This study analyzes factors affecting net interest margin of joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam. The paper uses the secondary data of 26 banks with 182 observations for the period of 2008–2014 and applies the panel data regression method. The empirical results indicate that lending scale, credit risk, capitalization, and in-terest rate have positive impacts on net interest margin. In contrast, managerial efficiency has a negative effect on net interest margin. However, bank size and loan to deposit ratio are statistically insig-nificant to net interest margin.

This article investigates the impact of bank competition on cost and profit efficiency in the Vietnam’s commercial banking system dur-ing 2005–2014. Based on different testing techniques, our results agree with the findings of Turk-Ariss (2010) that bank competition has a negative effect on profit efficiency and those of Pruteanu-Podpiera et al. (2008) and Maudos and de Guevara (2007) that bank competition is negatively related to cost efficiency. We also find that inflation and lag of competition are the two factors affect-ing the competition among these banks.

The purposes of this study are: (i) to develop store personality measurement scale tailor-made for household and electronics store chains in Vietnam, an Asian transitional economy; and (ii) to exam-ine the degree of influence of each store personality dimensions on store loyalty. The scale development is conducted in two stages: item generation and item purification. The new scale is applied to a data survey of 268 shoppers in Ho Chi Minh City (a metropolitan city in southern Vietnam) by systematic sampling. Multivariate data analysis techniques, such as exploratory factor analysis and struc-tural equation modeling, are used to analyze the data. The results reveal that store personality measurement scale is structured into four dimensions: reliability, sophistication, economy, and enthusi-asm with 22 items as observed variables and store personality im-pacts on loyalty behavior mediated by attitudinal loyalty. Particu-larly, these four dimensions are found to be correlated significantly with attitudinal loyalty but not with loyalty behavior except for economy—reliability and sophistication have positive impacts, whereas economy and enthusiasm negatively relate to attitudinal loyalty. The findings help retail managers with effective positioning strategy. This paper is the first to design the scale for store personali-ty and to explore the impact of each dimensions of store personality on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty in Vietnam and in the special-ty-store-chain context.

In oil-exporting countries such as members of the OPEC, fluctua-tions in oil prices exert a significant impact on the domestic econo-my. Currently, a sharp reduction in oil prices results in several ad-verse effects; however, for such a crude-oil exporter that is also an importer of petroleum products as Vietnam, does a rise or drop in oil prices is beneficial to its development? This paper attempts to de-termine the oil price threshold while analyzing oil price effects on several macro factors, such as inflation, GDP growth, budget deficit, and unemployment rate over the 2000–2015 period. Using TVAR model, we detect an oil price threshold of USD27.6/barrel. Moreover, an increase in the price of oil, which exceeds this threshold, will cause a rise in inflation, budget deficit, and unemployment rate. Still, there is no significant evidence of the impact of oil prices on GDP growth.

Stock market is a key channel to the mobilization of long-term capi-tal in an economy, and determinants of stock market development in developing countries are still undecided. This paper aims to inves-tigate these determinants in Vietnam and other developing countries, whose differences are also pointed out by applying two-way Gener-alized Method of Moments to the panel data of 36 developing countries over the period of 2003–2014. Our findings are intriguing. First, in developing countries economic growth, domestic credit, and stock market liquidity are positive determinants of the development of stock market. While the effect of money supply is negative, insti-tutional factors such as government effectiveness and rule of law have significantly positive impacts, in contrast to corruption control and political stability (whose impacts are significant and negative). Second, regarding the development of the stock market in Vietnam, the effects of such macroeconomic factors as economic growth, domestic investment, foreign direct investment, domestic credit, broad money supply, stock market liquidity, and inflation are signif-icant and negative, whereas those of all institution variables, includ-ing control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stabil-ity, regulatory quality, rule of law, and voice and accountability, are significant and positive. This implies that well-established institutions are crucial for promoting a demand for stocks and stock market performance in Vietnam.

This study examines the role of different knowledge economy com-ponents in economic growth as well as the simultaneous effects of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, education, and innovation on economic growth of selected Asian countries over the 1990–2014 period, using Driscoll-Kraay estima-tion method and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and three stage least squares (3SLS). The results confirm that there exists a positive association between economic growth and four components of the knowledge economy framework. Furthermore, there is also evidence of the multidimensional effects of ICT infrastructure, edu-cation, and innovation on economic growth. As a result, policy makers should pay more attention to improving innovation, educa-tion, information and communication infrastructure, and institu-tional regime systematically to achieve sustainable economic growth.

While numerous studies on spin-off have been done in the US and Europe, little efforts have been directed to research this area of cor-porate finance in Australia. This study investigates how market re-acts to corporate spin-offs in this country. We employ traditional event study methodology and find that market reacts strongly and positively to the announcements of spin-offs. Specifically, the cu-mulative average abnormal return over the 3-day event window is 3.58%. The cumulative average abnormal return for spin-offs by companies that increase their industrial focus is 4.12% and 3.33% for non-focused increasing spin-offs. Nevertheless, the difference between these two subgroups is statistically insignificant. Multivari-ate regressions provide evidence that high pre-leverage firms benefit more from spin-offs.