Chinh Hoang-Duc

Chinh Hoang-Duc

PhD Candidate in Economics

University of Manchester

hoang.chinh@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Scholar · CV · GitHub

I am a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Manchester, supervised by Prof. Sonya Krutikova and Dr. Aruni Mitra. My research studies inequality and intergenerational mobility with applications in the UK, US, and Vietnam.

Before Manchester, I worked as a research assistant on development-economics projects with the University of Copenhagen and Vietnam National University, contributing to studies for IFPRI, FAO, and the Vietnam Annual Economic Report.

Working Papers

Intergenerational Persistence of Wealth Inequality in the US: A Decomposition

In progress

Abstract

Abstract coming soon.

Intergenerational Mobility and Structural Change in Vietnam

Submitted

Abstract

This paper examines intergenerational earnings mobility in Vietnam during its structural transformation. Using the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey for cohorts born between 1978 and 1993, we document a significant linear decline in the intergenerational elasticity of earnings, indicating improving mobility. This trend is associated with decreasing inequality among children, driven primarily by a narrowing rural-urban earnings gap. Decomposition analyses reveal that changes in the human capital channel, specifically declining returns to education and to parental investment, explain approximately 60% of the reduction in earnings persistence. However, by bridging earnings analysis with Markov chain measures of educational mobility, we find that a large portion of this improvement is attributable to structural educational expansion. We argue that as these structural effects subside, the current positive trend in earnings mobility may not be sustainable in the long run.

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

  1. Hoang-Duc, C., Hoang-Le, K., et al. (2026). Unveiling the path to the fourth industrial revolution: Exploring technology adoption and firm-level barriers. Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
    Abstract

    Technology adoption is an important driving force for economic growth. This study investigates the determinants of technology adoption among firms in Vietnam using nationally representative enterprise survey data focusing on prominent technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). It focuses on three main barriers to adoption – financial constraints, human resource limitations, and perceived practicality – and assesses their empirical relevance towards different measurements of technology adoption levels. Our analysis employs logit, ordered logit, and Poisson regressions, complemented by inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment to represent selection on observables. The findings indicate that financial capacity does not significantly influence firms' adoption decisions. In contrast, human resource factors, especially firms' information technology capability, play a crucial role by underscoring the importance of digital skills in the workforce. Additionally, firms' perceptions of the practical value of technologies, particularly regarding competitiveness and profitability, are strongly associated with higher adoption levels. The findings offer policy-relevant insights for promoting effective 4IR technology adoption in developing economies.

    Full-text (PDF)

  2. Hoang-Duc, C., Nguyen-Anh, T., Nguyen-Thu, H., et al. (2024). Give a Fish or Teach to Fish? Poverty Alleviation Effect of Government Support Policies and Self-Help Commercial Activities. The Journal of Development Studies.
    Abstract

    This study explores the interactive effect of self-help efforts, specifically through household decisions to engage in commercialisation, and external supports provided via government antipoverty policies, on poverty reduction among poor households in northern Vietnam. With observational data from 1383 surveyed households, we use an estimation strategy combining inverse probability weighting, regression adjustment, and two-stage least squares to address selection bias and omitted variable bias in two variables of interest. We find that while these two interventions are individually effective in alleviating poverty, their combination is not necessarily as effective. Our results show that commercialisation only reduces poverty among non-supported households, while government supports are more effective among non-commercial households. This substitution of effects comes from the nature of support targeting and commercialisation. Households receiving supports often have lower capacity, making commercialisation ineffective or even impossible. Furthermore, current support policies are insufficient to enhance the impact of commercialisation. These results suggest that there could be more effective ways to combine external interventions and self-help efforts to better alleviate poverty.

    Full-text (PDF)

  3. Hoang-Duc, C., Nguyen-Thu, H., Nguyen-Anh, T., et al. (2024). Governmental support and multidimensional poverty alleviation: efficiency assessment in rural areas of Vietnam. The Journal of Economic Inequality.
    Abstract

    This paper provides evidence on the poverty-eradication effect of governmental support, broadly categorised into human support and living support. Following the doubly robust approach and using data collected from 1,538 households of mountainous ethnic minorities, the evidence indicates that current governmental support can help reduce the poor’s multidimensional poverty. However, these supports cannot mitigate all of the deprivations the poor endure. The alleviation impact of human support is observed in education and health deprivations, but that of living support is limited to health deprivation. Employment and living standard deprivations appear to not be significantly influenced by both supports. The results on the effect of human support on education and of living support on health are robust to sensitivity checks, following a novel approach examining violations of unconfoundedness. These findings contribute to the literature on government policy efficacy and suggest a crucial policy adjustment area.

