Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Calza, Elisa
Author-Email: calza@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT
Author-Name: Goedhuys, Micheline
Author-Email: goedhuys@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT
Title: Domestic quality certification and growth of Vietnamese MSMEs
Abstract: Using two waves of the Mirco, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) 
	 survey of Vietnamese manufacturing firms, this paper first explores what 
	 drives firms' decision to have a domestically recognized certificate, 
	 taking into account a rich number of factors related to the cost and 
	 expected benefits of certification as well as institutional factors. It 
	 further explores the presence of a positive and significant effect of 
	 domestic certificates on firm growth, these serving as signaling devices 
	 for desirable attributes under information asymmetry and thus leading to 
	 an increase in legitimacy and reputation. Evidence is indeed found for a 
	 signaling effect of certification, this being stronger for more recently 
	 adopted certificates, for advertising firms and for women entrepreneurs.
Classification-JEL: D22, D23, L25, O12
Keywords: Certification, Firm growth, Transaction costs, Signaling Emerging economies,
	 Viet Nam
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 20180621
Number: 2018-026
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2018/wp2018-026.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2018026