Empirical studies on industrial clusters in the Mekong Countries
IDE Research Bulletin
KUROIWA Ikuo
March 2017
PDF (354KB)
ABSTRACT
Traditional industrial policy, which aims to protect domestic industry, has lost its legitimacy due to the influences of globalization and regional economic integration. Against such a background, industrial clusters have attracted increasing attention from policy makers. However, only a few empirical studies have been conducted in the Mekong countries, such as Vietnam. To narrow the knowledge gap, this study will first identify the location of clusters in Vietnam. Then econometric analysis is conducted to investigate the relationship between industrial clusters and the productivity of firms. Furthermore, the study investigates the co-location of clusters and its impact on the productivity of firms. The study also considers a migration-urbanization issue with a particular focus on two mega-cities in Vietnam.