Agglomeration Economies and Location Choices by Foreign Firms in Vietnam

1. Agglomeration Economies and Location Choices by Foreign Firms in Vietnam Dinh Thi Thanh Binh University of Trento, Italy

2. Theories of localization (1/2) • Agglomeration economies: positive externalities that stem from the geographic clustering of industries. • 3 externalities (Marshall, 1920): • Technological spillovers • A pooled market for workers with specialized skills • A pooled market of specialized intermediate inputs • Empirical studies: foreign firms are likely near other firms in the same industry or from the same country of origin (Head et al., 1995; Crozet et al. 2004; Guimaraes and Figueiredo, 2000).

3. Theories of localization (2/2) • However, most papers neglect firm heterogeneity and competition among firms. • Firms are not only receivers but also sources of knowledge. • They therefore choose locations to gain exposure to others’ localized knowledge while reducing leakage of their own knowledge to competitors. • Shaver and Flyer (2000); Alcacer & Chung (2007): • Large foreign firms try to locate away from their competitors. • Technologically advanced firms choose only location with high levels of academic activity and avoid locations with industry activity to distance themselves from competitors.

4. Aims of the study • The study tests three hypotheses that aim to verify the existence of agglomeration economies in location choices by foreign firms in Vietnam: • Hypothesis 1: the greater the number of foreign firms already established in a province, the more likely new foreign investors are to invest in that province. • Hypothesis 2: the greater the number of domestic firms and foreign firms in a specific industry already located in a province, the more likely new foreign investors in that industry are to locate in that province. • Hypothesis 3: the greater the number of foreign firms from a specific country already located in a province, the more likely new foreign investors from that country are to locate in that province.

5. The geographical distribution of foreign firms in Vietnam 2000-2005 Source: The GSO’s survey on firms

6. Data sources • The yearly survey of enterprises operating in Vietnam yearly conducted by General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) since 2000. • All foreign firms in all 64 provinces and cities in Vietnam with detailed information about each foreign firm. • Obtain 568 new foreign firms in 2005 by using tax code and the year of operation. • The stock numbers of foreign investors up to 2004 are used to form the agglomerations variables. • Province’s characteristics: Vietnam Statistical Yearbooks

7. Empirical results Negative binomial model (****p-value<0.005, ** p-value < 0.05)

8. Conditional logit model(McFadden,1974) • The investor i, if it locates in province j, will derive an expected profit of Πij: • The investor i prefers the location j if: k ≠ j, and j, k € M. • The probability of choosing the location j is thus: k ≠ j. • The probability that i yields the highest profitability when choosing j among the choice set M is : • α: the characteristics of provinces • X: agglomeration variables • ε: an investment location specific random disturbance.

9. Empirical resultsConditional logit model (****p-value<0.005, *** p-value < 0.01)

10. Conclusions • New foreign investors are likely to locate their firms near other foreign firms. • They prefer to locate near foreign firms in the same industries and from the same countries of origin. • Competition among provinces in FDI attraction. • Location of Vietnamese firms has no effect on location decisions by foreign firms in the same industries. Policy Implication • Industrial zones • The case of Binh Duong province in Vietnam

11. Thanks for your attention!