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All investigations into the role of institutions in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth conclude the impact of interaction between FDI and institutional quality on economic growth is significantly positive. Contrary to the conclusion of these studies, this paper finds it is significantly negative for a panel data of 43 provinces in Vietnam over the period 2005–2012 via the estimation method of difference panel GMM Arellano–Bond. In addition, the estimated results also show: (1) FDI inflows significantly foster economic growth; (2) Good institutional quality has a significantly positive impact while bad institutional quality has a negative albeit insignificant effect on economic growth. From the policy perspective, these findings signal an important message to developing countries that governments should carefully adjust policies and institutions because aside from attracting more FDI inflows and promoting the economic activities, it can also be detrimental to economic growth.

Fiscal decentralization not only promotes economic growth but brings more power to local governments in attracting FDI inflows as well. However, economists and policy-makers often strongly debate the influence of FDI on the fiscal decentralization-growth relationship. This paper empirically investigates the role of FDI in the relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic growth for a panel dataset of 52 provinces in Vietnam during the period 2007-2016 using the two-step GMM Arellano-Bond and FE-2SLS estimators. The estimated results confirm that fiscal decentralization and FDI significantly enhance economic growth, but their interaction terms impede growth rate. In addition, public investment is a significant determinant. These findings suggest some important policy recommendations for central governments in developing countries, especially Vietnam.

Questions concerning the relationship between public capital spending and economic growth under different institutional environments are of great analytical and empirical interest. This paper investigates the role of institutional quality in the public investment-growth relationship for a balanced panel data of 52 provinces in Vietnam during the period 2005-2014 through the estimation method of difference panel GMM Arellano-Bond. The results show twofold. First, public investment and institutional quality significantly promote economic growth, but their interaction term impedes it. Second, the public investment-growth relationship is positive under good institutional environment and negative under poor one. These findings suggest some important policy implications related to public capital spending in developing countries.

Proteinaceous wastes from the fishery process are an abundant renewable resource for the recovery of a variety of high-value products. This work attempted to utilize several proteinaceous wastes to produce proteases using the Streptomyces speibonae TKU048 strain. Among different possible carbon and nitrogen sources, the protease productive activity of S. speibonae TKU048 was optimal on 1% tuna head powder. Further, the casein/gelatin/tuna head powder zymography of the crude enzyme revealed the presence of three/nine/six proteases, respectively. The crude-enzyme cocktail of S. speibonae TKU048 exhibited the best proteolytic activity at 70 °C and pH = 5.8. Sodium dodecyl sulfate strongly enhanced the proteolytic activity of the cocktail, whereas FeCl3, CuSO4, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid could completely inhibit the enzyme activity. Additionally, the crude-enzyme cocktail of S. speibonae TKU048 could efficiently enhance the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activities of all tested proteinaceous materials including the head, viscera, and meat of tuna fish; the head, viscera, and meat of tilapia fish; the head, meat, and shell of shrimp; squid pen; crab shell; and soybean. Taken together, S. speibonae TKU048 revealed potential in the reclamation of proteinaceous wastes for protease production and antioxidant preparation.

Reducing poverty and income inequality in society is considered one of the millennium goals in developing countries. Attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to boost economic growth and development is a good solution to achieve this goal. This paper empirically assesses the role of the governance environment in the FDI–income inequality relationship for balanced panel data of 37 developing countries from 2002 to 2018 using the two-step generalized method of moments Arellano-Bond estimator. The estimated results indicate that FDI and governance reduce income inequality while their interaction enhances it. Furthermore, economic growth, trade openness, unemployment, education, and infrastructure are significant determinants of income inequality in the developing countries studied. In particular, the Pooled Mean Group estimator is employed to guarantee the robustness of estimates. The findings suggest some policy implications for governments of developing countries in terms of reforming the governance environment to attract more FDI inflows and decrease income inequality.

Southeast Asian Journal of Economics, 8, 1, 139-171

Stock market is a key channel to the mobilization of long-term capi-tal in an economy, and determinants of stock market development in developing countries are still undecided. This paper aims to inves-tigate these determinants in Vietnam and other developing countries, whose differences are also pointed out by applying two-way Gener-alized Method of Moments to the panel data of 36 developing countries over the period of 2003–2014. Our findings are intriguing. First, in developing countries economic growth, domestic credit, and stock market liquidity are positive determinants of the development of stock market. While the effect of money supply is negative, insti-tutional factors such as government effectiveness and rule of law have significantly positive impacts, in contrast to corruption control and political stability (whose impacts are significant and negative). Second, regarding the development of the stock market in Vietnam, the effects of such macroeconomic factors as economic growth, domestic investment, foreign direct investment, domestic credit, broad money supply, stock market liquidity, and inflation are signif-icant and negative, whereas those of all institution variables, includ-ing control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stabil-ity, regulatory quality, rule of law, and voice and accountability, are significant and positive. This implies that well-established institutions are crucial for promoting a demand for stocks and stock market performance in Vietnam.

A sustained high growth rate of gross domestic product at a low inflation is one of the main goals of the majority of macroeconomic policies, so keeping the price stability plays an important role in determining the growth rate of output. This paper empirically investigates effects of fiscal deficit and broad money M2 supply on inflation in Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam in the period of 1985-2012. By applying the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation-based error correction model and the panel differenced GMM (General Method of Moment) Arellano-Bond estimator, the study finds out broad money M2 supply has significantly positive impact on inflation only in the method of PMG estimation whereas fiscal deficit, government expenditure and interest rate are the statistically significant determinants of inflation in both methods of estimation.El sostenimiento de una elevada tasa de crecimiento del producto bruto interno a baja inflación es uno de los principales objetivos de la mayoría de las políticas macroeconómicas, por lo que el mantenimiento de la estabilidad de los precios juega un papel relevante en la determinación del índice de crecimiento del output. Este documento investiga empíricamente los efectos del déficit fiscal y el suministro amplio de dinero M2 sobre la inflación en los países asiáticos, en concreto Bangladesh, Camboya, Indonesia, Malasia, Paquistán, Filipinas, Sri Lanka, Tailandia, y Vietnam durante el periodo comprendido entre 1985 y 2012. Aplicando el modelo de corrección basado en la estimación de Pooled Mean Group (PMG) y el estimador Arellano-Bond del Método Generalizado de Momentos (MGM) del panel diferenciado, el estudio llega a la conclusión de que el amplio suministro de dinero M2 tiene un impacto considerablemente positivo sobre la inflación utilizando únicamente el método de la estimación de PMG, mientras que el déficit fiscal, el gasto gubernamental y los tipos de interés constituyen determinantes estadísticamente significativos de la inflación en ambos métodos de cálculo.