IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2017-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Social networks, geographic proximity, and firm performance in Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Emma Howard

Abstract

This paper uses panel data to assess the relative importance of social networks and geographic proximity to micro, small, and medium enterprises in Vietnam. The results suggest that a larger social network, and hiring employees mainly through social networks, are both correlated with higher value added per worker. The number of government officials and civil servants in a firm's network emerges as particularly important. When the quality of contacts is controlled for, firms with tighter social networks have, on average, higher value added per worker.

Suggested Citation

  • Emma Howard, 2017. "Social networks, geographic proximity, and firm performance in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-69
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2017-69.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emma Howard & Carol Newman & Finn Tarp, 2016. "Measuring industry coagglomeration and identifying the driving forces," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 1055-1078.
    2. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    3. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2011. "Economists as geographers and geographers as something else: on the changing conception of distance in geography and economics," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 347-356, March.
    4. Uwe Deichmann & Somik V. Lall & Stephen J. Redding & Anthony J. Venables, 2008. "Industrial Location in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 23(2), pages 219-246, May.
    5. Howard, Emma & Newman, Carol & Rand, John & Tarp, Finn, 2014. "Productivity-enhancing manufacturing clusters: Evidence from Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 071, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Barr, Abigail, 2000. "Social Capital and Technical Information Flows in the Ghanaian Manufacturing Sector," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 539-559, July.
    7. Marcel Fafchamps, 2002. "Returns to social network capital among traders," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 173-206, April.
    8. John Bessant & Allen Alexander & George Tsekouras & Howard Rush & Richard Lamming, 2012. "Developing innovation capability through learning networks," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(5), pages 1087-1112, September.
    9. Matthew A Zook, 2000. "The Web of Production: The Economic Geography of Commercial Internet Content Production in the United States," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(3), pages 411-426, March.
    10. Fafchamps, Marcel, 2000. "Ethnicity and credit in African manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 205-235, February.
    11. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Emma Howard, 2017. "Social networks, geographic proximity, and firm performance in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 069, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Marco Sanfilippo & Adnan Seric, 2016. "Spillovers from agglomerations and inward FDI: a multilevel analysis on sub-Saharan African firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 147-176, February.
    3. Carol Newman & John Page, 2017. "Industrial clusters: The case for Special Economic Zones in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 015, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Jean-Philippe BERROU & François COMBARNOUS, 2008. "Ties configuration in entrepreneurs’ personal network and economic performances in African urban informal economy," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2008-25, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    5. Thi Bich Tran & Hai Anh La, 2018. "Agglomeration Effects: Productivity of the Informal Sector in Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 292-311, February.
    6. Escobal, Javier, 2005. "The Role of Public Infraestructure in Market Development in Rural Peru," MPRA Paper 727, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. John Rand & Finn Tarp & Neda Trifković & Helge Zille, 2019. "Industrial agglomeration in Myanmar," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-3, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Carol Newman & John Page, 2017. "Industrial clusters: The case for Special Economic Zones in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Josean Garrués Irurzun & Juan Antonio Rubio Mondéjar, 2011. "Redes empresariales e integración económica regional en perspectiva histórica: el caso de Andalucía," FEG Working Paper Series 04/11, Faculty of Economics and Business (University of Granada).
    10. Marco Sanfilippo & Adnan Seric, 2014. "Spillovers from agglomerations and inward FDI. A Multilevel Analysis on SSA domestic firms," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/76, European University Institute.
    11. Arun Natarajan Hariharan & Arindam Biswas, 2020. "A Critical review of the Indian knowledge‐based industry location policy against its theoretical arguments," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 431-454, June.
    12. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & Stefano Usai, 2013. "Productivity Growth In The Old And New Europe: The Role Of Agglomeration Externalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 418-442, August.
    13. Carla Daniela Calá & Miguel Manjón-Antolín & Josep-Maria Arauzo-Carod, 2016. "Regional determinants of firm entry in a developing country," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 259-279, June.
    14. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Riccardo Crescenzi, 2008. "Mountains in a flat world: why proximity still matters for the location of economic activity," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 1(3), pages 371-388.
    15. Giulia Faggio & Olmo Silva & William C Strange, 2020. "Tales of the city: what do agglomeration cases tell us about agglomeration in general? [The anchor tenant hypothesis: exploring the role of large, local, R&D-intensive firms in regional innovation ," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(5), pages 1117-1143.
    16. Rosina Moreno & Ernest Miguélez, 2012. "A Relational Approach To The Geography Of Innovation: A Typology Of Regions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 492-516, July.
    17. Ferretti, Marco & Guerini, Massimiliano & Panetti, Eva & Parmentola, Adele, 2022. "The partner next door? The effect of micro-geographical proximity on intra-cluster inter-organizational relationships," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    18. Attila Varga, 2014. "Challenges in modeling the impacts of modern development policies: The case of the GMR-approach," EcoMod2014 7151, EcoMod.
    19. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Sommarat Chantarat & Christopher Barrett, 2012. "Social network capital, economic mobility and poverty traps," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(3), pages 299-342, September.

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-69. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.