietnamese provinces, such as more effective decentralization of budget expenditures to local government, improving the vertical budget imbalance at local budget level, increasing local government budget autonomy, and establishing stronger mechanisms to control public spending.

Analysis of multi-factors affecting resource consumption efficiency in Vietnam

Theprimary objective of this study is todelve into the factors potentially influencing resource utilisationefficiency at the provincial level in Vietnam. We leverage 185 data points gathered from 63 Vietnamese cities or provinces, obtained from two key sources: the General Statistical Office of Vietnam and the Ministry of Information and Communications Vietnam. The collected data was subjected to analysis using an empirical econometric model that incorporates time-series characteristics to explore the connections between these potential determinants of resource consumption efficiency. The analysis revealed a strong correlation between resource utilisationefficiency and the quality of digital transformation, logistics performance, and various aspects of public governance,including accountability to higher authorities, control of corruption, administrative procedures, and public service delivery. Additionally, the provincial competitiveness index, encompassing factors like entry costs, policy bias, and labourpolicy, also demonstrated a significant association. These findings highlight a clear link between effective public governance and efficient resource utilisationin Vietnamese provinces. This suggests that robust public governance systems, combined with advancements in digitalisationand logistics, can play a crucial role in optimisingresource utilisationwithin Vietnamese provinces.

The Role of Fdi in Promoting Economic Growth Across Vietnamese Provinces: Evidence from Spatial Panel Models

The Role of Fdi in Promoting Economic Growth Across Vietnamese Provinces: Evidence from Spatial Panel Models

Predictability of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Factors on Counseling Competence of School Counselors: A Cross-sectional Study in Vietnam

This study aims to explore the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on the counseling competence of Vietnamese school counselors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 226 teachers in two Vietnamese provinces. All school counselors have attended school counseling training courses with an average experience of 11.3 years. Linear regression analysis was used to determine the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic factors on counseling competence. The results show that: (i) When considering separately the impact’s possibility of each factor, the model has confirmed the possibility of a positive impact of both factors; (ii) however, when considering the model combining two groups of factors, the role of variables in the extrinsic factors no longer exists, while the role of variables in the intrinsic factors is still available. This study has confirmed the role of intrinsic factors related to the personal counseling competence of school counselors. This finding allows us to propose a solution to improve and develop counseling competence for school counselors focusing on identified intrinsic factors and promoting policies to maintain the positive impact of extrinsic factors in Vietnamese education or countries with similar educational backgrounds.

Local Autonomy in Education Finance in a Mixed Economy: The Case of Vietnam

Allocation mechanisms are crucial to shaping the effectiveness of a country's school finance system. In Vietnam, local authorities make their own decisions about allocating operating resources for pretertiary education. Despite this high level of control, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on how Vietnamese provinces allocate resources for their schools. This study aims to fill this gap by examining official legal documents from Vietnamese provinces, focusing on the allocation of operating funds to P-12 schools. The findings reveal significant variations in resource allocation across operating purposes (salary vs. nonsalary), grade levels, methods of accounting for scale economies, and different student subgroups, including those who are socio-economically disadvantaged students, gifted students, and with disabilities.

Factors affecting the implementation of STEAM education among primary school teachers in various countries and Vietnamese educators: comparative analysis

ABSTRACT STEAM education, recognised as an innovative model with wide-ranging benefits for students, can be challenging for teachers to implement, impacting their readiness. This study delves into the international experiences related to the preparedness of educators to implement STEAM education at the elementary level, drawing insights from 477 primary school teachers across 30 Vietnamese provinces. Utilising direct and online questionnaires, data was analyzed using linear structural equation modelling. The findings offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of STEAM education, particularly in elementary schools. Additionally, the research explores factors influencing STEAM education implementation in Vietnam, contributing to the global academic community and identifying elements impacting the global trend toward STEM/STEAM education. This study's comprehensive approach sheds light on the challenges faced by teachers and aims to enhance the knowledge base, making a significant contribution to the discourse on STEAM education.

