This article sets out to investigate the reasons why some household businesses decide to register and become formal (while others do not) in order to shed light on the origins of informality. We use qualitative as well as quantitative data on household businesses (HB) derived from first-hand representative surveys implemented in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The study reveals that although most of the informal businesses operate 'illegally', this is more due to unclear registration legislation than the mark of a deliberate intention to evade the economic regulations. Among the different factors that influence the registration decisions, the reason for setting up the business appears to be a determining one: the more it is a real choice (businesses set up to be independent or to follow a family tradition) and the less a constraint (set up for lack of a job alternative), the more the HB is inclined to be registered. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that incentives do prove decisive insofar as the probability of having a formal business is greater among HB heads who consider that registration provides at least partial protection from corruption. Besides, access to information, the market and large business orders also drive the informal entrepreneurs to register. These results stress the need for clarification of the legal framework as well as incentive policies in order to address the issue of informality.

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractVietnam has been following China's path closely and very successfully for the last two decades, since the adoption of 'Doi moi' in 1986. Over those last two decades, economic growth rates in both countries have been the highest worldwide (with GDP growing by 8 per cent and 10 per cent per year, respectively). The increase of the Vietnamese share of world trade is the highest of all major Asian exporters (including China) since the mid-1990s. In the current international context, doubts have been raised by some economists concerning the possibility for new Asian countries to take-off and join the group of emerging countries. Several obstacles might block this emergence, such as the rise of China and the stringent rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This paper addresses this question with regard to Vietnam, who joined the WTO at the beginning of 2007: we study Vietnam's potential for sustainable growth and international integration. We start by briefly describing economic reform and trade policies in Vietnam, and their results in terms of economic growth and world integration. We then analyse Vietnamese trade specialization and the bilateral relationship with China. Finally, we assess the competition between Vietnam and China on world markets, and show that the export structures are very different. Both countries have benefited from a boom in their textile and clothing exports following the cessation of quotas (in the case of China) and the signing of USBTA (in the case of Vietnam). For Vietnam, reducing the specialization in textiles and clothing, and joining the Asian production network in electronics, represents a major challenge.

[eng] Growth is not Enough for Poverty Reduction. This paper contributes to the current debate on pro-poor growth. It discusses the respective impacts of macro-economic growth and the reduction of income inequality on monetary poverty. Our results emphasise the potential importance of the latter factor and suggest putting forward redistribution policies, which are usually hardly even considered. They also question the credibility of the first of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aims at halving the proportion of the population living in absolute poverty by 2015. The first section analyses the factors which lead to placing poverty reduction at the core of development policies. The second section conducts a survey on the impact of growth and inequality on poverty reduction in the economic littérature. The third section presents the results of simulations on the evolution of poverty incidence in all the developing countries by 20 1 5. These simulations are based on an analytical formulation of the poverty elasticity, under a log-normal hypothesis concerning the income distribution, and making various assumptions on growth rates and the evolution of inequalities. Our estimates suggest that African countries will not meet the first MDG ; they also come to convergent conclusions on the potential gains in terms of poverty reduction brought about by pro- poor growth. The fourth and final section reveals the contrast between the above result and the lack of interest for redistribution policies within existing PRSPs (Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers). [fre] Jean-Pierre Cling Philippe De Vreyer Mireille Razafindrakoto François Roubaud La croissance ne suffit pas pour réduire la pauvreté. Cet article s'inscrit dans le débat actuel sur la croissance pro-pauvres. Il aborde la question de l'impact respectif de la croissance macro-économique et de la réduction des inégalités de revenus sur la pauvreté monétaire. Il met en évidence l'importance potentielle du second facteur et plaide en faveur d'une reconsidération de politiques distributives, aujourd'hui trop souvent reléguées au second plan. L'article s'interroge également sur la crédibilité des objectifs de réduction de la pauvreté fixés notamment par le premier des Millennium Development Goals (MDG). La première section analyse les facteurs qui ont conduit à l'adoption des nouvelles initiatives internationales de lutte contre la pauvreté. La deuxième section procède à une revue de littérature du rôle respectif de la croissance et des inégalités sur la réduction de la pauvreté. Partant d'une décomposition comptable de l'élasticité du taux de pauvreté sous l'hypothèse de log-nor- malité de la distribution des revenus, la troisième section propose des simulations de l'incidence de la pauvreté pour l'ensemble des pays en développement à l'horizon 2015, sous différents scénarios de croissance et d'évolution des inégalités. Tout en estimant que les pays africains ne pourront atteindre l'objectif, ces simulations convergent d'une manière générale sur les gains potentie...

The strong growth of the Vietnamese economy over the last two decades has brought about sweeping economic and social changes. In particular, there has been a sharp downturn in poverty along with an upturn in social inequalities (albeit not as sharp as in China). This makes the question of the distributional impact of the country's WTO accession (January 2007) a particularly keen one. The first simulations made using our micro-simulation model point to mainly four types of redistributive effects induced by WTO membership: job gains (especially industrial jobs), growth in real wages, reduction in gender inequalities, and increase in inequalities between rural and urban areas (but slight drop in overall inequalities). Our findings demonstrate the importance of flanking measures to accompany WTO accession and making the most the opportunities that arise, especially in the area of training, domestic migration, regional policies and assistance to wage earners affected by restructuring.

[fre] L'incapacité des pays membres de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce à lancer un nouveau cycle de négociations multilatérales, trouve en partie sa source dans la résurgence du conflit Nord-Sud dans le domaine commercial. Les pays en développement se plaignent à la fois du manque de prise en compte de leurs intérêts dans le cadre multilatéral, et du caractère de plus en plus contraignant à leur égard du fonctionnement de l'ОМС, dont les pays industrialisés souhaitent élargir le champ à de nouveaux sujets. Ce conflit se nourrit également de la remise en cause du consensus de Washington. Malgré cette remise en cause, le rôle de l'ouverture commerciale comme facteur potentiel de croissance économique demeure largement accepté. Les enjeux en matière de commerce et de développement des nouvelles régulations internationales sont principalement de trois ordres : rendre le fonctionnement de l'ОМС plus favorable aux intérêts des pays en développement ; améliorer la cohérence de son action avec celle des autres organisations internationales ; enfin, tirer les conséquences de l'hétérogénéité croissante des pays en développement. [eng] The members of the World Trade Organization are currently unable to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations. This arises partly from the resurgence of the North-South conflict on trade issues. Developing countries complain about the WTO neglecting their interests and being increasingly demanding on them ; they also oppose negotiating on new subjects. The end of the « Washington consensus » is another cause of conflict. Nonetheless, the role of trade liberalization as potential engine of growth is still widely accepted. Defining new international regulations to promote trade and development raises three main challenges : to make WTO more development-friendly ; to improve its coherence with other international organizations ; lastly, to take into account the increasing heterogeneity of developing countries.

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