The missing middle: Growing and strengthening Viet Nam's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises

Arbeitspapier

We study the exporting and subcontracting decisions, mark-ups, market concentration, and growth of a panel of Vietnamese private micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Our main findings are as follows. First, we find that among subcontractors, subcontracting is a supplementary rather than primary activity. Second, there is strong evidence that the propensity to export increases with managers' or owners' knowledge of customs law. Third, all else equal, mark-ups are lower for larger micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Fourth, there is significant home province bias in the sales of Viet Nam's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Membership of business associations and having internationally recognized quality certifications attenuate the size of the home market bias. Fifth, a significant number of enterprises did not grow or even contracted in size between 2010 and 2014. Finally, we find no evidence that inspections deter enterprises from expanding beyond their core competencies.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-92-9256-296-0
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Working Paper ; No. 2017/72

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Empirical Studies of Trade ; Economic Impacts of Globalization: Microeconomic Impacts ; Contracting Out; Joint Ventures; Technology Licensing ; Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope ; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• Subject: Viet Nam ; exporting ; subcontracting ; SME ; enterprise growth ; home market bias ; mark-ups

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Co, Catherine Yap ; Thu Kim Nguyen ; Tung Nhu Nguyen ; Que Nguyet Tran
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2017

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2017/296-0
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/163043
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:46 AM CET