Thailand and The World Economy

Consumers’ intention to adopt last-mile drone delivery services: A comparison between US and Thai consumers

Charlie Chen — 2024-05-07

This research explores factors influencing an intention to adopt last-mile drone delivery services in two groups of culturally different countries: Thailand and the USA. Despite the fact that drone raises privacy concerns to consumers, few research has investigated the interplay between perceived usefulness and perceived privacy risks and their effect on the consumers’ intention to adopt last-mile drone delivery services. In addition, no prior research has compared the effect of privacy risks and usefulness on the adoption intention in different national culture. An online survey was distributed to potential consumers of drone delivery services in both countries. PLS-SEM analysis was then conducted to understand the relationships of seven factors within the context of drone delivery service adoption. The results show that consumers from the two countries share similar perceptions towards last mile drone delivery. Perceived usefulness and trust were found the most influential factors on intention to adopt last-mile drone delivery in both groups.

Export Spillovers from FDI in Manufacturing Industry in Viet Nam

Loi Van Ta — 2024-05-07

Viet Nam has reached more than 20 years since the first FDI project. This study aims to examine export spillovers from FDI in the manufacturing industry and measure the effects of country characteristics and linkages between FDI enterprises and domestic firms on the export performance of the industry in Viet Nam. We use panel data from 4203 manufacturing export firms from 63 provinces, collected from the General Statistics Office of Viet Nam from 2010 to 2016. We employ the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) to solve the endogenous problem. The empirical findings show that FDI complements exports, and the complementary effect is contingent upon the technology levels of sectors in manufacturing industries. FDI is most effective for promoting exports in high- and medium-high technology level industries, while is least effective in low and medium-low technology level industries. In addition, the findings show that better characteristics of the host country, such as human capital, the business environment, and financial market, contribute to stronger export spillovers from FDI in the industries. Accordingly, the study advocates for well-designed policies that prioritize strengthening linkages between FDI enterprises and domestic firms, channelling FDI to strategic sectors, and improving the quality of human capital, financial markets, and the business environment.

How does Financial Inclusion Affect Unemployment? Evidence from Selected Upper Middle and Lower Middle-Income Countries

Sanjaya Kumar Lenka — 2024-05-07

The main objective of this study is to empirically examine the impact of financial inclusion on the rate of unemployment. To execute the research idea, the study has considered 31 countries (16 Upper-Middle Income and 15 Lower-Middle Income), over the period of 2004-2019. For the empirical analysis, the study has used Fixed Effect, Random Effect, Panel Corrected Standard Errors, Feasible General Least Square and System Dynamic Panel models. The empirical findings suggest that in the overall sample (that includes both UMI and LMI) and UMI countries, financial inclusion plays a significant role in reducing unemployment. The results from both the overall sample countries and UMI countries demonstrate that the basic level of financial inclusion has no impact on the rate of unemployment, whereas the more intense financial inclusion beyond the basic level helps to reduce the rate of unemployment. Similarly, the findings from LMI countries indicate that financial inclusion has no impact on unemployment, neither at the basic level nor at the advanced level. With context to financial inclusion and unemployment, this study is a first attempt to empirically examine the inter-relationship between financial inclusion and unemployment among the UMI and LMI countries.

Is ESG a New Anecdote to Investment Decisions for Indian Investors: An ARDL Approach?

Ashutosh Yadav — 2024-05-07

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the linkage between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings and the stock performance of the top 15 Indian companies with low-ESG-risk as well as the top 15 Indian companies with high-ESG-risk. The existing literature on whether ESG leads to better stock performance is mixed. There are studies that exhibit a positive or negative relationship between ESG and stock performance, while others deny the same. However, the findings of the present study state that a better ESG-compliant company impacts its stock performance positively. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) co-integration approach is used in the study to determine the relationship between ESG and stock performance in Indian companies. The primary outcome of the current study is that the ESG factor should be considered simultaneously with other factors when deciding on investment strategies. Additionally, an ESG-compliant company can further play its part in tackling the climate change issue.

Some Factors Influence the Willingness to Buy Thai Products – A Case Study in Vietnam

Viet Quoc Cao — 2024-05-07

As a predominant trend, the globalisation of markets continuously imposed opportunities and challenges on international firms competing in the huge global market. Due to the predominant trend facilitating foreign purchasing by consumers across national borders, consumers’ sentiments are emerging as essential and prevailing elements to investigate when explaining consumption behaviours. This research aims to empirically test the effect of consumer ethnocentrism, consumer cosmopolitanism, consumer affinity, and consumer xenocentrism on foreign product judgements and willingness to buy. In the context of Thai product purchasing, data analysis was performed based on 687 valid responses from Vietnamese consumers, which were gathered via an online survey. The result indicated that 45.3% of the variance in the willingness to buy construct and 9% of the variance in the product judgement construct were explained by related independent variables. Accordingly, the research empirically confirmed the positive impacts of consumer affinity and the negative influence of consumer ethnocentrism on willingness to buy Thai products. Empirical evidence supports the positive relationship between consumer cosmopolitanism and foreign product judgements. Notably, based on prior scholars’ recommendations and scant empirical evidence, this research examined and confirmed a significant positive impact of consumer xenocentrism on both willingness to buy and judgements towards foreign products. Constructive managerial implications were hence discussed.

