Formality and investments: Evidence of Vietnamese SMEs

Abstract

Business formality is considered a key driver in the development of the private sector in developing countries, which can contribute to enhancing the capacity and competitiveness of firms. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of formality on investments of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Different from previous work, we apply a two-stage method with random-effects Probit and Tobit regressions to control for endogeneity surrounding formality and investments. Results show that formality measured by having a tax code fosters all types of investments. However, formality proxied by having a full set of business registration documents decreases total and fixed investments but increases non-fixed investments. Our findings suggest that relaxing complex procedures, enhancing the knowledge of the owner, and improving the ease of doing business play a crucial role in the formalization of Vietnamese SMEs.