Manufacturing Exports and Employment Generation in Vietnam

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of export expansion on employment generation in the context of the market-oriented economic reform implemented in Vietnam since the early 1990s. Following a stage-setting survey of manufacturing performance and employment generation in the reform era, it undertakes an empirical analysis using a standard inter- industry input-output framework to examine the contribution of manufacturing exports to job creation, employing Input-Output tables for Vietnam in 2000 and 2007. The findings show that manufacturing exports created about seven million new jobs between 2000 and 2007 through direct effects on the manufacturing sector, as well as through spillover effects across sectors in the overall economy. In particular, export-oriented manufacturing contributed over half of the total increase in manufacturing employment during the period 2000-07.