Firm Efficiency in a Transitional Economy: Evidence from Vietnam

The paper examines efficiency performance of the non-state small and medium manufacturing industries in a transitional and developing economy. Using firm level data in Vietnam from 1996 and 2001, cross-sectional models are estimated using the stochastic frontier method. The results show a considerable variation in efficiency levels among firms and that a greater use of family labor and a metropolitan location are associated with improvement in technical efficiency. The results indicate few benefits from direct government financial and non-financial assistance to businesses.     

North versus South: The Impact of Social Norms in the Market Pricing of Private Property Rights in Vietnam

Despite a centralized political system, country-wide legal reforms, and similar high housing demand pressures, property rights have evolved differently in Vietnam’s two leading cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), during the transition period. Using ethnographic fieldwork and a hedonic price model, the study shows that the two land and housing markets price tenure ambiguity differently. The different price structures indicate the importance of norms, as socially constructed by local political interests and culture, in the efficacy of land title regularization programs.     

The Regionalization of Knowledge Flows in East Asia: Evidence from Patent Citations Data

This paper investigates the extent to which East Asia has become a source of international knowledge diffusion and whether such diffusion is localized to the region. Using citations made by US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted patents to other USPTO patents as an indicator of knowledge flow, I investigate the patterns of knowledge diffusion in East Asia by estimating a model of international knowledge diffusion. While OECD countries remain the dominant sources of knowledge, I find evidence of increasing regionalization of knowledge flow in East Asia.     

Determinants of Remittances: Recent Evidence Using Data on Internal Migrants in Vietnam*

The present paper examines the determinants of remittance behavior for Vietnam using data from the 2004 Vietnam Migration Survey on internal migrants. It considers how, among other things, the vulnerability of a migrant's life at the destination, their link to relatives back home, and the time spent at the destination affect remittances. The paper finds that migrants act as risk‐averse economic agents and send remittances back to the household of origin as part of an insurance exercise in the face of economic uncertainty. Remittances are also found to be driven by a migrant's labor market earnings level. The paper highlights the important role of remittances in providing an effective means of risk‐coping and mutual support within the family.