TY - UNPB

T1 - Drivers of productivity in Vietnamese SMEs

T2 - The role of management standards and innovation

AU - Calza, Elisa

AU - Goedhuys, Micheline

AU - Trifkovic, Neda

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Using a rich panel dataset of SMEs active in the manufacturing sector in Viet Nam, this paper investigates the drivers of firm productivity, focusing on the role played by international management standards certification. We develop and test the hypothesis that, controlling for technological innovation (product and process) and other variables related to technological capabilities, international standards are still conducive to higher productivity, through improved management practices associated with their adoption. In line with the requirement of continuous improvement implied by most international standards, the main findings show that the possession of an internationally recognized standard certificate leads to significant productivity premium. We further investigate the relationship between technological innovation and standard adoption. We find that the likelihood of certificate adoption is higher when firms implement technological innovations and that the effect of certification on productivity is particularly strong for firms with technological innovation.

AB - Using a rich panel dataset of SMEs active in the manufacturing sector in Viet Nam, this paper investigates the drivers of firm productivity, focusing on the role played by international management standards certification. We develop and test the hypothesis that, controlling for technological innovation (product and process) and other variables related to technological capabilities, international standards are still conducive to higher productivity, through improved management practices associated with their adoption. In line with the requirement of continuous improvement implied by most international standards, the main findings show that the possession of an internationally recognized standard certificate leads to significant productivity premium. We further investigate the relationship between technological innovation and standard adoption. We find that the likelihood of certificate adoption is higher when firms implement technological innovations and that the effect of certification on productivity is particularly strong for firms with technological innovation.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - management standards

KW - ISO certification

KW - technological innovation

KW - productivity

KW - Viet Nam

KW - D22

KW - D24

KW - L20

KW - O12

KW - O30

M3 - Working paper

T3 - UNU WIDER Working Paper Series

BT - Drivers of productivity in Vietnamese SMEs

ER -