IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dar/wpaper/133903.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Working Conditions, Export Decisions, and Firm Constraints-Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Phan, Trang Hoai

Abstract

Better working conditions promote employee creativity and loyalty. Meanwhile, a stable and skilled workforce contributes to a firm’s sustainable growth. Therefore, providing favorable working conditions is one of the critical sustainable goals of many countries worldwide. However, some critics are concerned participating in international trade causes worsening employment conditions in developing countries. Driven by these concerns, the relationship between exports and labor conditions is worth illuminating. This study adopts the data from Vietnam’s small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). The dataset was collected by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the University of Copenhagen, UNU-WIDER from 2011 to 2015. Unlike previous studies, this study clusters firms by export status, including four groups: non-exporting, consecutive exporting, start-exporting, and exit-exporting. Observing dynamic exports sheds light on the effects of export decisions more thoroughly than the static export. Another contribution, this study focuses on an essential aspect of working conditions: providing fringe benefits. Subsequently, the analysis is upgraded by controlling for firm constraints as interaction variables. A major constraint and financial constraint are adopted to proxy for a firm’s constraints. This work promotes assessments to be more accurate, thereby providing more valuable information to policymakers. Finally, a robustness test is applied to each type of fringe benefit. Instrumental variables are used to solve the problem of endogeneity. The results found that exporting firms provide better working conditions. Additionally, constrained firms have worse working conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Phan, Trang Hoai, 2022. "Working Conditions, Export Decisions, and Firm Constraints-Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 133903, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    • Handle: RePEc:dar:wpaper:133903
    DOI: 10.3390/su14137541
    Note: for complete metadata visit http://tubiblio.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/133903/
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/22089
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137541
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3390/su14137541?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adhikari, Hari P. & Choi, Wonseok & Sah, Nilesh B., 2017. "That is what friends do: employee friendliness and innovation," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 65-76.
    2. Elena Cottini & Claudio Lucifora, 2013. "Mental Health and Working Conditions in Europe," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(4), pages 958-988, July.
    3. Thomas Farole & Deborah Winkler, 2014. "Firm location and the determinants of exporting in low- and middle-income countries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 395-420.
    4. Drusilla Brown & Raymond Robertson & Gaëlle Pierre & María Laura Sanchez-Puerta, 2009. "Globalization, Wages, and the Quality of Jobs : Five Country Studies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2654.
    5. Greenhill, Brian & Mosley, Layna & Prakash, Aseem, 2009. "Trade-based Diffusion of Labor Rights: A Panel Study, 1986–2002," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(4), pages 669-690, November.
    6. Bernard, Andrew B. & Bradford Jensen, J., 1999. "Exceptional exporter performance: cause, effect, or both?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-25, February.
    7. Obert Pimhidzai & Wendy Cunningham, 2018. "Vietnam's Future Jobs," World Bank Publications - Reports 31016, The World Bank Group.
    8. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    9. Freeman, Richard B, 1984. "Longitudinal Analyses of the Effects of Trade Unions," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, January.
    10. Nickell, Stephen & Nicolitsas, Daphne, 1999. "How does financial pressure affect firms?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1435-1456, August.
    11. Lucía Muñoz-Pascual & Carla Curado & Jesús Galende, 2019. "The Triple Bottom Line on Sustainable Product Innovation Performance in SMEs: A Mixed Methods Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, March.
    12. Michael Kremer, 1993. "The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 551-575.
    13. Pissarides, Francesca & Singer, Miroslav & Svejnar, Jan, 2003. "Objectives and constraints of entrepreneurs: evidence from small and medium size enterprises in Russia and Bulgaria," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 503-531, September.
    14. Silvana Robone & Andrew Jones & Nigel Rice, 2011. "Contractual conditions, working conditions and their impact on health and well-being," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(5), pages 429-444, October.
    15. Frank Crowley & Jane Bourke, 2018. "The Influence Of The Manager On Firm Innovation In Emerging Economies," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-21, April.
    16. Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Do Exporters Really Pay Higher Wages? First Evidence from German Linked Employer–Employee Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 5, pages 177-213, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Long, James E & Scott, Frank A, 1982. "The Income Tax and Nonwage Compensation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(2), pages 211-219, May.
    18. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    19. Robert Mulligan, 1996. "Export-import endogeneity in the context of the Thirlwall- Hussain model: an application of the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test incorporating a Monte Carlo experiment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(4), pages 275-279.
