Changing food consumption patterns in rural and urban Vietnam: Implications for a future food supply system

Rapid income growth and urbanisation could significantly change the composition of the food basket in many emerging economies. This study estimates a demand system, including 15 major food items in Vietnam, with multiyear household survey data. We find a large variation in the estimated price elasticities (–0.05 to –0.88) and expenditure elasticities (–0.16 to 2.56). Food types, urban status and income groups can explain this variation. We also find that the staple food, rice, is already an inferior good for rich urban households in Vietnam. Moreover, food preferences are evolving away from rice but towards animal proteins (fish, pork, chicken, eggs and milk), fruits and vegetables, irrespective of urban status and income groups. As the Vietnam economy continues to grow with a doubling of gross domestic product (GDP) in the next decade, per capita rice consumption in both urban and rural areas and across different income groups will continue to decline, whereas demand for other high‐value products will rise. Thus, government policy should focus on encouraging demand‐oriented food production. In addition, crop diversification at the farm level needs to improve substantially to meet the rising demand for these food products due to income growth and urbanisation.     

连续创业者创业经验与再次创业成功关系研究——基于中国互联网行业面板数据的分析

通过研究中国互联网行业252位连续创业者创办的608家公司,对连续创业者先前创业经历与再次创业成功可能性间关系进行研究。从创业次数、退出状态、行业经验以及第一笔投资获取时间等维度进行分析,提出相应假设并运用最小二乘法进行验证。结果显示,创业次数及细分行业经验而不考虑先前创业业绩不能作为后续再次创业成功的可能性预估指标;创业次数越多与先前创业成功的创业者再次创业时倾向于等待更长时间才获取第一笔投资,而创业失败的创业者再次创业时第一笔投资获取时间更早;先前创业成功的创业者再次创业成功的可能性极高,而先前创业失败的创业者则容易再次失败;另外,无论创业者在相同还是不同细分行业进行再次创业,该关系都保持不变。最终,根据研究结果对投资者、政策制定者及创业者提出管理与政策建议。     

The classification of heritage tourists: a case of Hue City,Vietnam

Heritage, especially with World Heritage status, is increasingly becoming the main attraction of many tourist destinations. Heritage tourism is also the major tourism product in Hue city, Vietnam. Hitherto, there are almost no official statistics and research pertaining to heritage tourism as well as heritage tourists in Hue. This study aims at providing a preliminary profile of heritage tourists to Hue city and identifying different categories of heritage tourists, with a special focus on package tourists. The international heritage tourists' profile seems to be similar to official statistics of international arrivals, indicating almost no difference in socio-demographic profile between heritage tourists and general tourists in the context of Hue. Various significant differences were found between international and domestic tourists in terms of tourist characteristics, trip profile and the perception of Hue. Adopting McKercher's [(2002) Towards a classification of cultural tourists. International Journal of Tourism Research, 4, 29–38] cultural tourist classification, five categories of heritage tourists were identified, including purposeful heritage tourists, sightseeing heritage tourists, casual heritage tourists, incidental heritage tourists and serendipitous heritage tourists. Among these, sightseeing heritage tourists and purposeful heritage tourists were dominant.     

The effects of interaction behaviors of service frontliners on customer participation in the value co-creation: a study of health care service

This research explores the roles of various interaction behaviors of service frontliners in activating customer participation and creating customer value in the context of health care service. Based on the data of 285 paired patient–physician cases of serious chronic diseases, the analysis revealed that individuated, relational, and empowered interactions expressed by a service frontliner play a critical role in activating customer participation, leading to a higher level of perceived value; while ethical interaction has a direct-only impact on perceived value. These results imply that frontliner interaction can be further broken into participation-activating interaction and value-enhancing interaction. Both of which eventually lead to the improvement of customer value.     

The nexus between firm-supply-chain relationships and the potential for tourism development: A case study approach

This exploratory study examines the importance of firm-supply chain relationships for tourism development. Based upon prior observations, two firms seeking to boost their tourism offerings and operating in a popular Vietnamese tourist destination were selected. Semi-structured face-to-face and online interviews were conducted and complemented by on-site visits, and firm information. Various salient dimensions emerged from the data analysis. The ‘performance catalyst’ and ‘detectable value adding’ dimensions underscore the supply chain's benefits, while the ‘discerning relations’ dimension highlights deeper relationships through mutual support, building trust, or demonstrating care. Conceptually, the study proposes a framework with associated theoretical and practical implications.     

Human capital and economic growth in an overlapping generations model

The paper describes an aggregative optimal growth model, the essential features of which are that individuals are mortal and obtain their labor skill through educational training. The process of human capital formation is described by an education function which relates the pass rate to the educational expenditure per student. Two alternative scenarios, private and public education regimes, are separately investigated. Under the decentralized education regime, risk-neutral individuals borrow to finance their education when young. Under the centralized education regime, the cost of education is financed by taxes imposed on the workers in the economy, and the central government maximizes a long-term social target function. The equilibria of both regimes are analyzed and various comparative static results derived. It is shown that educational investment in a decentralized equilibrium is higher than that in the centralized steady state. We also establish that there exists a time discount rate at which or above which the decentralized per capita consumption exceeds that of the centralized steady state whereas for time rates of discount sufficiently near the population growth rate, the above result will be reversed.     

Getting bank financing: A study of Vietnamese private firms

Private firms in transition economies are operating in an extremely uncertain environment, with underdeveloped market institutions, poorly defined property rights, and absence of reliable business data. This raises a very basic question of how owners of these firms persuade bankers to make much needed loans. This study employs an institutional perspective and argues that firms' legitimacy positively influences their accessibility to bank financing. Specifically, this study develops a model that links networking, professional management practices, and growth stage with bank financing and tests that model using a sample of Vietnamese private firms. The results support the hypotheses that growth stage and networking greatly influence firms' accessibility to bank financing, and that the impact of networking on financing is contingent on the growth stage.     

Return home and start new businesses: internal migration in China

Internal migration patterns in China are characterised by rapid urbanisation and cross‐regional movement and more recently by the return of migrants to their native counties. This study investigates the drivers of migrants' permanent return and their likelihood of starting new businesses in their counties of origin. The results suggest that migrants are discouraged from permanent resettlement in urban areas because of family ties and the aspiration to start businesses in their villages of origin. The study also provides evidence that the probability of starting a business upon return is affected by the migrants' accumulation of work experience, business experience, the savings earned while away, financial stability, and the social capital they have in their home counties. The results provide important insights for emerging countries in overcoming rapid urbanisation and imbalanced regional economic growth.     

Capital Structure and Investment Financing of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Vietnam

Insufficient sources of internal financing and inaccessibility of external financing are acknowledged as crucial constraints on new investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study examines how capital structure is related to investment decision for SMEs in Vietnam. In particular, we investigate the effect of capital structure on the decision to seek new investment as well as the choice of its financing sources. The main results reveal that SMEs with high financial leverage tend to engage more in seeking new investment. Moreover, empirical results demonstrate that among SMEs seeking new investment, those with higher financial leverage are more likely to choose external financing rather than internal financing. These results confirm the dynamic feature of the pecking order theory in the context of SMEs’ capital structure in Vietnam.     

The Impact of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility on Organizational Commitment: Evidence from Vietnamese Service Firms

This study examines the relationship between internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational commitment in the service sector in Vietnam. Results from a survey of 256 employees indicate that internal CSR has a positive and significant correlation with organizational commitment. More specifically, labor relations, health and safety, and training and education had a significant effect on organizational commitment whereas work–life balance and social dialogue have no significant association with organizational commitment. The authors also provide implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research.