Asymmetric information among stakeholders and consequences in vocational training for ethnic minority youth in hoa binh province

VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 Asymmetric Information among Stakeholders and Consequences in Vocational Training for Ethnic Minority Youth in Hoa Binh Province Bui Thanh Minh* Abstract: The government supports vocational training in order to improve social security for specific population groups, such as the ethnic minority youth However, there exists information asymmetry among the stakeholders in vocational training, including the ethnic minority youth, local authorities, training institutions, enterprises and state management agencies, leading to adverse selection, moral hazard and principal-agent problem These problems have negatively impacted the effectiveness of vocational training for ethnic minority youth Keywords: Information Asymmetry; Stakeholders; Consequences; Vocational Training; Ethnic Minority Youth Received 19th September 2019; Revised 20th October 2019; Accepted 24th October 2019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33100/jossh5.5.BuiThanhMinh Introduction addition, the jobs that young people undertake also have unsecured working conditions and limitations in added values In developing and emerging countries, the quality of employment is relatively low: 16.7% of young workers‟ income is below the poverty line of 1.9$/day, as most of their work is in the informal sector Even in developed countries, youth unemployment is also a matter of concern and many countries have put in urgent policies to deal with the crisis (Nguyen Van Lich and Hoang Quoc Viet 2012) The National report on Vietnamese youth of UNFPA and Ministry of Home Affairs (2015) showed that in 2018, the number of young people in Viet Nam was 23.3 million, accounting for 24.6% of the population Among the problems that young people have to face with, unemployment needs to be prioritized and addressed By the end of  The youth is among social groups that are vulnerable to socio-economic changes, at national and global levels Youth unemployment is a testament of this vulnerability ILO (2017) has showed that the growth of global unemployment rate is not in the same direction as the economic growth In 2017,the youth unemployment rate saw a slight increase: 13.1% of youth or approximately 70.9 million were unemployed This number was only 10% less than the number of unemployed youth at the peak of the economic crisis in 2009 (76.7 million) It is alarming that the unemployment rate of the youth is three times higher than that of adults in general In  University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University; email: buithanhminh88@gmail.com 616 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 the first quarter of 2018, the rate of unemployed 15-24 was 7.07%, 0.19% lower compared to the fourth quarter of 2017 However, the number of unemployed young workers accounted for 46.2% of the total unemployed Urban areas have an unemployment rate of 41.3%, 58.7% lower than that of rural areas Unemployed youth workers accounted for 22.9%, equivalent to over 180,000 people Among young people, there are certain groups that have less access to job opportunities, thus are more negatively affected by unemployment, including the youth of ethnic minority groups Differences in race, ethnicity, spiritual beliefs, and culture are considered factors contributing to inequalities for ethnic minority group in many countries Unemployment has many long-term negative consequences to the development of youth in particular, and the socioeconomic situation of a country in general Unemployment at a young age causes „scars‟ that affect an individual life, particularly in later stages, such as lower wages, higher risk of unemployment, limited developmental opportunities, and poor health outcome (Dike 2009; Hammarström 1994; Schuring et al 2009) This leads to high social costs due to lower taxes and increased cost for welfare services (McQuaid 2015), which cause a huge waste of national human resources and creates long-term welfare loss (Raheem, 1993; Aiyedogbon and Ohwofasa 2012) Vocational training with relevant practical training components is the key for any country to become technologically and internationally competitive in the global market (Zite, Baridoolenu Ngor and Deebom, Mtormabari Tambari 2017) Having close connection with the labor 617 market and the combination of providing basic skills with specific, specialized occupational skills, education and vocational training are considered an important path to promoting participation and sustainable attachment to the labor market of the people, especially young people (World Bank 2013) In addition, retrain vocational knowledge and skills can help labours to increase their income or in looking for new possition with higher quality of social welfare, leading them more inclusive development in society This effect is further reflected in disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minority youth (Batchuluun et al 2017; Pham Thi Ngoc Toan and Le Thi Luong 2017) Given the positive externalities, Vietnamese government have introduced policies to develop vocational training system and to support ethnic minority youth in vocational training processes Asymmetric information theory and applications in research Vietnamese government pay significant attention as well as financial resources to develop vocational traning system and support people, especially minority ethnic groups in vocational training However, due to the lack of cooperation among stakeholdesr, the result of vocational does not effective as expected Information asymmetry is the leading cause of the ineffective cooperation (National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2019) In