    20. Henry Sauermann & Wesley M. Cohen, 2010. "What Makes Them Tick? Employee Motives and Firm Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(12), pages 2134-2153, December.
    21. Alex Coad & Jaganaddha Tamvada, 2012. "Firm growth and barriers to growth among small firms in India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 383-400, September.
    22. Boochun Jung & Woo†Jong Lee & David P. Weber, 2014. "Financial Reporting Quality and Labor Investment Efficiency," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 1047-1076, December.
    23. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Tselios, Vassilis & Winkler, Deborah & Farole, Thomas, 2013. "Geography and the Determinants of Firm Exports in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 225-240.
    24. Rantanen, Hannu, 2001. "Internal obstacles restraining productivity improvement in small Finnish industrial enterprises," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 85-91, January.
    25. Mansoora Ahmed & Sun Zehou & Syed Ali Raza & Muhammad Asif Qureshi & Sara Qamar Yousufi, 2020. "Impact of CSR and environmental triggers on employee green behavior: The mediating effect of employee well‐being," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2225-2239, September.
    26. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    27. Lee, Jim, 2011. "Export specialization and economic growth around the world," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 45-63, March.
    28. Kimberly Ann Elliott & Richard B. Freeman, 2003. "Can Labor Standards Improve under Globalization?," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 338, April.
    29. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    30. Boubaker, Sabri & Chourou, Lamia & Haddar, Marwa & Hamza, Taher, 2019. "Does employee welfare affect corporate debt maturity?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 674-686.
    31. Jayachandran N. Variyam & David S. Kraybill, 1998. "Fringe Benefits Provision by Rural Small Businesses," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 80(2), pages 360-368.
    32. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Evans, Kevin P., 2016. "Are employee-friendly workplaces conducive to innovation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 61-79.
    33. Olivia S. Mitchell, 1982. "Fringe Benefits and Labor Mobility," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 17(2), pages 286-298.
    34. Xavier Giroud, 2013. "Proximity and Investment: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 861-915.
    35. Veronique Vermoesen & Marc Deloof & Eddy Laveren, 2013. "Long-term debt maturity and financing constraints of SMEs during the Global Financial Crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 433-448, August.
    36. Delgado, Miguel A. & Farinas, Jose C. & Ruano, Sonia, 2002. "Firm productivity and export markets: a non-parametric approach," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 397-422, August.
    37. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good for Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650.
    38. Busse, Matthias, 2004. "On the determinants of core labour standards: the case of developing countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 211-217, May.
    39. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-564, September.
    40. Flora Wang, 2016. "What are the biggest obstacles to growth of SMEs in developing countries? - A picture emerging from an enterprise survey," Working Papers IES 2016/09, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised May 2016.
    41. Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2005. "Exporting raises productivity in sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 373-391, December.
    42. McManus, T. Clay & Schaur, Georg, 2016. "The effects of import competition on worker health," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 160-172.
    43. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 621-640, September.
    44. Henrik Hansen & John Rand & Finn Tarp, 2009. "Enterprise Growth and Survival in Vietnam: Does Government Support Matter?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 1048-1069, August.
    45. Richard B. Freeman, 1981. "The Effect of Unionism on Fringe Benefits," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 34(4), pages 489-509, July.
    46. Yao Wang, 2016. "What are the biggest obstacles to growth of SMEs in developing countries? – An empirical evidence from an enterprise survey," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 16(3), pages 167-176, September.
    47. Esteban García‐Canal & Mauro F. Guillén, 2008. "Risk and the strategy of foreign location choice in regulated industries," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(10), pages 1097-1115, October.
    48. Mari Tanaka, 2020. "Exporting Sweatshops? Evidence from Myanmar," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 442-456, July.
    49. Phan, Trang Hoai & Stachuletz, Rainer & Nguyen, Hai Thi Hong, 2022. "Export Decision and Credit Constraints under Institution Obstacles," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 132783, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    50. John Rand & Finn Tarp, 2011. "Does Gender Influence the Provision of Fringe Benefits? Evidence From Vietnamese SMEs," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 59-87, January.
    51. Jonathan B. Cohn & Malcolm I. Wardlaw, 2016. "Financing Constraints and Workplace Safety," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2017-2058, October.
    52. Trifković, Neda, 2017. "Spillover Effects of International Standards: Working Conditions in the Vietnamese SMEs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 79-101.
