This paper examines the effect of corruption on the business environment in Viet Nam. Our survey of firms operating in Viet Nam suggests that corruption is perceived as the most severe business constraint for their operation. Also, corruption has a significant negative association with the overall satisfaction of the business environment in Viet Nam. Such results support the hypothesis that corruption has a “sand the wheel” effect on firms’ business activities. While this paper sheds light on the importance of corruption, it would be useful to conduct follow-up studies to examine corruption and its impact in more detail. Such studies could be conducted in those segments that most severely suffer from corruption according to our survey, i.e., medium-sized enterprises, hotel/restaurant and construction sectors, Hanoi based, and Vietnamese owned firms.

For the full paper by Daisuke Maruichi and Masato Abe please visit here.

Globalization created wealth and improved standards of living and promoted convergence of incomes across economies. Yet, globalization’s benefits have been seen as heavily tilted towards multinational corporations (MNCs). It is perceived that this was enabled by the rules of global trade which are stacked against small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Today’s global agenda on greater inclusion is meant to remedy the disadvantages faced by small firms.

For the full publication by Gloria O. Pasadilla and Andre Wirjo please visit here. 

The ARTNeT e-Forum complements and enhances ARTNeT’s focus on advocacy, by hosting and sharing thoughts and ideas on trade, investment and development from members of the ARTNeT community.

New pieces are views on e-residency by Daniela Santibanez Godoy, e-Residency Estonia; Brexit trade deal negotiations and labour standards by Charles Woolfson, Linköping University and PTAs with labour provisions and labour market outcomes in Asia Pacific by Alberto Posso, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University.

We encourage members of the ARTNeT community to contribute their ideas and start discussions by sending us submissions for the e-Forum at artnetontrade@un.org.

Happy Songkran to those who celebrate and happy new year to countries celebrating the start of new year this month!

The ARTNeT Secretariat extends warm greetings to our members and participants to ARTNeT activities and would like to thank all contributors for their valued inputs. We wish you a joyous holiday and we look forward to hear from you in the future ARTNeT events!

The Statistical Society for Foreign Economic Relations and Trade of Shenzhen, an ARTNeT member, together with Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, co-hosted a visit of ESCAP during 12-14 April 2018. The Executive Secretary of ESCAP took this opportunity to meet the representatives from business sector, civil society, academia, and the Shenzhen Government. In-depth discussions with stakeholders were hold on topics including 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, frontier technology, the Belt and Road Initiative, smart city development, high-tech science parks, among others. Through information sharing and mutual learning, the visit inspired further and new collaborations.

Our member PIDE cordially invites you to be part of this epic event deliberations by submitting a paper, register for the conference as participant, virtual participation, stall establishment or be a proud sponsor. Abstracts for the papers should be submitted to the PSDE Secretariat, on the prescribed format, latest by 16 July 2018.

For more conference infomation please visit here. 

Our partner WTO has issued a call for young economists to submit papers for the 2018 WTO Essay Award. The award aims to promote high-quality research on trade policy and international trade co-operation and to reinforce the relationship between the WTO and the academic community.

For more information please visit here. 

Created in 2012, the Latin America - Asia Pacific Observatory is a joint initiative of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). Its goals are to promote the knowledge about economic relations between both regions and to contribute to the adoption of policies and strategies for deepen those relations in a mutually beneficial way.

Under the title “Towards a comprehensive economic relationship between Latin America and Asia Pacific”, interested academics must submit complete papers (or at least advanced drafts) to observatorio@aladi.org.

For more information please visit here. 

The organization committee invites researchers to submit papers for the 3-4 September 2018 workshop. Empirical works using the cross-country (Asia, Pacific) Productivity Research Network firm-level based dataset will be given priority.

For more information about this call please visit here. 

This call is open to Canadians, permanent residents of Canada, and citizens of developing countries pursuing doctoral studies at a Canadian university. Applications that are complete, that meet the eligibility criteria, and whose research subjects are deemed to fit with IDRC thematic priorities will be forwarded to an IDRC selection committee.

For more information please visit here.

Our partner Vi is now accepting applications from researchers and university lecturers from developing countries and countries with economies in transition for the fourth edition of its online course on trade and poverty analysis, scheduled for June 4 to August 19 2018. Funded by the Government of Finland, the course will provide participants with the empirical tools needed to assess the impact of trade and trade-related policies on poverty and income distribution. In addition to strengthening teaching and research capacities in participants' countries, the course aims to support governments in the design of pro-poor trade policies conducive to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information of this course please visit here. 

• 21st Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis "Framing the future through the Sustainable Development Goals" (Deadline: 30 April 2018)

The goal of the conference is to promote the exchange of ideas among economists conducting quantitative analysis of global economic issues. Particular emphasis will be placed on applied general equilibrium methods, data, and application.

• 2018 GTAP Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) Mini-Course "Applied Policy Analysis: Mini-course on Preferential Trade Agreements" (Deadline: 8 May 2018)

GTAP PTA is a three-week, fully-online mini-course that is designed to provide professionals and students with hands-on, applied training in the analysis of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) using the GTAP computable general equilibrium model.

The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) offers students with a demonstrated interest and background in regional integration studies the opportunity to take part in the activities of the Institute. Traineeships and Internships are respectively intended for undergraduate and graduate students. The next deadline for applications is 1 May 2018.

For more information please visit here. 

This online double-blind reviewed and scholarly journal from our member Center for Industry, SMEs and Business Competition Study Faculty of Economics, Trisakti University, is dedicated to publishing in English original and outstanding studies that improve knowledge and understanding of development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including entrepreneurship and family-owned businesses, and factors or conditions affecting business sustainability, and, eventually, shape these fields of research.

Read the current issue (Volume 03, Number 01, March 2018) here. 

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The ARTNeT Secretariat welcomes submissions of policy briefs, working papers, book reports, research reports, and book reviews by ARTNeT members, partners and collaborators. For any submission to be considered, the editorial 'Guidelines for Submissions to the ARTNeT Working Papers Series' must be adhered to.

If you are an ARTNeT member, partner or collaborator and would like to publicise your publications, research or events in the next newsletter, please e-mail us at artnetontrade@un.org.