System-Social Strategy for Trust Building in Mobile Banking Context

Phyo Min Tun — 2024-05-07

This paper aims to examine the roles of system and social perspectives for trust building in the mobile banking context and the moderating effects of demographic groups on direct effects on trust. The study investigates system perspectives (system quality and system usefulness), social perspectives (social influence and word-of-mouth), and moderators (gender, age, and education) as an exploratory study. This study employed deductive reasoning quantitative research approach by using 294 datasets. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to calculate the factors' validity and reliability. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was employed to estimate direct effects, indirect effects, and moderator effects. The findings reveal that system quality, system usefulness, and word-of-mouth affect trust, while social influence has an insignificant effect on trust. Besides, system quality has a significant effect on system usefulness, and social influence has a significant effect on word-of-mouth, respectively. Also, education level is significantly moderating the direct effect of word-of-mouth and trust. This research extends the understanding of the system and social perspectives that influence trust and might be a barrier to mobile banking adoption in Myanmar. Also, the findings of this research will assist private banks in recognizing the behavior patterns of customers so that they can create a proper system-social strategy to boost the confidence of customers about mobile banking and fulfill the knowledge gap regarding system and social aspects.

Exploring The Network Analysis of Non-Tariff Measures and Sustainable Development Goals. Evidence From Vietnam’s Non-Tariff Measures in Response with Covid-19

Nguyen Bich Ngoc — 2024-05-07

The spread of Covid-19 has raised questions about the progress toward sustainable development goals. Many nations have seen a fast surge in non-tariff measures used to safeguard public health during the epidemic. Non-tariff measures, as the role of trade policy instruments, can reflect the policy-making process or policy response of the government related to the progress in sustainable development goals (SDGs) achievements. Whether the policy intervention by non-tariff measures can address multiple goals or the progress toward achieving the SDGs at the national level. The paper investigates the linkage between non-tariff measures and sustainable development goals, the direct targets, by using network analysis. The paper uses network analysis to depict the comprehensive connection among NTMs and SDGs and identify key nodes in the matrix. Vietnam is a significant example of how to overcome the pandemic and obtain economic growth with the high coverage of NTM matching the SDGs. From the evidence of the network of NTMs-SDGs in Vietnam, it proposes that the government should adjust the policy toward sustainability by implementing coordinated and more harmonized regulations to balance the costs and benefits, short-term and long-term goals, growth rates, and sustainability instead of eliminating the number of NTMs.

Research on Impacting Factors of University Lecturers’ Knowledge Sharing in VietNam

Do Van Sang — 2024-05-07

This study explores the impact of knowledge technology, learning organization culture, rewards, recruitment and selection practices on knowledge sharing (knowledge donating and knowledge collecting) amongst university lecturers in Vietnam. The paper utilized structural equation modeling and cross-sectional design to test hypotheses in the proposed research model using data collected from 447 lecturers from 13 Vietnamese universities. The result of the data analysis shows that there is a positive relationship between recruitment and selection practices and learning organization culture with knowledge donating and knowledge collecting. But there isn’t a positive relationship between knowledge, technology, and rewards. The study suggests policies and recommendations for educational administrators at universities to promote and enhance knowledge sharing among lecturers.

Influences of Foreign-Owned Enterprises on Domestic Wage: The Case of Vietnam

Dinh Bao Ho — 2024-05-07

This research investigates the influences of foreign-owned enterprises on the
domestic wage and labor market in Vietnam, employing data of Vietnam Enterprise
Surveys for the period 2010-2018. The regression results indicate that foreign-owned
enterprises’ operations have an effect on increasing domestic wages through backward
linkage, while the impact through forward linkage is negative. The analysis of the wage
and employment characteristics of foreign-owned enterprises in Vietnam indicates a
concern regarding job security and sustainability. Foreign-owned enterprises,
concentrating mainly in labor-intensive industries, tend to employ younger workers with
shorter employment spells. Therefore, the paper recommends that policymakers should
pay more attention to labor relations in foreign-owned enterprises and promote policies
that enhance the competitiveness and resilience of domestic firms.