Publications
"Greasing or Grinding? Regulatory context and the productivity effects of corruption: Evidence from Vietnamese SMEs" (with C. Tomasi and T. N. L. Nguyen), 2025, European Journal of Political Economy, 89, 102727 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102727
Abstract: This paper investigates the heterogeneous effects of bribery on the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Using panel data from the Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Survey (VSMES) and an instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity, we find that corruption generally reduces firm productivity. However, its impact varies across institutional contexts: the negative effect is stronger in provinces with efficient regulatory environments and weaker where firms face high bureaucratic burdens or identify government inefficiency as a key constraint. These findings support a weak form of the “grease the wheels” hypothesis, suggesting bribery may act as a costly coping strategy in poorly governed settings. The results highlight the importance of regulatory quality in moderating the effects of corruption and point to the need for reforms that address both corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
"Trade liberalization and firms' productivity in Vietnam: the role of local business environment" (with C. Tomasi), 2023, Regional Studies, 57(9), 1681–1713. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2022.2155297
Abstract: This paper examines how frictions in the local business environment where firms operate alter the productivity gains from trade. Using Vietnamese firm-level data from 2006 to 2012, the analysis provides robust evidence of a positive effect of trade opening on firms' efficiency. However, distortions that operate through certain local market features in the form of unenforceable property rights, an ineffective land-titling system, bureaucratic hurdles and labour market frictions play a crucial role in the transmission of trade liberalization shocks. These findings have important policy implications because they suggest that complementary policies addressing local market constraints need to be implemented alongside trade reforms.
Preprint: [pdf]
Working papers
"Trade liberalization and corruption in Vietnam" (with C. Tomasi), submitted.
Abstract: This paper investigates how corruption affects the gains from trade liberalization. Using firm-level data from Vietnam from 2000 to 2012, which includes the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the analysis provides robust causal evidence that trade openness improves firm productivity, but to a lesser extent for firms operating in a corrupt local system. Our analysis suggests that corruption prevents firms from fully realizing the gains from trade because it reduces their probability of importing. We show that the overall productivity growth would have been much higher in a counterfactual Vietnamese economy without corruption.
"Trade liberalization and its (skill-biased) effect on labour demand: evidence from Vietnamese SMEs" (with F. Pieri and C. Tomasi), preliminary draft available upon request.
Abstract: This paper empirically studies the firm-level employment consequences of trade liberalization, accounting for the skill demand of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the context of a developing country in transition, Vietnam. Using a unique dataset of SMEs over the 2003–2014 period that captures the 2007–2008 drastic reduction in both output and input tariffs, our analysis shows that the employment consequences of the removal of the two types of tariffs are non-identical. While output tariff liberalization has a labour-friendly effect on unskilled workers (particularly production workers), a reduction in input tariffs has an "absolute" skill-biased effect, shifting labour demand from unskilled workers (particularly production workers) to skilled labour (particularly managers). Our findings have important consequences for the labour market evolution and recommend that complementary policies, especially ones that aim to shape the labour supply, need to be introduced and effectively implemented in the wake of trade liberalization.
Editorial reviews
2024: Regional Studies (1)