This research paper delves into the effects of noni juice concentration, fermentation temperature, and incubation time on the physicochemical and sensory properties of noni juice-fortified yogurt. The study found that increasing the concentration of noni juice leads to higher acidity in the yogurt, resulting in a decrease in pH, total soluble solids content, and syneresis. The optimal concentration for achieving the desired physical and sensory qualities is 3%. Incubation time and temperature were also found to significantly influence the yogurt’s pH, acidity, total soluble solids content, and syneresis, with higher incubation time and temperature consistently producing higher-quality yogurt. The best incubation time and temperature for noni juice-fortified yogurt were determined to be 10 h at 42oC. Therefore, the research suggests that adding 3% Bestone noni juice and incubating for 10 h at 42oC using the starter culture powder Yogourmet can lead to the production of consistently high-quality noni juice-fortified yogurt, which is of significant relevance and importance to the dairy and fermentation industries.

In this study, graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by the improved Hummers’ method. The degree of oxidation from graphite (Gi) to GO was determined through interlayer spacing calculated from X–ray diffraction. Besides, the effect of KMnO4: Gi ratios (X1), H2SO4 volume (X2), oxidation temperature (X3), oxidation time of stage 1 (X4), and oxidation time of stage 2 (X5) was screened by the Plackett–Burman model. The simultaneous impact of three factors that influenced the degree of oxidation (X1, X2, and X3) was studied by the Box–Behnken experimental model of response surface methodology to achieve suitable conditions for the GO synthesis process. The characterization of GO product was investigated via the modern analytical methods: X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Inaddition, the study was also carried out on a pilot scale for orientation in industrial application with the yield of 14 g/batch.

The purpose of the study is to find the factors that influence the financial leverage of Vietnam firms. The dependent variable is the financial leverage and the independent variables are firm size, asset structure, liquidity, growth opportunities, profitability, and firm age. The data are collected from Vietnam firms’ annual financial reports in the period from 2010 to 2019. The study uses a sample of 448 Vietnam listed firms in the period. We also employ a panel regression model with pooled OLS and fixed effect to analyze the firms’ financial data. The results of the model showed that financial leverage (FL) has a negative relationship with some factors such as asset structure (AS), liquidity (LQ), growth opportunities (GRW), profitability (ROA), and firm age (AGE) in the fixed effect regression. It means that when liquidity, profitability, and firm age increase, firms’ financial leverage will decrease. While firms’ financial leverage has still a positive relationship with the firm size (SIZE) in the model. As a result, when firm size increases, financial leverage will increase, too. The results showed that models are fit for the research and can be used to predict future findings. It is also useful for enterprises, financial advisors, investors, as well as the financial managers.

Foreign factors play an important role in the socio-economic development of each country, in which foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign aid and exports of goods and services are always given top priority in undeveloped countries as well as developing countries. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the various factors such as FDI, foreign aid, exports and economic growth in Vietnam. The empirical method employed secondary time-series data set during the period 1997-2018 to determine the impact of FDI, foreign aid and exports on economic growth in Vietnam by using a linear approach. For this study, data is collected from the World Bank and relevant agencies in Vietnam. An empirical model is built with a correlation and regression analysis between economic growth (GDP, current) and three independent variables (FDI, aid, exports of goods and services). The results show that the relationship between FDI (net inflows), aid, exports and GDP (current) has a positive effect at a 1% significance level. Based on these findings, the article recommends that Vietnam continues to seek effective solutions to maintain high economic growth rates by attracting FDI inflows, official development assistance (ODA), and increasing exports of goods and services.

This study aims to empirically examine the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) and corruption on the development of public-service sectors in 10 ASEAN countries. It then investigates whether this relationship is different between two FDI compositions including greenfield FDI and FDI in the form of cross-border merger and acquisitions (M&As). Using a panel database of 10 ASEAN countries during the period 1996-2015 from various sources including the World Development Indicators of the World Bank and UNCTAD, we first find that FDI strongly and positively contributes to the development of the public-service sectors in the recipient nations, except for the electricity sector. However, we show that this relationship is dependent on the type of FDI modes of entry. Specifically, while greenfield investment exerts a beneficial influence on the development of telecommunication and transportation sectors, cross-border M&A has no effect on these sectors, perhaps because of the distinct differences among three public service sectors. Finally, we found that in a highly corrupt environment, aggregate FDI might have no influence on all three public-service sectors, possibly because the two contradictory influences of the interaction terms between corruption and two FDI sub-types seem to cancel each other out.