Critical factors influencing green consumer behavior: A case study in Vietnam

Green shopping is becoming increasingly popular as a way of saving the environment and combating climate change in Vietnam and many other nations across the world. In addition, the agriculture sector, along with other industries such as manufacturing, services, commerce, and environmentally conscious consumption, is being examined in the global shift towards sustainable green consumption. This is in line with attempts to adopt eco-friendly solutions and mitigate climate change. As a result, the study investigated the critical elements influencing individual consumers' green consumer behavior in five Vietnamese provinces and gave management recommendations for improving green consumer behavior. The article technique utilized structural equation modeling (SEM), the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS), and Amos. In addition, data was collected from 700 green product buyers. The findings of the article identified five essential factors influencing green consumer behavior: green products, the price of green products, green places, green promotion, and green policy. The article provides valuable insights for managers to develop an effective green marketing plan for businesses that sell organic food products. The goal is to encourage customers to embrace environmental consciousness and promote sustainable development. Additionally, the article emphasizes the importance of conveying positive information about green businesses. The value of this study raises awareness of the fact that green consumption is a comprehensive and responsible management process that satisfies, identifies, meets, and predicts the needs of producers, sellers, and consumers while preserving the natural health of the environment and not endangering human health.

The relationship between Foreign investment (FDI), Trade internationalization and Labor productivity in Vietnamese localities

This article studies the impact of FDI and international trade on labor productivity of Vietnamese provinces. Analyzing a sample of 63 provinces in the period 2010-2021, the research findings indicate positive impacts of FDI disbursed in the provincial economy. The number of employees in active FDI enterprises and exports on the labor productivity. In contrast, the number of active FDI enterprises and imports have insignificant effects on labor productivity; meanwhile, the economic growth influence negatively the labor productivity of provinces. On the basis of research results, we propose recommendations for attracting FDI implying large capital scale and high labor use: at the same time, it is necessary to increase exports by controlling selectively imports in order to improve labor productivity for Vietnamese provinces

Teachers' Perceptions and Readiness for Digital Transformation in Education: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam, a Developing Nation

For countries to remain competitive in the global knowledge economy, digital transformation of education is becoming increasingly important. As a developing nation, Vietnam recognizes this importance and is adopting policies to integrate digital technology into its education system. This study investigates how teachers in Vietnam are prepared for digital transformation in education using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. An online survey involved 403 teachers across 22 Vietnamese provinces. Its purpose was to understand their readiness and perspectives on digital tech integration in education. The collected data underwent descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. The findings revealed that teachers in Vietnam demonstrated a moderate degree of readiness to integrate digital transformation into their teaching practices, along with a moderate level of acceptance of its implementation (mean = 3.67 and 3.65, respectively). The survey indicated teachers' positive views on digital education transformation (average rating: 3.28) and its user-friendliness (average rating: 3.42). Preparedness, usefulness perception, and ease of use affected 86.1% of teachers' digital transformation acceptance. As a result, it is possible to assume that Vietnamese teachers intend to implement digital transformation in their teaching. Based on the data gathered, the study concludes that targeted interventions and support are critical to assisting Vietnamese teachers in overcoming the challenges of digital transformation in education. Possible interventions encompass better tech access, enhanced training, fostering innovation in classrooms, and professional development. The study's insights can shape education policies and practices, and enrich literature on digital transformation in developing nations

Role of institution quality in the impact of government expenditure on economic development: a case study in Vietnamese provinces

ABSTRACT To examine the impact of fiscal policy through public spending at provincial level in Vietnam, this study uses the combination among different regression methods for panel data of 63 Vietnamese provinces during the period 2010–2020. The Feasible General Least Squares (FGLS) estimator and S-GMM estimator shows that there exists a positive effect of government expenditure on provincial economic growth. Moreover, the contribution of investment expense to supporting economic activity is expected more effective than that of current expenditure in the context of Vietnamese provinces. With techniques for analysing the marginal effects of interactive variables in research model, the role of local institutional quality is confirmed to improve the positive impact of government expenditure on provincial economic growth. In general, some policy implications are suggested based on the results to help local government stimulate the economic development in Vietnam.