reality, vocational training is provided by many stakeholders such as the government, private agencies, and social organizations with different subjects These stakeholders, such as the youth, their 618 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 families, local authorities, vocational training institutions, enterprises, state management agencies access and use information differently, at different levels, thereby leading to adverse selection, moral hazard, and principal – agent problem that negatively affect the quality and effectiveness of vocational training activities for the youth ethnic minority This paper analyzes the gap in grasped information amongst stakeholder as well as the ways they exploited asymmetric information to arrogate interest Information asymmetry is the phenomenon in which one party has more information than the other, thereby gaining greater benefits in transactions It originated from economic theory by George A Akerlof in 1970 when studying the automotive market The information asymmetry was later used in various fields, both theoretically and in application (Auronen 2003) Akerlop said that since car buyers not know about the quality of the car as much as the seller, they will choose the average price A good car cannot be sold at that price, so gradually a low-quality product will push a good one out of the market At the end, only bad car will be traded on the market Information asymmetry is also manifested in the labor market when employers „gamble‟ as they are uncertain about the productivity and contribution of their employees (Rothschild and Stiglitz, 1976) Information asymmetry also occurs in other fields, such as insurance Mai Thi Dung and Le Thi Xuan Huong (2017) on Vietnam's social insurance market also shows that there is an information asymmetry when the social insurance agency lacks information on their clients, and many employees also lack the information about social insurance, which eventually lead to adverse selection, moral hazard and principal – agent problem For example, some enterprises evade the purchase of social insurance for their employees or lower employee‟s salary in official document to pay lower social insurance fee In addition, some employees register social insurance record in different locations so as to recieve social welfare more than one time as required in law Moreover, many insurance agents profiteering both the participants and the social insurance agency Duong Ngan Ha (2014), using the same approach, also pointed out the information asymmetry in Vietnam's stock market, with many enterprises violating information disclosure (112 enterprises in the first 10 months of 2014) and consolidated financial statements for the financial year of 2013 (37 enterprises in April 2014) Information asymmetry also takes place in the field of banking, real estate, and many other production and business sectors To alleviate negative consequences, reducing information asymmetry among the parties is an important solution Akerlop (1970) recommended the use of intermediary organizations with the function of providing information, guarantee and warranty to reduce information asymmetry Michael Spence (1973) proposed a signaling mechanism through qualifications and experience of employees so that employers can recruit suitable people In addition, it is possible to apply a screening mechanism such as commodity classification, competencebased salary to attract qualified employees according to the ideas of Joseph Stiglitz (1975), or strengthen monitoring mechanisms Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 Research methodology and method This research rent both qualitative and quantitative method to examine the research questions 27 in-depth interviews, focused group discussions were conducted, including ethnic minority youth, local authorities, vocational training institutions, enterprises, state managing agencies which specialize in vocational training In addition, 303 questionnaires were delivered to ethnic minority youth in districts in Hoa Binh provinces: Ky Son, Cao Phong, Kim Boi, Lac Son, Lac Thuy representing 10 districts with different ecosocio conditions The collected data was analyzed with SPSS 20 computer software Findings 4.1 The stakeholders in vocational training for ethic minority youth system In terms of policies, Viet Nam closely follows the World Bank's recommended guidelines for vocational training development solutions (2013): Vocational education should be provided in high school and it needs to be modernized with practical application and linked with the practicum facilities The design of vocational training programs should be consulted with employers through a network of employers and training facilities To avoid considering vocational training as the last option, it is necessary to design a training system that is interconnected and easily transited to higher levels of training, including universities Financial supports and tuition reductions should be taken into account to mobilize participation in vocational training 619 For developing countries, vocational training should be brought into the informal section to create more opportunities for people from different social classes to participate and improve the economic efficiency, preserve and develop jobs traditional crafts Vocational training for ethnic minorities youth is regulated under several legal document, which are aligned with the policy orientation of the government towards ethnic minorities, youth and vocational training activities In reality, there are two primary policy systems relating to and vocational training for ethnic minority youth The first system is the Project for “Vocational training for rural labor up to 2020” that was approved