TTLV: Social capital and livelihoods of immigrants in Vinh city, Nghe An (case study of Ben Thuy ward and Truong Thi ward, Vinh city, Nghe An).

INFORMATION ABOUT DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name of the researcher:Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy     

2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: July 2, 1986

4. Place of birth: Nghe An

5. Decision on recognition of PhD student No. 1381/QD-SDH dated December 26, 2012 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in training process: No

7. Thesis topic name:Social capital and livelihoods of immigrants in Vinh city, Nghe An (case study of Ben Thuy ward and Truong Thi ward, Vinh city, Nghe An).

8. Major: Sociology Code: 62.31.30.01

9. Scientific instructor: 1.Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Ba Thinh,2.Assoc.Prof.Dr. Hoang Thu Huong

10. Summary of new results of the thesis:

In the purchase of livelihood assets, the role of social capital is most prominent in borrowing. The components of social capital are as follows:social network, trust,give and takehas been effectively used by immigrants to borrow money from people within and outside their social networks. Here, social capital has contributed to its conversion into financial capital. Among the components of social capital, the role oftrustwhen individuals undertake activities to raise capital.

The impact of social capital in converting into human capital is notable in terms of occupational experience. In the process of making a living in Vinh city, occupational experience will be the foundation to help immigrants effectively implement livelihood activities. For immigrants, due to many reasons, they face many barriers in accessing good experiences. Therefore, they need the help of relatives and acquaintances to be taught, instructed, and imparted knowledge and experience, thereby applying them to their careers, creating conditions for successful livelihoods.

Among the discussed occupational activities, job searching can be said to be the most important activity. Job searching is the first activity of migrant workers when arriving in Vinh city. Migrant workers cannot avoid competing with other workers, especially local residents. And many immigrants have relied on the support of relatives, especially family members and relatives to find suitable jobs. Or thanks to the advice and assistance of relatives, immigrants can carry out business activities.

Besides, when analyzing we see that social capital has an impact.negativeThese negative impacts mainly come from the elementsocial trust. If immigrants put their trust in the “misplaced” use of social capital to create benefits, they will not achieve the desired results, and even suffer serious consequences.

One point to note in the process of studying the role of social capital in the process of building and developing the livelihoods of immigrants is the role of the primary group. Immigrants need a lot of help from family members, relatives, close friends, etc. Meanwhile, the role of the secondary group is not high. The support of the state, socio-political organizations, local authorities, etc. for immigrants is not clear, almost only stopping at temporary residence registration policies, household registration, land procedures, etc. Support in other aspects of the livelihood process, especially in social relationships for immigrants, is almost non-existent.

Immigrants play a major role in the socio-economic development of urban areas in general and Vinh city in particular, but so far, their contributions have not been fully recognized. In fact, local authorities have not recognized the countless contributions of immigrants in labor production, creative fields, economic life, cultural environment, etc. Meanwhile, they still face many difficulties in making a living in urban areas. Many of them are very vulnerable and need special attention from authorities.

11. Practical application

The Vietnamese labor market is forming and developing, so the emergence of waves of immigrant labor is very normal. This study shows that: immigrant labor must be treated fairly because of their great contributions to the economic development of the country.

First of all, many immigrants want to borrow capital to develop their livelihoods. However, in reality, borrowing capital from banks and credit institutions today requires a lot of procedures and paperwork, especially the need to have collateral. Meanwhile, not all immigrants can fully meet these conditions. Therefore, local authorities and functional agencies need to support immigrants in accessing loans in various forms such as unsecured loans, low-interest loans, extended repayment periods, etc. to create conditions for immigrants to be able to borrow capital for production and business activities, contributing to the socio-economic development of urban areas.

Next, although the number of migrant workers coming to Vinh city is not small, their professional qualifications and skills are not high. This reduces their contribution to the city. Therefore, when the local government determines the inevitability of immigration, realizes that immigration is a natural phenomenon, in line with the law of development, the government needs to pay attention to training policies, improving the professional qualifications and skills of migrant workers. Only then can we take advantage of the current migrant workforce in Vinh city.

