Page 254 - Ebook HTKH 2024

investment in Vietnam. Through a comprehensive analysis, we aim to provide valuable
insights that can empower policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders to make informed

decisions that nurture innovation and sustainable growth, both during and beyond the
challenges posed by COVID-19.
To investigate the relationship between specific components of the Public
Administration and Public Service Delivery Index (PAPI) and firms’ technology
investments, we will undertake data collection and analysis from two separate sources.
Initially, we will compile data on one of dimensions PAPI - Environmental governance
across various provinces within Vietnam, drawing from the most recent surveys and
reports from 2019. Subsequently, we will obtain secondary data from audited financial

statements from the FiinPro data system, generously provided by FiinGroup Joint Stock
Company (Vietnam). This dataset will encompass information on technology
investment, e.g., science and technology investment. Additionally, we will consider
factors related to corporate performance and access to firms’ investment resources.
Merging these datasets will yield a comprehensive sample spanning 1,886 firm-year
observations from 2019 to 2021.

Utilizing statistical techniques, particularly regression analysis, we will scrutinize
the relationship between a province’s PAPI score and the firm level of technology
investment while controlling for other factors that could influence such investment,
including firm-specific characteristics. Our analysis, which will encompass two standard
measures of technology investment, is expected to reveal a significantly positive
association between provincial administration reform and firm-level technology
investment.

In economic terms, this implies that an increase in these two dimensions of PAPI
is linked to higher corporate technology investment, underscoring the critical role of
effective governance at the province level in creating an environment conducive to
technology investment funding. Further, we examine the effect of public governance
conditional on different aspects: geographic regions, firm size, and firm industry type.
Our findings support the argument that effective public governance is fundamental to

promoting technology investment in emerging markets such as Vietnam during COVID-
19.
The primary contribution of this paper lies in its illumination of the relationship
between the effectiveness of environmental governance and its impact on firms’
technology activities. Furthermore, the study seeks to identify specific drivers of this
relationship. Ultimately, the research aims to offer evidence-based insights into the
determinants of the PAPI index and propose policy recommendations at the provincial
level. These recommendations are geared toward promoting corporate technology

initiatives to foster economic growth and comprehensive development.
The rest of this study proceeds as follows. Section 2 reviews prominent literature
and outlines our hypothesis. Section 3 describes the research design. Section 4 presents
our empirical results. Finally, Section 5 concludes the study.

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