Structure of an essay

The essay submitted to VNP for admission (800 – 1500 words) should contain the following components: (1) Introduction, (2) Main body, (3) Conclusion, and (4) Bibliography.

The introduction

The introduction should include:

• A statement about the context of the question/issue.
• A brief on your answer to the question, or your opinion/solutions to the issue.
• A summary of your arguments and evidence supporting your answer/solutions.

The introduction should catch reader attention, provide background of the issue, and a brief on the key points of your essay.

The main body

This part of course contains all of your arguments and evidence of your essay, which support the key points of your essay, or your answer/solution to the identified issue.

• List all your main points in a logical order.
• Each point should then be developed in to one paragraph.
• Start each paragraph with the main message, then elaborate and expand it by evidence and arguments.

Conclusions

For this section, you should provide

• A summary of your answer/solution to the identified issue.
• An explanation on its significance to the real world.

Bibliography

List all the sources you used in your essay.

Suggested topics

Firm

1. How to improve the profitability of a small physical or online store in Vietnam?
2. Why is branding important for firms’ competitiveness in the market?
3. Is it possible for firms in Vietnam to conserve the environment and at the same time make more profits?
4. How corruption affect firms’ competitiveness? Discuss for the case of Vietnam.
5. How can a retail firm reach the tech-oriented generation in Vietnam?

Consumer

6. How can the concept of demand elasticity be applied to the decision making of firms?
7. How do e-wallet and mobile payment help the market?
8. How are normal, inferior, necessity, luxury and Giffen goods different from one another? Give an example commodity for each type of these goods.
9. Can social media affect consumer behavior? Explain and give examples in Vietnam.

Worker

10. How the minimum wage affects the efficiency of the labor market? Discuss for the case of Vietnam.
11. What is wage differentiation and what are the causes? Discuss with examples in the labor market of Vietnam.
12. What factors shaping the supply and demand for labor in Vietnam?

Market structures, failures, and other issues

13. Give an example commodity market in Vietnam where you think there is adverse selection.
14. What is asymmetric information and how it affect market efficiency? Give and example in Vietnam.
15. What are transaction costs? Discuss the role of advertising in reducing transaction costs.
16. Discuss the practice of price discrimination in the economy of Vietnam.
17. Give an example of monopolistic or oligopolistic competitive market in Vietnam and discuss how firms in this market differentiate their products.
18. Are there real-word examples of perfect competitive market in Vietnam? Why is it so?
19. Why is insurance necessary for the economy of Vietnam?
20. Choose a commodity or factor of production in Vietnam that you think its market was affected by coronaviruses and discuss the impacts.

Macroeconomic issues

21. Why did the Vietnam’s economic growth slow down in 2020-2021? What are the policy recommendations for a recovery of growth?
22. What service sectors were most affected by the Covid19 pandemic in 2020-2021? And what are the policy suggestions for these service sectors in the “new normal” period?
23. Inflation of Vietnam in 2022 could raise costs to firms and households. What could be the sources of inflation in this case?
24. FDI to Vietnam in the period of 2020-2021 has been well maintained. Do you have any policy suggestions to attract more FDI to Vietnam and at the same time foster the positive spillover effects of FDI to the Vietnam’s economy?
25. Observers showed that banking sector in Vietnam performed relatively well in 2021 amid the Covid19 pandemic. What are your ideas or comments about this point?
26. Public expenditure is important for the recovery of the manufacturing sector from the Covid19 pandemic. Describe the current situation of this government expenditure and share your points of view on how to use public expenditure to facilitate and foster the development of the manufacturing sector.
27. US and China are the two main export markets of Vietnam. However, these two countries have been in economic stagnation. What are your points of view on export policy of Vietnam in the future?
28. Digital transformation, e-commerce, green technology and green products would be the future of the economy. Please pick a specific topic of this trend and write an essay using the Vietnamese context.

Environmental issues

29. What are impacts of climate change on Vietnam’s economy?
30. What should businesses and government do to being carbon neutral?
31. What are the causes of air pollution/water pollution in Vietnam? What policy instruments could be used to address these environmental degradation?
32. Is renewable energy good for Vietnam’s development? Why can’t we rapidly shift from usage of fossil fuel to renewable energy?

Health issues

33. Should we tax sugar-sweetened beverages?
34. What are economic consequences of obesity?
35. What is the importance of health insurance in Vietnam?
36. Is privatization of public hospitals a good policy?

Development issues

37. Is migration good for economic growth and poverty reduction?
38. Do you agree with this statement “As Vietnam gets wealthier, economic inequality also gets worse”? Discuss.
39. Discuss the role of land reform on economic development in Vietnam.
40. Do you think Vietnamese women are paid equally? Discuss Vietnamese gender equality in terms of wage distribution.