Travelling, retail activities, trade openness and COVID-19 incidence in Vietnam

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019; and then quickly spread to become a global pandemic. Vietnam, a country located in Southeast Asia, is also affected by the pandemic. The first case of COVID-19 infection was recorded in the country on 23 January 2020; and by the end of this year, the country reported a total of 1465 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the disease infection incidence is different among provinces in Vietnam. In this research, we explore the effects of travel, retail activities, and trade openness on the disparities in the spread incidence of COVID-19 among Vietnam's 63 provinces in 2020, utilising cross-sectional provincial-level data. Empirical findings in this research indicate that travel activities and trade openness are likely to exert positive and significant impacts on COVID-19 incidence. In contrast, retail activities appear not to significantly affect the variance in COVID-19 incidence among the Vietnamese provinces in 2020.

Solutions to Enhance the Efficiency of Local Development Investment Funds in Vietnam

The paper titled “Solutions to Enhance the Efficiency of Local Development Investment Funds in Vietnam” examines the role and operations of Local Development Investment Funds (LDIFs) in the context of infrastructure development within the budgets of Vietnamese provinces and cities. These funds play a crucial role in mobilizing resources, engaging private economic entities, and supporting economic and social infrastructure projects. The paper evaluates the current status of LDIFs, highlighting their achievements, limitations, and challenges. The study proposes a comprehensive set of solutions to enhance the effectiveness of LDIF operations and improve their impact on local economic and social development. The introduction provides an overview of the fiscal challenges faced by the government and localities due to overspending within permissible limits. The second section details the current situation of LDIF operations, presenting statistics on their capital, lending activities, investments, and engagement with other financial funds. It underscores the achievements in capital accumulation, lending, investment, and entrusted activities, while also pointing out limitations such as restrictions on capital mobilization, small fund sizes, non-performing loans, and challenges in investment activities.To address these challenges, the paper presents a set of solutions in the third section. The proposed solutions aim to enhance the effectiveness of LDIF activities and ensure they contribute optimally to the ongoing efforts of building prosperous provinces and cities in Vietnam. The paper references various sources, including reports from the Association of Local Development Investment Funds, government decrees, academic journals, and research articles, to support its analysis and recommendations for improving LDIF operations.

Gender Responsiveness in District and Department Competitiveness Index for Female Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study in Two Mountainous Provinces of Vietnam

Objective: The District and Department Competitiveness Index (DDCI) has its main focus on the development of Enterprises and Women Entrepreneurs, towards inclusive socio-economic growth and development. How about the level of gender responsiveness that DDCI has in reality? Theoretical Framework: The DDCI in a Vietnam-related initiative, which aims to assess the reality of economic management capacity and to improve the business environment in districts, cities and provincial departments in provinces/cities of Vietnam. The theoretical formation of it becomes a major source for analytical framework used. Method/design/approach: This study has been conducted in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, mainly based on measuring the DDCI in a survey of 1000-1500 samples in each of the two Vietnamese mountainous provinces throughout 2019 - 2022. Findings and conlusions are derived from the combination of the two approaches. Results and conclusion: From a gender perspective, we notice some major differences in the assessment of the business environment, the impact of natural disasters and epidemics, business prospects and confidence in the market's recovery for the genders. Research implications: This affects the viability of business models, the sustainable development of enterprises, and in the immediate future, the prospects for recovery of businesses that are owned and led by women, who have suffered from many disadvantages in work and life. Originality/value: The study provides effective tools to enliven a picture of local production, businesses and business environment, as an input for public policy evaluation and improvement.

