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The study examines the role of local governance in the relationship between private investment and economic growth at provincial level in Vietnam. The study data consists of 63 Vietnamese provinces in the period of 2005-2013. Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) is a proxy for local governance. Estimated by two-step System Generalized Methods of Moments, the study shows interesting results. First, local governance and private investment have significant effects on economic growth. Second, the growth effect of private investment is strengthened when interacted with the high level of PCI. Third, interacting PCI sub-indices with private investment, the results show that some aspects of PCI are still barriers to the growth effect of private investment, namely entry cost, time cost, informal charges, and policy biases. Our findings suggest that local governments should make local governance better to improve the growth effect of private investment.

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.

Employing endogenous growth model, panel data from 62 provinces and cities in 2000-2011 and PMG and Arellano-Bond difference GMM, the research analyzes empirically the relationship between the fiscal policy and economic growth in Vietnam. Its main findings are: (i) fiscal decentralization and economic growth cointegrate in the long run, but government’s efforts to adjust its fiscal policy during economic shocks that cause disequilibrium or make the economy deviate from its long-term trend produce very low effects; (ii) fiscal income decentralization and fiscal support have positive effects on economic growth while expenditure decentralization does not; (iii) current expenditure and spending on education, scientific research, health care and environmental issues produce positive effects on the economic growth while public investment fails to do so.

A fiscal sustainability model requires that budget revenues and expenditures be in balance while government budget constraints, ensured. Yet, it becomes problematic while failing to address the dynamism of the budget constraints, associated with the government’s role (i.e. extending its intervention may affect public debt and finance). On adopting approaches by Trehan and Walsh (1991) and Hakkio and Rush (1991), which empirically tests cointegration between government revenues and its spending, this study’s aim is to assess the issue of public debt and fiscal sustainability in Vietnam. The findings, on the ground of analyzing institutional factors, demonstrate that no sustainability, as well as potential risk, is reflected by Vietnam’s public debt and fiscal policy.