One issue that the thesis also considers is the problem of finding jobs for migrant workers. They face many difficulties in finding jobs in urban areas. And if they do not have relatives to introduce or help them, in many cases they will have to accept temporary, unstable jobs with low income. This will cause consequences if prolonged. Therefore, local authorities need to have a policy of introducing jobs suitable to the capacity and professional qualifications of migrant workers. This will take advantage of the abundant labor force as well as minimize the consequences of not having, lacking jobs or working in the wrong field.

Finally, as discussed above, the role of secondary groups, or more specifically, mass organizations, in supporting migrants in their livelihood activities in urban areas is not yet clear. Therefore, the authorities should pay attention and direct these organizations to provide practical assistance to migrants in all aspects of life. Furthermore, it is necessary to recognize that immigration is inevitable and to respect and protect the rights and values ​​of migrant workers. From there, migrants can contribute their efforts to build the socio-economic foundation of urban areas in particular and the country in general.

12. Further research directions:

- Expand investigation and survey on a large scale in other wards and communes of Vinh city, Nghe An province.

- Learn more about other dimensions of social capital: social values, social norms.

- Comparative study of the differences in the impact of social capital on indigenous populations and on immigrant populations.

13. Published works related to the thesis:

1. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2014), "Initial survey of employment of immigrants in Vinh city, Nghe An",Proceedings of the Scientific Conference on Research, Compilation and Teaching of History, Culture and Society, Social Sciences Publishing House, pp. 335-338.

2. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Social capital and occupational capacity of immigrants”,Journal of Human Resources and Social Sciences(2), pp. 20-31.

3. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Social capital and livelihood assets of immigrants”, Journal of Theoretical Education(231), pp. 49 – 51.

4. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Access to medical services/health care of immigrants in Vinh city”,Social security and social work,Hong Duc Publishing House, Hanoi, pp.276 – 287.

5. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “The role of social capital in the occupational activities of immigrants”,Journal of Theoretical Activities(6), pp. 49-54.

6. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Social capital in the process of finding and changing jobs of young migrant workers in Vinh city”,Social capital in youth human resource development from different approaches,Hanoi National University Publishing House, Hanoi, pp.155 – 171.

7. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Immigrants' Livelihoods from the Perspective of Social Capital Theory”,Proceedings of the 2015 Young Scientists Conference: Interdisciplinary Research in Social Sciences and Humanities – Theoretical and Practical Approaches, Hanoi National University Publishing House, Hanoi.

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name: Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: July, 2^nd, 1986 4. Place of birth: Nghe An

5. Admission decision number: 1381/QD-SDH Dated December 26, 2012 of the Principal of Social Sciences and Humanities University, Hanoi National University.

6. Changes in academic process: None

7. Official thesis title: Social capital livelihoods of immigrants in Vinh City, Nghe An (case studies Ben Thuy Ward and Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City, Nghe An).

8. Major: Sociology Code: 62.31.30.01

9. Supervisors: 1. Assoc. Prof. Hoang Ba Thinh,2. Assoc. Prof. Hoang Thu Huong

10. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

In the purchasing the livelihood assets, social assets play the most prominent role in the capital loans. The elements of social capital such as Social Networks, trust, the reciprocity have been used effectively by the immigrants for the people in and out of their social networks to loan the capital. In there, social capital has contributed converted into financial capital. Among these elements of social capital, the role of faith when individuals carry out activities to raise funds is the most remarkable.

What the effect of social capital when converting into human capital remarkable is the aspect of professional experience. In the livelihood process in Vinh city, professional experience is the basis which helps the immigrants effectively deploy subsistence activities. For the immigrants, because of many reasons, they meet quite a lot of obstacles when accessing to useful experiences. Therefore, they need the help of the acquaintances to be taugh, inspired, conveyed knowledge and experiences, from that applying to their profession, enabling successful livelihood.

Of all professional activities discussed, maybe that job seeking is the most important one. Job seeking is the first task of migrant workers when coming to Vinh city. The migrant workers can not avoid the competition with other labors, especially the native labors. And a lot of immigrants have asked the help of acquaintances, especially the family members and relatives to find an appropriate job. Or asking for suggestions, assistance from acquaintances to do their business activities.

Besides that, when analyzing, we see that social capital has the negative impacts. These impacts mostly stem from the social trust factor. When using social capital to make benefit, If the immigrants place their faith in the wrong place, they will not achieve the desired result, even suffer severe consequences.