Role of Foreign Investment (FDI) and Labor Productivity: Empirical Study in Vietnamese Provinces

The article analyzes empirically the role and impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on labor productivity of provinces in Vietnam. Based on data of 63 provinces in the period 2010 - 2021, the research findings show 4 dimensions of FDI that have a positive impact on labor productivity including: (i) FDI amount or active accumulative implemented FDI in local economy, (ii) active accumulative registered FDI projects, (iii) employment in FDI sector, and (iv) net revenue of FDI sector. We found also 2 dimensions of FDI that do not influence significantly the labor productivity of Vietnamese provinces, including: (a) active accumulative registered FDI capital and (b) active FDI enterprises in the local economy. Based on the research results, we propose some recommendations in attracting FDI in Vietnamese provinces in order to increase their labor productivity.

Some Recommendations in Attracting FDI in Vietnamese Provinces VIa Using Time Series Data

The article will show Some recommendations in attracting FDI in Vietnamese provinces. In essence, FDI is the intersection of demand between the FDI-investing country and the FDI-receiving country, related to the expansion of the market of multinational investors. The results imply that the indirect spillover effect on the number of FDI enterprises has no direct role on labor productivity in the localities of our country. Based on the research results, we propose some recommendations in attracting FDI in Vietnamese provinces in order to increase their labor productivity. For ex, Vietnam needs to pay attention to the requirements of investors in a number of aspects such as: Openness, transparency, stability, predictability in terms of institutions, policies and laws; strictly and uniformly enforce the law, protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors; simple administrative procedures, ensuring the prescribed time.

Financing Preprimary Education: How Vietnamese Provinces Allocate Scarce Resources

This study is the first to examine how provinces allocate resources for preprimary education in Vietnam. We find that despite reliance on the central government’s Decision 46, provinces in Vietnam show considerable autonomy and exhibit substantial variation in how they allocate education aid to preprimary education. The variation comes to light in how they allocate funds between salary and non-salary purposes and how they fiscally treat different types of students, namely socio-economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities and in different grade levels. This study paves the way for exploration of a multitude of unanswered research inquiries in preprimary education in Vietnam.

Impact and effectiveness of Rotavin-M1 under conditions of routine use in two provinces in Vietnam, 2016–2021, an observational and case–control study

Half of diarrhea hospitalizations in children aged <5 years in Vietnam are due to rotavirus. Following introduction of a locally developed and licensed oral rotavirus vaccine, Rotavin-M1, into the routine immunization program in two Vietnamese provinces, Nam Dinh and TT Hue, we describe changes in rotavirus positivity among children hospitalized for diarrhea and calculate vaccine effectiveness against moderate-to-severe rotavirus hospitalizations. Active rotavirus surveillance among children <5 years began in December 2016at sentinel hospitals in districts where rotavirus vaccine was introduced in December 2017. To estimate reductions in rotavirus detection, we calculated risk ratios comparing rotavirus positivity pre- and post-vaccine introduction. We used a test-negative case-control design to calculate vaccine effectiveness. From December 2016 to May 2021, 7228 children <5 years hospitalized for diarrhea were enrolled. Following introduction, Rotavin-M1 coverage was 77% (1066/1377) in Nam Dinh and 42% (203/489) in TT Hue. In Nam Dinh, rotavirus positivity among children <5 years significantly declined by 40.6% (95% CI: 34.8%-45.8%) during the three-year post-vaccine introduction period. In TT Hue, no change in rotavirus positivity was observed. Among children aged 6-23 months, a 2-dose series of Rotavin-M1 was 57% (95% CI: 39%-70%) effective against moderate-to-severe rotavirus hospitalizations. Higher vaccination coverage in Nam Dinh than TT Hue likely contributed to substantial declines in rotavirus positivity observed in Nam Dinh following rotavirus vaccine introduction. Robust vaccine effectiveness was observed through the second year of life. National rotavirus vaccine introduction with high coverage may have substantial impact on reducing rotavirus disease burden in Vietnam. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.