IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/era/wpaper/dp-2023-03.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does the Skill Premium Influence Educational Decisions? Evidence from Viet Nam

Author

Listed:
  • Ian Coxhead

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison and Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO), Tokyo)

  • Nguyen Dinh Tuan Vuong

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

Viet Nam's economy has grown and changed in dramatic ways since WTO accession in 2007. Much of the growth and change is due to expanded international trade and FDI. These in turn have greatly increased domestic labour demand. However, growth that exploits the country's abundant supply of low-skill labour may depress the relative demand for skills. In this paper we ask whether the skill premium-the relative price of skills, which also measures the gross economic benefit to schooling at high school and beyond-plays an influential role in schooling decisions amongst teenagers for whom wage-work is an alternative to continued education. We first use event study methods to clarify trends in wages and skill premia. We then decompose influences on upper secondary school enrolments from income growth, demographic change, and skill premia. We find that the college skill premium has a positive influence on enrolments, whereas the premium from upper secondary completion has no significant effect. Our conclusions explore implications for future productivity growth as well as economic and educational policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ian Coxhead & Nguyen Dinh Tuan Vuong, 2023. "Does the Skill Premium Influence Educational Decisions? Evidence from Viet Nam," Working Papers DP-2023-03, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    • Handle: RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2023-03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.eria.org/uploads/media/discussion-papers/FY23/Does-the-Skill-Premium-Influence-Educational-Decisions-VietNam.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elira Kuka & Na'ama Shenhav & Kevin Shih, 2020. "Do Human Capital Decisions Respond to the Returns to Education? Evidence from DACA," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 293-324, February.
    2. Vu, Tien Manh & Yamada, Hiroyuki, 2020. "Convergence of public and private enterprise wages in a transition economy: Evidence from a distributional decomposition in Vietnam, 2002–2014," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    3. Antoni Estevadeordal & Alan M. Taylor, 2013. "Is the Washington Consensus Dead? Growth, Openness, and the Great Liberalization, 1970s–2000s," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1669-1690, December.
    4. Amiti, Mary & Cameron, Lisa, 2012. "Trade Liberalization and the Wage Skill Premium: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 277-287.
    5. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Paul W. Glewwe, 2018. "Well Begun, but Aiming Higher: A Review of Vietnam’s Education Trends in the past 20 Years and Emerging Challenges," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(7), pages 1171-1195, July.
    6. Oster, Emily & Steinberg, Bryce Millett, 2013. "Do IT service centers promote school enrollment? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 123-135.
    7. Phan, Diep & Coxhead, Ian, 2013. "Long-run costs of piecemeal reform: Wage inequality and returns to education in Vietnam," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1106-1122.
    8. David Atkin, 2016. "Endogenous Skill Acquisition and Export Manufacturing in Mexico," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(8), pages 2046-2085, August.
    9. Li, Bingjing, 2018. "Export expansion, skill acquisition and industry specialization: evidence from china," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 346-361.
    10. Eric V. Edmonds & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2010. "Trade Adjustment and Human Capital Investments: Evidence from Indian Tariff Reform," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 42-75, October.
    11. Ian Coxhead & Rashesh Shrestha, 2017. "Globalization and School–Work Choices in an Emerging Economy: Vietnam," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(2), pages 28-45, Summer.
    12. Tinh Doan & Quan Le & Tuyen Quang Tran, 2018. "Lost in Transition? Declining Returns to Education in Vietnam," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(2), pages 195-216, April.
    13. Tran Toan Thang & Thi Song Hanh Pham & Bradley R. Barnes, 2016. "Spatial Spillover Effects from Foreign Direct Investment in Vietnam," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(10), pages 1431-1445, October.
    14. Edmonds, Eric V. & Pavcnik, Nina, 2005. "The effect of trade liberalization on child labor," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 401-419, March.
    15. Brian McCaig & Nina Pavcnik, 2018. "Export Markets and Labor Allocation in a Low-Income Country," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1899-1941, July.
    16. Matsuda, Kazushige, 2020. "Optimal timing of college subsidies: Enrollment, graduation, and the skill premium," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    17. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2007. "Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 39-82, March.
    18. Ian Coxhead & Diep Phan, 2013. "Princelings and Paupers? State Employment and the Distribution of Human Capital Investments Among Households in Viet Nam," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 30(2), pages 26-48, September.
    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. Diep Phan & Ian Coxhead, 2020. "Persistent Privilege? Institutional Education Gaps during Vietnam's Economic Boom," Working Papers 2020-023, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Nina Pavcnik, 2017. "The Impact of Trade on Inequality in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 23878, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Diep Phan & Ian Coxhead, 2020. "Persistent Privilege? Institutional Education Gaps during Vietnam's Economic Boom," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 58(4), pages 332-359, December.
    4. Xin Wang, 2022. "Multinational firms and human capital investment: A dynamic knowledge‐capital model," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 1564-1586, May.
    5. Lou, Jing & Li, Jie, 2022. "Export expansion and intergenerational education mobility: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Faqin Lin, 2022. "Agriculture exports, child labor and youth education: Evidence from 68 developing countries," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 490-513, May.
    7. Lin, Faqin & Long, Cheryl X., 2020. "The impact of globalization on youth education: Empirical evidence from China's WTO accession," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 820-839.
    8. Blanchard, Emily J. & Olney, William W., 2017. "Globalization and human capital investment: Export composition drives educational attainment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 165-183.
    9. César, Andrés & Falcone, Guillermo & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2021. "Costs and benefits of trade shocks: Evidence from Chilean local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Zhao, Liqiu & Wang, Fei & Zhao, Zhong, 2021. "Trade liberalization and child labor," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Yao Pan & Jessica Leight, 2021. "Educational Responses to Migration-Augmented Export Shocks: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2021-14, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    12. Pavcnik, Nina & Goldberg, Pinelopi, 2016. "The Effects of Trade Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 11104, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Wang, Feicheng & Liang, Zhe & Lehmann, Hartmut, 2021. "Import competition and informal employment: Empirical evidence from China," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 426, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    14. Mansour, Hani & Medina, Pamela & Velásquez, Andrea, 2022. "Import competition and gender differences in labor reallocation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    15. Sarra Ben Yahmed & Pamela Bombarda, 2020. "Gender, Informal Employment and Trade Liberalization in Mexico," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 259-283.
    16. Liu, Maggie Y., 2023. "How does globalization affect educational attainment? Evidence from China," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 138-159.
    17. David Atkin & Amit K. Khandelwal, 2020. "How Distortions Alter the Impacts of International Trade in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 213-238, August.
    18. Li, Jie & Lu, Yi & Song, Hong & Xie, Huihua, 2019. "Long-term impact of trade liberalization on human capital formation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 946-961.
    19. Yu, Zhen & Wu, Xiaoling & Li, Meng & Guo, Rufei, 2021. "Import competition and the gender gap in labor force participation: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    20. Ashmita Gupta, 2021. "Effect of Trade Liberalization on Gender Inequality: The Case of India," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 69(4), pages 682-720, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Skill premium; wages; enrolments; Viet Nam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    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:era:wpaper:dp-2023-03. 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: Ranti Amelia (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eriadid.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.