Journal of International Economics and Management

25-41

Authors: Quoc Trung Tran, Xuan Minh Nguyen, Thi Huong Dao

Prior research shows that firms restrict their dividend policy due to precautionary motives when they face high uncertainty and external financial constraint during a financial crisis. However, the effect of a financial crisis on dividend policy may also be explained by the bird in hand mechanism. This paper investigates how the global financial crisis affects corporate dividend policy in the Vietnamese stock market. This market is chosen because of its weak corporate governance environment strengthens shareholders’ bird in hand motive. With a sample of 5,489 observations between 2007 and 2017, we find that both the probability of dividend payment and dividend payout ratio are higher during the crisis period of 2008-2009. The effect of the financial crisis is weaker in firms with high leverage and large size. Moreover, our findings show that the likelihood of dividend omission is lower while the probability of dividend initiation and dividend increase is higher during the financial crisis.

56-70

Authors: Anh Thi Mai Nguyen, B-Ta Tran, Hiep Manh Nguyen

This study examines accrual earnings management in Vietnamese listed firms around equity issuances. Using a matching approach, we find that issuers tend to report higher earnings by aggressive recognition of discretionary current accruals before and during the years of equity offering. This results in significantly larger abnormal stock returns for the issuing firm-years, as the capital market overvalues firms with higher accrual earnings. However, regression results show that investors are subsequently disappointed by negative reversals in earnings, and suffer from significant negative abnormal returns in the third year after the issuance. These results provide additional empirical evidence in an emerging and transition market context, and caution investors against fixation on reported earnings in equity offerings.

84-102

Authors: Le Trung Ngoc Phat, Nguyen Kim Hanh

This study aims to investigate the determinants of bilateral trade flows of Vietnam. The panel fixed effects estimation using Driscoll and Kraay standard errors and panel fixed effects twostage least squares approach are employed to analyze a balanced panel data, which includes fifty-three countries that have been continuously trading with Vietnam from 1997 to 2019. The estimated results reveal that free trade agreements have a positive effect on the bilateral trade flows in trading with the developed or developing countries. Additionally, the bilateral trade flows between Vietnam and the developed countries are enhanced by the differences in income level. They are, however, impeded by the institutional distance and transportation cost. In the case of trading with the developing countries, transportation cost and exchange rate have a positive impact on the bilateral trade flows. The study provides some crucial policy implications for policymakers involving international trading activities in developing countries such as Vietnam.