Hanoi, December 12. MDRI hosted a seminar to introduce phase III of the project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), implemented by the research unit within the Universities of Hannover.
The subject of the project is the analysis of the role of shocks and risks for the development of poor countries and emerging market economies. Central to the analysis of these factors is the concept of vulnerability. While numerous research papers have been produced on this subject, to date the concept of vulnerability still lacks a comprehensive and empirically well-founded framework in the development economics literature.
Target countries of this research are Thailand and Vietnam. These two countries were chosen because they offer excellent conditions to undertake such research as they have past (and current) experience with high rates of economic growth and success in poverty reduction. However, they have also suffered from various types of shocks and have implemented crisis response strategies. Both countries, although to different degrees, show a growing regional inequality with a persistence of “pockets of poverty”. Most importantly, in both countries a fair amount of secondary data is available and competent local partners assure high quality research and diffusion of results.
In the previous rounds of data collection, MDRI has conducted panel surveys in 3 provinces of Vietnam, namely Thua Thien Hue, Dak Lak and Ha Tinh. The December seminar is hosted by MDRI and presented by the project’s coordinator, Dr. Hermann Waibel from the University of Hannover, to introduce the third phase as well as to gather comments from the invited audience.
More information could be retrieved via the project’s site at http://www.vulnerability-asia.uni-hannover.de/overview.html
