Request for research proposals
Micro, small, and medium enterprises in Vietnam

1    Background

United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), as part of its current research programme focused on transformation, inclusion, and sustainability, is supporting analysis of data on micro, small, and medium enterprises in Vietnam. The project aims to generate in-depth and high quality research studies, with a view to inform policy-formulation for broad-based, inclusive, and sustainable growth.

2    Offer and expectations

During the months of June and July 2015, an enterprise survey was administered to 2,649 formal and informal micro, small, and medium enterprises engaged in the private manufacturing sector in nine provinces of Vietnam. This survey was conducted in collaboration with two Vietnamese partners: the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam (MPI) and the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs (ILSSA) of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs of Vietnam (MoLISA). 

The survey instrument consists of three modules: (i) a main enterprise questionnaire responded to by the owner or manager; (ii) an employee questionnaire that is administered to a random subset of employees in some randomly selected enterprises; and (iii) an economic accounts module. While the enterprise-level survey solicits information on firm performance, enterprise history, employment, business environment, and owner/manager background characteristics, the employee survey collects data on educational background, work experiences and training, union membership, and household characteristics of employees. The economic accounts module lists revenues, costs, assets, and liabilities for the years 2013 and 2014. The survey instruments and more details on the data can be found here. 

In order to improve the understanding of critical issues related to enterprises in Vietnam, UNU-WIDER invites proposals from qualified researchers for detailed economic analysis of this dataset. Proposals seeking to answer original, innovative questions and using different empirical approaches to explore the data are welcome. Proposals from individuals or groups of individuals as well as non-profit organizations/universities are welcome. Applications from suitably qualified early-career, female, and developing country researchers are particularly encouraged.

Researcher(s) with successful proposals will be granted access to the Vietnam 2015 Enterprise Survey data. Individual researchers will be issued UNU Consultant Contracts (CTC), while non-profit organizations will be issued UNU Institutional Contractual Agreements (ICA). A total research honorarium of USD 3,000 will be paid upon delivery of a working paper of maximum 10,000 words—to be considered for publication in the WIDER Working Paper series WIDER Working Paper series—and a one page summary of the main research findings.  Both of these deliverables must be deemed acceptable by the project focal points before payment is made. The honorarium is expected to cover all expenses associated with the conduct of the proposed research. Budget submission is not required.

Successful applicants (one author per paper) may be asked to attend a 1-2 day workshop (date and venue TBD) where work in progress will be presented to other contracted researchers. Costs of attending this workshop will be borne by UNU-WIDER in accordance with United Nations University travel rules. 

UNU-WIDER will formally pursue publication options after the selection of accepted proposals. The editorial team will draw from accepted proposals in order to develop a journal special issue or a book volume to submit to a publishing house. It is expected that successful applicants will engage in the development of the journal special issue/book volume proposal.   

While payment of the honorarium will be made upon delivery of the working paper and one page summary as discussed above, the final version of the journal special issue/book volume will not be complete at that point. After payment has been made, selected researchers may be asked to:

• Respond to reasonable requests by the publisher and editors with respect to finalization of the publication. 
• Participate in knowledge-sharing events.

See full request for research proposals