The paper investigates the impact of the statement of cash flows of listed companies on lending decisions of commercial banks in the context of Vietnam. Survey data for the research were collected from 160 credit officers of Vietnamese commercial banks for short-term and long-term lending decisions, whether the cash flow statement includes complete information or has a lack of information. The cash flow statement, in which the information on the cash flow is completely contrary to the profit information on the income statement is examined. This paper employed T-tests to address the research issues in a market considered to be ineffective, like Vietnam. The research results show: (1) the information on the cash flow statement affects both the short-term and long-term lending decisions of credit officers, and (2) the lack of information on the cash flow statement in both cases of positive and negative profits affects the comfort and confidence of credit officers in making decisions. The research findings also indicate that cash flow statements are important for lending decisions of credit institutions in Vietnam. Therefore, this paper provides a new insight to managers on how to improve the quality of cash flow statement to meet the needs of lenders.

The paper investigates the effect of the factors on the disclosure of sustainable development information of enterprises. The research sample includes 120 manufacturing companies listed on Vietnam stock market in 2019. This research uses ordinary least squares (OLS) to address econometric issues and to improve the accuracy of the regression coefficients. The empirical results show that five variables have a statistically significant positive effect on disclosure of sustainable development information of manufacturing companies, including firm size (SIZE), independence of board of directors (BOD), foreign ownership (FRO), return on equity (ROE), and financial leverage (LEV). The results indicate that state ownership (STO) has a statistically significant negative effect on disclosure of sustainable development information of manufacturing companies listed on Vietnam stock market. Besides, the research results also show there is a large difference in the disclosure of sustainable development information between listed companies in Vietnam, those of other emerging economies in the region, and the companies in developed markets. Therefore, this paper provides a new insight to managers and related parties on how to improve the firm’s sustainability disclosure to bring benefit for the firm itself and the stakeholders by reasonable decisions about the factors that affect disclosure of sustainable development information.

The paper examines the characteristics and causes of the expectation gap of audit and assurance services. The paper has conducted three surveys with three target groups. In the first survey, participants are auditors, users of audit reports are subject in the second survey and in the third survey, and students major in auditing are selected. The content of the survey aims to find out the differences in perception of the survey participants on two issues: (i) responsibilities of auditors for detection frauds, errors, protection of the enterprise’s assets and financial scandals, and (ii) the role of audit and auditors in making investment decisions and investor’s belief. The research carried out survey from March to September 2019 with 165 responds. The collected data was processed by statistical software SPSS, version 23, and Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the results of the audit expectation gap between the auditor group and the users of audit report group and between the student group and users of audit report group. The results showed that there exists an expectation gap in the responsibility of auditors for detection of all frauds, errors and protection enterprise’s assets. Recommendations include strengthening audit standards, penalizing bad practices and ensuring auditor’s independence.

The paper investigates the factors that affect the demand for a voluntary audit of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. A structured questionnaire survey of 284 SMEs was employed, preceded by in-depth interviews with auditors and SMEs’ managers. The research used logistic regression estimator to address econometric issues and to improve the accuracy of the regression coefficients. The results show that the degree of director’s view on voluntary audit, related stakeholder, degree of recommendation, and firm size have a statistically significant positive effect on audit decisions of SMEs while degree of audit fee has a statistically significant negative effect, and degree of subjective norm does not affect. This indicated that SMEs are more likely to have an external audit if they have some typical features: it is becoming larger in terms of size, and the directors consider that the audit has a relative benefit outweighing its cost. The research results suggested that Vietnam Government should make a statutory audit of SMEs’ financial statements rather than make it an option for SMEs. The auditing firms were also recommended to actively take their audit services to SMEs rather than waiting for the SMEs’ managers to contact them for their services.

