This paper examines wage differentials among medium-large (20 or more employees) whollyforeign
multinational enterprises (WFs), joint-venture multinationals (JVs), state-owned
enterprises (SOEs), and domestic private firms in Vietnamese manufacturing. The analysis
focuses on 2009 because it is possible to examine wage differentials after accounting for the
influences of two measures of worker quality, educational background and occupation.
Simple comparisons in large samples of 11 industries combined indicate that averages wages
in JVs were about 92 percent higher than in private firms in 2009, SOEs and WFs paid 57 and
54 percent more than private firms, respectively. Corresponding, conditional differentials that
control for the influences of worker education and occupation, as well as capital intensity, size,
and shares of female workers, were substantially smaller, but positive and significant in large
samples. Wage levels and differentials varied substantially among industries. Conditional
differentials remained positive and significant for WFs and JFs in most of the 11 industries
examined, but estimates of SOE-private differentials were insignificant in most industries.
Robustness checks using 2007 data could not account for worker occupation, but revealed
results similar to those for 2009.