Major: Development Economics                                           Code: 62 31 01 05

Ph.D. Candidate: Nguyen Huy Luong

Supervisor: Associate Professor Bui Tat Thang

Training institution: Vietnam Institution for Development Strategies

1. New theoretical contributions

a) The study has introduced three new concepts:

- A modern industry province/country is the province/country that has used labor with technology, advanced and modern methods for production activities, businesses, services and socio-economic managements; reasonable structure of GRDP/GDP and labor; high productivity of its labor force; progressive and equal society; ecological environment protected; and the citizens with good life, freedom, and happiness.

- Level of industrialization and modernization of a province/country is the achievements, which the province/country has gained during a certain period of time, compared to the standards of a modern industrial country/province, at which the province/country aims, in terms of economic, social and environmental aspects.

- Improving level of industrialization and modernization of a province/country includes activities and processes that boost the province/country's ranking, which reflects the level of industrialization and modernization, after a certain period of time (usually for a year).

b) The dissertation has proposed criteria of a modern industry province, including 12 indicators as following:

- Four economic indicators: 1) GRDP per capita (USD calculated by using exchange rate) ≥ 5,000 USD; (2) Percentage of value-added agriculture (VANN) < 20%; (3) Percentage of urban population > 40%; (4) Percentage of the new rural communes > 50%.

- Four social indicators: 5) Percentage of agricultural labor < 40%; (6) Human Development Index (pervious method of HDI) 0.82; (7) Percentage of qualified workers >60%; (8) Poverty rate < 5%; and (9) Number of doctors per 10,000 inhabitants > 10.

- Three environmental indicators: (10) 100% forest area of land area; 100% urban population using safe water; 100% rural population using hygienic water.

c) The study has worked out two methods to evaluate the level of industrialization and modernization of a province.

- Direct method (one step): scores for measuring the level of industrialization and modernization are directly generalized from individual indicators, which are calculated by using three-stage weighted values.

- Indirect method (two steps): scores for measuring the level of industrialization and modernization of a province are generalized by two steps from three components: economy, society and environment. (1) Scores are calculated from individual indicators (economy, society and environment). (2) Generalized scores, which show the level of industrialization and modernization of a province, are calculated thereafter.

2. New findings and proposals

a) The study ranked the level of industrialization and modernization of Phu Tho province in 2015. The score for Phu Tho was 59.87/100 and ranked the fourth of 14 provinces in Northwest and Northeast of Vietnam.

b) The study proposed six ideas and three solution groups that include 17 measures to improve the level of industrialization and modernization in Phu Tho province by 2030.

3. Applicability and further research

a) Applicability: the criteria used to evaluate level of industrialization and modernization of a province proposed in the dissertation is able to apply to one province every year.

b) Issues for further study: Applicability of the study results at district or national level annually is needed.

November 20th, 2017