This paper explores the impact of capital structure on firm performance in the context of Vietnam. The paper investigates the different effect of capital structure on firm performance in state-owned and non-state enterprises listed on the Vietnam stock market. The panel data of research sample includes 488 non-financial listed companies on the Vietnam stock market for a period of six years, from 2013 to 2018. The Generalized Least Square (GLS) is employed to address econometric issues and to improve the accuracy of the regression coefficients. In this research, firm performance is measured by return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), and earnings per share (EPS). The ratios of short-term liabilities, long-term liabilities, and total liabilities to total assets are proxy for capital structure. Firm sizes, growth rate, liquidity, and ratio of fixed assets to total assets are control variables in the study. The empirical results show that capital structure has a statistically significant negative effect on the firm performance. The result also shows this effect is stronger in state-owned enterprises than non-state enterprises in Vietnam. These evidences provide a new insight to managers of both state-owned and non-state enterprises on how to improve the firm’s performance with capital structure.

The paper aims to investigate auditors, auditing firms and other external factors that affect quality of information technology audit in Vietnam. We conducted 2 types of data collections including direct and on survey. For direct survey, we sent directly to auditors at the training classes organized by State Securities Exchanges Commission. An online survey was established and Google doc link was provided to the Big4 and non-Big4 auditors. We received 138 survey responses in that 90 auditors came from Big4 and 48 auditors from non-Big4 firms. The data are analyzed using a factor analysis and compare means approaches to illustrate the potential IT audit quality factors and identify differences between two groups of auditors. The results show that independence and accounting knowledge and audit skills are the most important factors. And since external auditors perform many assurance services, the independence is critical. The result also shows that the auditors need to have enough competent and professional skills when conducting an audit, especially within an IT environment that requires high quality. The findings suggest a similar pattern of two groups in the context of Vietnam and some factors of auditors and auditing firms appear to have a statistically significant impact on quality of IT audit.

The study aims to assess the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade (export and import) on Vietnam's economic growth for the 2000-2018 period. Secondary data is taken from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Ordinary least-square method is used in analyzing the impact of FDI, export and import on economic growth of Vietnam. Empirical test results show that FDI and international trade are related to Vietnam's economic growth. However, each economic variable has a different impact. FDI has a positive and statistically significant influence on economic growth of Vietnam. Export also has positive and statistically significant impact to the economic growth, while import has a negative but not statistically significant effect. The result is useful for the policy makers of Vietnam on foreign economic relations. In order to improve the effect of FDI and international trade on growth of the economy, the government of Vietnam should: (1) continue applying preferential policies to attract FDI; (2) select foreign investors aiming to quality, efficiency, high technology and environmental protection; (3) continue pursuing export-oriented policy; (4) enhance the added value of exported goods and control the type of imported goods; (5) further liberalize trade through signing and implementation of international trade commitments.

This paper investigates the impact of working capital management on the firm’s profitability. The research sample includes 119 non-financial listed companies on Vietnam stock market over a period of 9 years from 2010 to 2018. Two statistical approaches include Ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed effects model (FEM) are employed to address econometric issues and to improve the accuracy of the regression coefficients. The empirical results show the negative and significant impacts of the working capital management, which measured by cash conversion cycle (CCC) and three components of the CCC including accounts receivable turnover in days (ARD), inventory turnover in days (INVD), and accounts payable turnover in days (APD) on the firm’s profitability measured by return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q. It implies that firms can increase profitability by keeping the optimization of the working capital management measured by the CCC, which includes shortening the time to collect money from clients, accelerating inventory flow and hold the low payment time to creditors. Besides, the profitability of firms was impacted by the sale growth rate, firm size, leverage, and age. Therefore, this paper provides a new insight to managers on how to improve the firm’s profitability with working capital management.

Tax can be categorised into direct tax and indirect tax. This paper uses the ordinary least-squares regression method to study the impact of direct and indirect tax on economic growth in Vietnam in the period 2003-2017. Statistical data is collected from the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam. Theoretically, tax generates the state budget revenue and is a tool to regulate the economy. The results of statistical tests show that tax has a positive impact on Vietnam's economic growth. However, the effects of direct tax and indirect tax are different. The indirect tax has a positive influence and promote Vietnam's economic growth, while the impact of the direct tax is invisible. There has not been sufficient evidence to confirm that the indirect tax has a more positive impact than the direct tax. To promote economic growth, Vietnam needs to restructure its tax system towards: (1) Increasing the proportion of indirect tax, reducing the proportion of direct tax in the state budget revenue; (2) Expanding tax bases; (3) Reducing tax rates of corporate income tax and personal income tax; (4) Increasing tax rates of environmental protection tax, natural resources tax, value added tax and excise tax on some types of goods which harm health and environment.