One point to take a note in the process of understanding the role of social capital for the livelihood construction and development of the immigrants is the role of the primary group. The immigrants need the help of the family members, the relatives, close friends,... But the role of the secondary group is not high. The support of the gorvement, political - social organizations, the assistance of the local government ... for the immigrants is unclear, barely stopping at the temporary residence registration policy, household registration, land procedures, ... But support for other aspects of the livelihood process, especially in social relationships is not yet.

The immigrants play an important role for the social - economic development of urban city in general and social - economic development of urban city in general and Vinh city in particular. But until now, their contributions have not been fully recognized. The fact is that the local government did not realize numerous contributions in labor and production, creative sector, economic life, culture, ... of the immigrants. Meanwhile, they still face up with many difficulties in urban livelihoods. Many of them are very vulnerable and need special attention of the authorities.

11. Practical applicability, if any:

Vietnam labor market is forming and developing, so the appearance of waves of migrant workers is very normal. This study indicates that migrant workers must be treated fairly because of their great contribution to the economic development of the country.

Firstly, there are many immigrants want to borrow money to develop livelihood. However, the actual loans in the banking and credit institutions need a lot of procedures, paperwork, especially the collateral. Meanwhile, the immigrants are not always able to meet the full range of conditions. Therefore, the local government, the authorities should have the support for the immigrants in the access to credit by various forms, such as unsecured loans, low-interest loans, extended repayment period, ... to facilitate the immigrants for loaning, servicing the production, business, contribute to economic - social development of urban area.

Secondly, although the number of migrant workers in Vinh city is not small, but their qualifications and skills are not high. It reduces their contributions to the urban area. So when local authorities would determine the inevitability of immigration, aware of that immigration is the natural phenomenon, appropriate with the law of development, the government should pay attention to training policies, improve the qualifications and skills of the migrant workers. Therefore, and they can take advantage of immigrant labor force in Vinh City.

One problem that the thesis also considers is finding jobs for the migrant workers. They face many difficulties in finding employment in the cities. And if they do not have introduction and help of the acquaintances, in many cases, they will have to accept temporary jobs, unstable and low income. This, if prolonged, will cause implications. Therefore, local government needs to have the employment introduction policies, consistent with competence, professional qualifications of migrant workers. This will take advantage of the abundant labor resources as well as minimize the consequences of not having, underemployment, or working incorrectly with forte.

Finally, as we have discussed, in the process of supporting the immigrants for their livelihood activities in urban areas, we have not seen the role of the secondary group, or the unions for more clearly. So, should the authorities take care of and direct to make those organizations have the practical assistance for immigrants in all aspects of life. Moreover, it should be clear that immigration is inevitable and we must respect and protect the rights and value of migrant workers. From there, the immigrants can contribute their efforts to develop the economy - society of the urban area in particular and the country in general.

12. Further research directions, if any:

- Extend the investigation, survey on a large scale, in the other ward and commune of Vinh city, Nghe An province.

- Find out other different dimensions of social capital: social values, social norms.

- The study compares the difference of the impact of social capital for the native group and for the immigrant groups.

13. Thesis-related publications:

1. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2014), “Preliminary survey of immigrant employment in Vinh City, Nghe An”,Proceedings of Workshop on Scientific research, compiling and teaching history, culture, society, Science and Society Publisher, pp. 335-338.

2. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Social capital and professional capacity of immigrants”,Human Resources of Social and Sciences Magazine(2), pp. 20-31.

3. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Social capital and livelihood assets of immigrants”,Educational Theory Magazine(231), pp. 49-51.

4. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Access to health services/health care of immigrants in Vinh city”,Social security and social services, Hong Duc Publisher, Hanoi, pp. 276 - 287.

5. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “The role of social capital for the professional activities of immigrants”,Theoretical Activities Magazine(6), pp. 49-54.

6. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “Social Capital in the process of finding and changing employment of young migrant workers in Vinh city”,Social capital in young human resource development from different approaches, Hanoi National University Publisher, Hanoi, pp. 155-171.

7. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2015), “The livelihoods of immigrants from the Perspective of Social Capital Theory”,Proceedings of the Conference on Young Science 2015: Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities - approximate from the perspective of theory and practice, Hanoi National University Publisher, Hanoi.