Understanding the characteristics of the household energy transition in a developing country.

Understanding the energy transition process in developing countries is crucial to implement policies to reduce the use of traditional fossil fuel-based energy sources, which increase pollution, worsen global climate change, and negatively impact people's health. Existing literature indicates that households account for approximately 25% of total energy consumption for consumption and production activities. However, understanding the energy consumption patterns of choices of energy sources and their determinants has largely been neglected in the existing literature. As such, this study uses the multivariate probit model to identify the factors influencing household energy choices in Vietnam, using data from 2016 to 2020 from the Vietnamese Households Living Standard Surveys (VHLSS). Our study focuses on how households' multiple occupations, particularly in rural areas, affect energy sources choices. We find that households participate in different agricultural sub-sectors simultaneously, resulting in differential access to multiple energy sources. Households engaging in cultivation, forestry, and animal husbandry activities are more likely to choose coal, fuelwood, and biomass as the primary energy sources for production and daily uses. In contrast, higher household income and household head with higher education level also increases the likelihood of choosing cleaner energy choices for daily uses and production activities. In addition, our empirical findings confirm the validity of the "energy stacking" hypothesis rather than the "energy ladders" hypothesis - two contrasting hypotheses concerning household energy transition in the literature. Policy implications have emerged based on the findings of this paper to enhance the clean energy transition in Vietnam in achieving sustainable economic development and social transformation and her commitment to combating global climate change issues.

Does gender and education of the households' heads matter for wealth accumulation in Vietnam? Evidence from a recent decade.

Asians believe that education plays a crucial role in earning higher income for individuals and accumulating larger wealth for households. Educational achievements have been generally considered an indicator of success. However, gender bias in favour of males as the household heads still exists in Asian societies due to the significant influence of Confucian belief. This study investigates the independent effect of education and gender of the households' heads and their joint effect on household wealth in the Vietnamese context in the most recent decade using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) between 2010 and 2020. Our study uses quantile regression and propensity score matching methods to ensure the robustness of the empirical results. We find that the education of the household heads contributed to increased household wealth in Vietnam in 2010 and 2020. However, household wealth decreases across different wealth quantiles when the households' heads are females. These findings confirm the currently deep-rooted gender stereotypes and a 'gendered structure' economy in Vietnam and require attention from the Vietnamese government. In addition, our empirical results reveal that being a female as the household head with a degree/certificate from a general education will increase household wealth. Our empirical results have largely been consistent across different wealth distributions.

Financial development, energy consumption, and economic growth in the ASEAN countries: evidence from the PVAR approach.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a new global economic force, has struggled to achieve a dual objective of enhanced economic growth and improved environmental quality. Financial development is generally considered an important tool in achieving these simultaneous objectives. This paper examines the response mechanism and the inter-relationship between the ASEAN region's financial development, energy consumption, and economic growth. Unlike previous studies, the paper uses a generalized method of moments panel vector autoregression (GMM-panel VAR) framework for the 1981-2021 period. The second-generation Granger causality test is used to identify their causality relationship. Economic growth supports financial development and reduces energy consumption from fossil fuel sources in the ASEAN countries. Financial development also reduces fossil fuel energy consumption. The bi-directional relationship between economic growth and fossil fuel energy consumption exists. Energy consumption and financial development are also bi-directionally linked. However, only the unidirectional Granger causality from economic growth to financial development is found. The variance decomposition analysis results confirm that economic growth accounts for the most significant variance in fossil fuel energy consumption and financial development in the ASEAN countries. Policy implications have emerged based on these findings.

The determinants of financial inclusion from the households' perspectives in Vietnam.

Various studies have been conducted to measure financial inclusion at the country level. However, measuring financial inclusion at the household level has largely been neglected in the existing literature, particularly for emerging markets such as Vietnam. This study constructs an index of financial inclusion at the household level using the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys (VHLSS) in 2014, 2016, and 2018. We also identify the determinants of financial inclusion from the perspective of Vietnamese households. Our study also utilizes an ordered logit model to examine the effects of the determinants on each level of financial inclusion. Our empirical results reveal three key determinants, including (i) total income per household, (ii) relative income representing the difference between the average income of the province that the household currently lives in and the total income of this household, and (iii) the distance from the household to the nearest bank branch, are crucial factors driving the financial inclusion. While the total income per household positively enhances financial inclusion, relative income appears to reduce the degree of financial inclusion. Besides, distance to the nearest bank branch poses another challenge in achieving the financial inclusion goals in Vietnam in the future.

The economic circumstances of widows in Vietnam.

Information on the living conditions of widows in Vietnam is limited. Prior studies of gender gaps have identified widows as vulnerable to the risks of poverty. However, widows are only included as a sub-group in broader studies of women's well-being. Large gaps remain in the knowledge based on the factors affecting both widows' susceptibility to poverty and the conditions or circumstances that might minimize these risks. This paper attempts to help redress these knowledge gaps by contributing an analysis of data from the 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys. The paper compares the likelihood of poverty for widowed and other households using probit regression. It also assesses whether widows who head up their households face different risks of poverty from those who live in other households. Finally, the paper examines the effects on the risk of poverty of a range of social, demographic and locational characteristics of widow households in Vietnam. Our results indicate that widowed households have experienced a higher probability of falling into poverty. Moreover, widow-headed households have faced more vulnerability to fresh water and housing, especially among widowed households. Policy implications have emerged based on the findings of this paper.

Does the Kuznets curve apply for financial development and environmental degradation in the Asia-Pacific region?

The Asia-Pacific region has faced conflicting objectives of achieving sustainable economic growth and simultaneously improving environmental quality. This paper, the first of its kind, applies the concept of the Kuznets curve to financial development in this region. The long-term effect of financial development on environmental degradation is examined using a sample of 26 countries in the 2007-2017 period. This paper uses the long-term estimation techniques - the panel autoregressive distributed lag, including the pooled mean group model; the mean group; and the dynamic fixed effect estimator. The second-generation Granger test is used to determine the causality between financial development and environmental degradation. The U-shaped nexus and a bi-directional relationship between financial development and environmental degradation are found.