This paper is intended to study the relationship between state budget revenue and economic growth in Vietnam. The ordinary leastsquares regression method is used with secondary data collected from General Statistics Office of Vietnam in the period of 2000- 2017. Vietnamese state budget revenue includes domestic revenue (excluding oil revenue), oil revenue, custom duty revenue, and grants. The testing result shows that the state budget revenue has a positive correlation with economic growth of Vietnam. However, the components of state budget revenue have different levels of impact on the economy. Domestic revenue and oil revenue are statistically significant and have a positive effect on the economy, while the impact of custom duty revenue and grants on the economy is invisible. Vietnamese state budget revenue should be restructured toward the sustainability and by way of boosting the economy, specifically: (1) Increase the proportion of domestic revenue to state budget revenue and domestic revenue should be based on the ground of production and business activities rather than collection from state-owned assets; (2) Reduce the proportion of custom duty revenue and grants to state budget revenue; (3) Keep the volume and ratio of oil revenue in state budget revenue at an appropriate proportion.

Many authors have examined the impact of public spending on economic growth. This study uses ordinary least-squares technique to test the effect of state budget expenditure with two major components: development investment expenditure and recurrent expenditure on Vietnamese economy for the period 2000-2017. The empirical results show that the state budget expenditure of Vietnam has positive effect on the economy, however each main component has different impacts. Recurrent expenditure has significant positive impact on Vietnamese economy while there has no evidence to affirm the relationship between the development investment expenditure and the economic growth. Vietnamese government should restructure the state budget to enhance the positive effect on the economy. In the short run, Vietnam should not increase development investment expenditure due to low efficency in public investment. In the long run, it is necessary to economize recurrent expenditure to reserve a reasonable proportion of state budget for development investment expenditure to build infrastructure for developing the economy. The state budget expenditure should be restructured towards prioritizing recurrent expenditure on human and social relief, reducing public administration expenditure, allocating investment capital from the state budget for key and pervasive projects, avoiding spreading out investments as well as crowding out private investments.

The paper aims to measure stock price volatility on Ho Chi Minh stock exchange (HSX). We apply symmetric models (GARCH, GARCH-M) and asymmetry (EGARCH and TGARCH) to measure stock price volatility on HSX. We used time series data including the daily closed price of VN-Index during 1/03/2001–1/03/2019 with 4375 observations. The results show that GARCH (1,1) and EGARCH (1,1) models are the most suitable models to measure both symmetry and asymmetry volatility level of VN-Index. The study also provides evidence for the existence of asymmetric effects (leverage) through the parameters of TGARCH model (1,1), showing that positive shocks have a significant effect on the conditional variance (volatility). This result implies that the volatility of stock returns has a big impact on future market movements under the impact of shocks, while asymmetric volatility increase market risk, thus increase the attractiveness of the stock market. The research results are useful reference information to help investors in forecasting the expected profit rate of the HSX, and also the risks along with market fluctuations in order to take appropriate adjust to the portfolios. From this study’s results, we can see risk prediction models such as GARCH can be better used in risk forecasting especially.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of two-dimensional factor of motivators and hygiene on civil servants’ job satisfaction using the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) as a technique employed to analyze the measurement and structural models. Exploratory study was deployed to evaluate the relationship among variables. By using multistage stratified sampling, statistical data was collected from a survey of 441 public municipal civil servants who have employed in various levels (municipal government, districts and communes) in Vietnam. The findings provided evidence that hygiene factors (relationship with leader, salary, relationship with coworker and working environment) directly impact on civil servants’ job satisfaction. Meanwhile, only career development factor from motivators significantly influenced on public employee’s job satisfaction. Based on the empirical results, the hygiene factors of job satisfaction are more dominated that the motivators one. This finding suggests that municipal governments should focus policies on improving the hygiene factors which lead to higher job satisfaction on civil servants. Gaining a thorough understanding of the determinants of job satisfaction toward municipal public servants will enable policy makers to grasp the factors that results in retaining employees. Finally, the policy makers can use this knowledge to promote civil servants’ job satisfaction.