    Full-text (PDF)

  4. Nguyen-Anh, T., Hoang-Duc, C., Nguyen-Thi-Thuy, L., Vu-Tien, V., Nguyen-Dinh, U., & To-The, N. (2022). Do intangible assets stimulate firm performance? Empirical evidence from Vietnamese agriculture, forestry and fishery small-and medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge.
    Abstract

    Innovation and intangible asset (IA) management have not received adequate attention amongst labour- and capital-intensive sectors. This study investigates the effect of IAs on firms’ performance and the internal and external determinants of firms’ IA development amongst small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Vietnamese sectors of agriculture, forestry and fishery (AFF). The study adopts a stochastic frontier analysis to estimate firms’ performance and propensity score matching to examine the difference between firms with and without IAs. Ten hypotheses of innovation determinants including firms’ internal and external factors are also investigated. The results reveal three notable findings. (1) For Vietnamese AFF sectors, IAs diminish firms’ performance. (2) Internal factors such as age, size and financial robustness have positive effects on the formation of IAs, while investments in land, labour and research and development impose mixed effects. (3) External factors, such as regional and province-specific characteristics, have significant impacts on IAs. These results suggest a review of current policies on innovation and IA management amongst SMEs.

    Full-text (PDF)

  5. Nguyen-Anh, T., Hoang-Duc, C., Tiet, T., Nguyen-Van, P., & To-The, N. (2022). Composite effects of human, natural and social capitals on sustainable food-crop farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. Food Policy.
    Abstract

    This study analyzes the spontaneous impact of human, social and natural capital on food crop technical efficiency (TE) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Our study contributes to the literature by adopting the meta-analysis method to investigate the relationship between TE and the three groups of capitals to better shed light on the TE in SSA regions. Our results highlight that social capital is the most critical factor among the three groups of capitals in promoting farming productivity. In particular, agriculture efficiency benefits from increasing people’s trust in institutions and the frequency of extension visits. Natural capital like temperature and elevation is essential in determining the farming TE in SSA regions. Outstandingly, our results also indicate that calorie intake, a proxy of labor quality, should be improved to achieve better productivity.

    Full-text (PDF)

  6. Nguyen-Anh, T., Hoang-Duc, C., Le-Ngoc, A., & Nguyen-An, T. (2022). Drivers of land use efficiency among ethnic minority groups in Vietnam: a longitudinal study. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy.
    Abstract

    This paper examines factors influencing agricultural land-use efficiency among 35 ethnic minority groups in Vietnam during the 2010–2018 period. A hybrid approach comprising the Difference-in-Difference model with Propensity Score Matching (DID_PSM) is adopted to examine the effect of different land sizes, land elevations, and land tenure on land-use efficiency. The results show that: (1) land size and agricultural production form an ‘U-shaped’ relationship; (2) farming on high land decreases efficiency by around 7.7%–8.0%; (3) farmers purchasing or hiring land in long-term are 7.3%–8.2% more efficient. The paper also discusses typical land characteristics of mountainous areas including steep and fragmentation related to the three comparing factors. From these results, implications are made for Vietnamese authorities about ‘land accumulation’ policies and other ‘farming on elevation’ techniques.

    Full-text (PDF)

Book chapters

  1. Nguyen-Anh, T., To-The, N., Hoang-Duc, C., & Vu-Tien, V. (2022). Factors influencing farmers' responses to climate change in the Central Highland, Vietnam. In T. Nguyen-An (Ed.), Value chain of Vietnamese agricultural and forestry products in the context of international integration and ecological crisis (pp. 637–660). Vietnam National University Press. ISBN 978-604-369-407-9.
  2. Nguyen-Cam, N., Pham-Xuan, H., & Hoang-Duc, C. (2019). Vietnam Financial Integration Level in the Region. In N. Nguyen-Cam (Ed.), Global Challenges and Financial Security in Vietnam (pp. 76–101). Vietnam National University Press. ISBN 978-604-9887-74-1.

Conference Presentations

Teaching

Selected Awards & Scholarships