Essays in Development Economics

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education Essays in Development Economics 2025 Trang Thanh Tran CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education Trang Thanh Tran Essays in Development Economics Dissertation Prague 2025 Dissertation Committee: Andreas Menzel (University of Padova, Chair) i Abstract This dissertation investigates how individuals in developing countries adjust to policy reforms and social shocks, with a focus on labor market outcomes and subjective well-being. Using case studies from Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan, I examine both regulation changes and sudden disruptions, highlighting the dynamics between institutional design, labor market structure, and individual resilience. In the first chapter, I study Vietnam's 2008 introduction of differentiated minimum wages, documenting short-term declines in formal employment but long-term increases in total employment driven by informal sector growth. In the second chapter, I analyze the 2012 unification of minimum wages for domestic and foreign firms, showing that the reform boosts foreign firm employment growth and has positive spillover effects for domestic firms in dis- tricts with higher intensity of foreign direct investment. The third chapter,...