    53. Sze‐Sze Wong & Gerardine DeSanctis & Nancy Staudenmayer, 2007. "The Relationship Between Task Interdependency and Role Stress: A Revisit of the Job Demands–Control Model," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 284-303, March.
    54. Trang Hoai Phan & Rainer Stachuletz & Hai Thi Hong Nguyen, 2022. "Export Decision and Credit Constraints under Institution Obstacles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-27, May.
    55. Magali A. Delmas & Sanja Pekovic, 2018. "Corporate Sustainable Innovation and Employee Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1071-1088, July.
    56. Christopher Blattman & Stefan Dercon, 2018. "The Impacts of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Work on Income and Health: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 1-38, July.
    57. Flanagan, Robert J., 2006. "Globalization and Labor Conditions," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195306002.
    58. Paul Jiménez & Bianca Winkler & Anita Bregenzer, 2017. "Developing Sustainable Workplaces with Leadership: Feedback about Organizational Working Conditions to Support Leaders in Health-Promoting Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-16, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thu & Vu Ngoc Xuan & Le Mai Huong, 2022. "Analysis of the Factors Affecting Environmental Pollution for Sustainable Development in the Future—The Case of Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-9, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Trang Hoai Phan, 2022. "Working Conditions, Export Decisions, and Firm Constraints-Evidence from Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Tselios, Vassilis & Winkler, Deborah & Farole, Thomas, 2013. "Geography and the Determinants of Firm Exports in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 225-240.
    3. Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni & Chiara Tomasi, 2016. "Financial constraints and firm exports: accounting for heterogeneity, self-selection, and endogeneity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(5), pages 813-827.
    4. Francesco Serti & Chiara Tomasi, 2008. "Self-Selection and Post-Entry Effects of Exports: Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(4), pages 660-694, December.
    5. Francesco Aiello & Graziella Bonanno & Stefania P. S. Rossi, 2020. "How firms finance innovation. Further empirics from European SMEs," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 689-714, November.
    6. Blalock, Garrick & Veloso, Francisco M., 2007. "Imports, Productivity Growth, and Supply Chain Learning," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1134-1151, July.
    7. Chen, Minjia & Guariglia, Alessandra, 2013. "Internal financial constraints and firm productivity in China: Do liquidity and export behavior make a difference?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1123-1140.
    8. Kölling, Arnd & Mertens, Antje, 2020. "Exporting behavior and the demand for skills in German establishments," Working Papers 97, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute of Management Berlin (IMB).
    9. Carol Newman & John Rand & Finn Tarp & Thi Tue Anh Nguyen, 2014. "Exporting and Productivity: The Role of Ownership and Innovation in the Case of Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-070, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Aida Caldera, 2010. "Innovation and exporting: evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(4), pages 657-689, December.
    11. Andreas Lichter & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2017. "Exporting and labour demand: Micro-level evidence from Germany," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1161-1189, November.
    12. Amin, Md Ruhul & Kim, Incheol & Lee, Suin, 2021. "Local religiosity, workplace safety, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Marian Rizov & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2009. "Productivity and Trade Orientation in UK Manufacturing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(6), pages 821-849, December.
    14. Marianne Matthee & Neil Rankin & Carli Bezuidenhout, 2017. "Labour demand and the distribution of wages in South African manufacturing exporters," WIDER Working Paper Series 011, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Chandan Sharma & Ritesh Kumar Mishra, 2011. "Does export and productivity growth linkage exist? Evidence from the Indian manufacturing industry," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 633-652, November.
    16. Raffaele Brancati & Emanuela Marrocu & Manuel Romagnoli & Stefano Usai, 2018. "Innovation activities and learning processes in the crisis: evidence from Italian export in manufacturing and services," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 107-130.
    17. Irene Brambilla & Nicolas Depetris Chauvin & Guido Porto, 2015. "Wage and Employment Gains from Exports: Evidence from Developing Countries," Working Papers 2015-28, CEPII research center.
    18. Cattaruzzo, Sebastiano & Teruel, Mercedes, 2022. "On the heterogeneity of the long-term leverage-growth relationship: A cross-country analysis of manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 552-565.
    19. Carol Newman & John Rand & Finn Tarp & Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, 2017. "Exporting and Productivity: Learning from Vietnam," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 26(1), pages 1-25.
    20. Joan Freixanet, 2014. "Innovation and internationalization: relationship and implications for management and public policy," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, Center for International Scientific Research of VSO and VSPP, vol. 2(2), pages 57-75, December.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dar:wpaper:133903. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dekanatssekretariat (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ivthdde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.