Just a Piece of Paper? Domestic Standards Certification and Small Firm Growth in Viet Nam

Elisa Calza and Micheline Goedhuys

Journal of Development Studies, 2021, vol. 57, issue 8, 1351-1372

Abstract: Using two waves (2013, 2015) of the Micro, Small, and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) survey of Vietnamese manufacturing firms, this paper first explores what drives firms’ decision to have a domestic standards 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, testing whether these serve as signalling devices for desirable attributes under information asymmetry. Evidence is indeed found for a signalling effect of domestic standards certification, being stronger for female-run businesses. Results hold even when controlling for international certifications.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2021.1873289

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