This study examines the role of financial integration in determining the relationship between the real exchange rate (RER) and economic growth in East Asian countries. It hypothesizes that a competitive RER could play a greater role in promoting economic growth in countries with a low degree of financial integration. A growth model was specified using a RER misalignment index and its interaction terms with financial integration as explanatory variables. Different proxies for financial integration were employed to verify the interaction. The empirical results demonstrate the significance of the interaction terms and largely validate the hypothesis. This result demonstrates that a competitive RER policy is not a general solution for economic growth and its effectiveness could largely depend on a country’s degree of financial integration.

The photonic sensors have shown very effectively for measuring the toxic contents in the liquid and air environments. In principle, the photonic sensors based on measurement of wavelength shift between reference condition and testing environments that we need use the spectrometer with high cost. In this paper, we present new configurations of photonic devices for measuring wavelength shift without use of spectrometer, which has a large potential for application in sensing technique with low cost. There are two configurations of photonic sensors are presented: i) first of them is based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) combined with DFB laser diode with controlling wavelength emission by laser temperature and ii) second one is used  the fiber ring laser from Erbium-doped fiber and two FBG operated as  reference and sensing probe. The etched-fiber Bragg grating (e-FBG) as sensing probe is suitable for bio- and/ or chemical sensors. A novel photonic sensor can increase sensitivity and measuring accuracy of device by the narrow line-width of reflection spectra from laser and the sensor can determine a refractive index variation of 2x10-4, which is similarly for high resolution spectrometer. The experimental results show that this sensing method could determine different mixing ratios of organic solvents in liquid environment with good repeatability, high accuracy and rapid response.Keywords:

This paper examined the effect of the real exchange rate (RER) misalignment on total factor productivity (TFP) growth in East Asian countries. Alternative estimations of TFP and the RER misalignment are used to reduce the severity of measurement errors. The empirical results support a positive role of a depreciated RER in promoting TFP growth. The panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) estimator indicates that three out of four RER misalignment indices have positive and significant relationships with TFP growth. This result is consistent among baseline regressions and regressions using additional covariates. The effect of the RER misalignment on TFP growth is sizable. Ten per cent depreciation in the RER causes the TFP growth rate to increase roughly 0.3 percentage points.

The fourth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic forced medical workers to make sacrifices for a happy time, rest time, and time to take care of their families to join the frontline against the epidemic. To add to the evidence of previous studies on participatory behavior against the COVID-19 pandemic and to enrich the research literature and policy proposals for the Government of Vietnam, this study applies theory of planned behavior, and social pressure explores the intention of health workers to participate in the COVID-19 pandemic response in Vietnam. This study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey using a purposive sampling technique (n=200). Multivariate linear regression analysis and moderator regression were applied to prove the proposed hypotheses. Research results show theory of planned behavior and social pressure may explain healthcare workers' intentions to participate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The social pressure plays a moderator role in the relationship between the subjective norms and the intention.