Ethnic gap, household businesses, and social networks in Vietnam

Over the past two decades, the two vulnerable groups of ethnic minorities and household businesses have participated in the economic growth but could not benefit from the growth process as much as the other groups in Vietnam. The inadequate inclusiveness of these two groups in the economic growth calls for an investigation of the ethnic welfare gap and household businesses’ performance through the lens of social networks. This study aims to examine the role of social networks, using a Q-squared method to analyze an original dataset, which combined both the quantitative and qualitative datasets on social networks of household businesses. In doing so, the study employs an innovative instrument of being the first son in the family. Chapter 1 measures and analyses the main drivers of the ethnic welfare gap over the last ten years. Chapter 2 identifies the causal effects of social networks on household businesses’ performance. Chapter 3 presents a qualitative analysis of the impact of social networks on business performance by the content and the strength of social relationships, and the business phase.

Keywords: Ethnic welfare gap, decomposition, social network, production function, the strength of ties, household businesses, informal sector, Q-squared, name generator, causal effect, Vietnam.