Search results

This paper examines the effects of infrastructure projects on economic performance by studying the changes in government revenue in the Northern Midland and Mountainous region of Viet Nam. More specifically, this paper investigates the effects of two expressway projects, namely (1) the Noi Bai-Lao Cai project and (2) the Ha Noi-Thai Nguyen project. In this study, we focus on the government revenue of the region, including personal income tax revenue, other government revenue from business activities, and total revenue, because they reflect the economic performance that the infrastructure investment creates. To investigate the impacts of infrastructure projects, we utilize the difference-in-difference (DID) method and compare the government revenue between the traversed regions and the non-traversed regions in two periods: (1) the construction phase and (2) the operation phase of the projects. The main estimated results show significant increases in the government revenue along the two expressways, highlighting an economic increase in the region after the completion of the expressway projects.

AbstractThis study aims to identify the effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process in Vietnamese provinces/cities. I employ labour quality assessments of firms as a proxy for human capital and divide human capital accumulation into the following two processes: an educational process and a process through which educational outcomes and worker training transform into labour quality. The estimation results have some notable implications for the Vietnamese context. Corruption has both negative and positive effects on human capital. On the one hand, corruption reduces the positive effect of local government spending on educational achievements and worsens labour quality. On the other hand, the prevalence of corruption in provinces/cities increases the advantages of local schools in the competition to obtain funds from the central government; hence, corruption enhances educational achievements in those regions. The results of this study indicate that corruption adversely affects human capital overall.

This study offers a comprehensive picture of the rural economy in Bangladesh during the first three months of the lockdown period in comparison with the pre-COVID-19 situation. Using a nationally representative sample (of 2,312 rural households from 62 villages in 56 districts) known as the Mahbub Hossain Survey sample, we conducted a telephone survey in June 2020. Our descriptive and regression analyses suggest that, during the survey period, the rural economy experienced several adverse impacts from the containment measures, such as a delayed harvest, difficulty in selling farm produce, labor and material input disruptions and cost increases, and reductions in remittance receipts and non-farm business sales. Rural households had to reduce their food consumption and receive food support from the government and cash support from the private sector. Vulnerability was especially apparent in households with a head who was female, less educated, young, or casual labor. Livelihoods varied significantly among geographical areas according to the concentration of the infection and less significantly according to the stringency of the lockdown measures. We also found that rural households preferred cash or product support, rural work or employment support, and cash assistance or soft loans for farm inputs and business inputs at the time of the survey.