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Main findings of the Household business & Informal sector survey (HB&IS)GSO-ISS/IRD-DIAL project 1 1 This report has been written by Nguyễn Hữu Chí and Nguyễn Thị Thu Huyền (GSO), and Axel Demenet, Mireille Razafindrakoto and François Roubaud (IRD-DIAL) with the collaboration of Đào Ngọc Minh Nhung and Đinh Bá Hiến (GSO). The 2009 surveys (HB&IS) were funded by the World Bank and the IRD. We would like to thank Kirsty Mason (DFID) and Valerie Kozel for their support. Special thanks are addressed to Constance Torelli (INSEE), who contributed actively to data cleaning and analysis of the results.

Is the lack of ‘managerial capital’, alongside human and financial capital, a constraint on the growth of firms in developing countries? The evidence on this is still mixed, especially among small and medium enterprises. This chapter uses a panel of Vietnamese enterprises to investigate this question. We build a multidimensional measure of managerial capital, combining both practices and attitudes, and link it with consistent estimates of firm-level productivity and mark-up. We show that there is a positive and significant association between managerial capital and productivity: changes in management practices allow firms to be more efficient. Furthermore, we compare this association by firm size, and show that managerial capital is arguably as important for micro and small firms as it is for medium ones. Finally, it appears that the indicators related to ‘entrepreneurial attitudes’ play a more important role than elementary business skills.

Cet article contribue à combler le déficit de connaissance sur les microdynamiques du secteur informel en traitant trois questions : (1) l'intensité des transitions réalisées par les unités de production entre les secteurs formels et informels, (2) les facteurs associés au choix de formalisation et (3) ceux associés au processus encore largement méconnu d'informalisation en période de crise. Il combine des données de panel uniques, représentatives du secteur informel urbain vietnamien, et une enquête qualitative. Il est montré que le secteur informel joue simultanément le rôle de tampon et d'incubateur.

This study has been prepared within the UNU-WIDER project on 'Structural transformation and inclusive growth in Vietnam'.