CELG Periodic Academic Activity “Rapid structural change and better jobs: Special Economic Zones, FDI and Labor Markets in Vietnam”

UEH College of Economics, Law and Government (CELG) held a CELG Seminar with the theme "Rapid structural change and better jobs: Special Economic Zones, FDI and Labor Markets in Vietnam". The speaker was PhD Candidate Tevin Tafese, University of Göttingen.

The event was attended by Dr. Tran Quang Van - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City; Dr. Le Vinh Trien - School of Government; Dr. Ho Quoc Thong, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoang Oanh, MSc. Nguyen Ngoc Danh - School of Economics and those as current students at UEH Doctoral programs.

The authors assessed the impacts of the participation of a low-middle-income country like Vietnam in Global Value Chains (GVCs) on the labor market by analyzing the expansion of Special Economic Zones in districts throughout the country. For more than 20 years, Vietnam has been deeply involved in Global Value Chains by establishing more than 300 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across the country. The authors used satellite images from Google Earth to track the change in the infrastructure of Special Economic Zones in 708 districts across 63 Provinces and Cities across the country during the period 2000-2020. Satellite images and data from annual Vietnamese labor force surveys to develop a measure of annual labor market exposure to SEZs. The authors considered the effects of the SEZ on the labor market, including labor market participation, structural changes (major and career choices) and wages. The authors found that SEZ has a strong impact on the local labor market. In districts with special economic zones, employment rates are higher, people work fewer hours, and they move from farming households to private and foreign companies. These career choice changes are dramatic for women. Furthermore, wage income increased in counties with the presence of SEZs, and hourly wages increased even more, especially for women. However, the effects of the SEZ are largely limited to manufacturing occupations and workers in foreign manufacturing companies and somewhat limited to domestic firms.

The presentation of PhD candidate Tevin Tafese attracted the interest and the comments from the lecturers and those fellows in attendance to continue to improve the research work. With the spirit of positive academic exchange, this CELG seminar took place successfully. We look forward to receiving the interest of participating researchers.

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