in Decision 1956/2009/QĐ-TTg, then later amended and supplemented by Decision 971/2015/QĐTTg The main beneficiary of this project is ethnic minorities with the intention to support up to million VNĐ (approximately $150/primary vocational training course, in addition to food expenses of 15,000 VND/day, travel expenses up to 200,000 VND/day for people that have to travel more than 15 kilometers each day The second system focuses on vocational training programs at training facilities with official diplomas and certificates In this system, ethnic minorities youths are supported under Decision 53/2015/QĐ-TTg regarding the boarding policies for college students in which the support will be applied for the ethnic minorities in poverty and near poverty households; graduates of boarding ethnic minority high schools The scholarship under the policy is 100% of the basic salary (currently is 1.490 million VNĐ/month) and 80% for boarding school graduates Furthermore, there is an allowance for personal items, traveling 620 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 expenses and Tet‟s holiday up to million VND annually The mechanism for grants is through public training facilities or directly to the trainees if they are participating in a non-public facility through Department of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs Decree 86/2015/NĐ-CP also stipulates tuition reduction for ethnic minority students; very few of whom might receive 100% exemption and the remaining will receive the scholarship and social welfare of allowance of 140 thousand VND/month and 160 thousand VND/month respectively, depending on each student at public facility according to Decision 194/2001/QĐ-TTg There are important stakeholders that are engaged in Project 1956, including: rural workers; vocational training institutions; the ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; enterprises and other social organizations Regarding the vocational training at schools, the involved parties consist of the ethnic minority youth, vocational training institutions, and vocational training management agencies, mainly the authority agencies of the ministry of labor, invalids and social affairs The required outcomes of the vocational training activities for ethnic minority youths must be as follows Firstly, the needs of the subject, which is the ethnic minority youths, the demand for labor of the employers, the local socio-economic development strategies, and the planning on new rural area development and sustainable poverty reduction (Article 1, Decision 971/2015/QĐ-TTg), must be met Secondly, the quality of training facilities must be ensured; these facilities need to be eligible to operate vocational education programs; training courses should not be organized when there are no potential employers and expected income level for the trainees However, the information asymmetry has created some issues that make vocational training not as effective and sustainable as anticipated 4.2 Asymmetric information between the stakeholders and its effect There are two vocational training programs which are accessible to the young people: vocational training for all rural workers under Project 1956 to train and retrain vocational knowledge and skills at short term and primary training, and the training program at vocational training facilities at intermediate and college level There are important parties that are engaged in Project 1956, including: rural workers; vocational training institutions; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; the ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; enterprises and other social organizations Regarding the vocational training at schools, the involved parties consist of the ethnic minority youth, vocational training institutions, and vocational training management agencies, mainly the authority agencies of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs It can be seen that the government plays a key role in vocational training in Viet Nam, providing financial resources to not only develop vocational training system but also help people to participate different training levels There has been an asymmetry of information among the stakeholders and it negatively affects on the effectiveness of vocational training through adverse selection, moral hazard and principal – agent problem Firstly, adverse selection can be seen in the behaviors of ethnic minority youth who are the major party in the vocational training program because it is directly relevant to Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 their future In order to help the ethnic minority youth to make reasonable and practical choices relating to their prospective career, they need to be informed about the importance of attending vocational courses, particular training programs and related policies Besides, the information should be accessible, available, consistent and reliable However, according to the survey in Hoa 621 Binh, the percentage of adolescent who knew about the information on vocational training is still relatively low There are no supportive policy which is knew by more than 70% of 303 participants in our research This has led to the favorable policies not coming into effect or being fully accessed by the targeted beneficiaries - the adolescents in the ethnic minority areas Chart 1: The percentage of adolescent who knew the supportive policy from government in vocational training Source: The statistics of author’s survey in Hoa Binh In addition, participants not understand the information on the vocational training programs properly and fully They mainly learn about the information via informal channels such as teachers, relatives, and friends who not fully understand the policy as well as the demand of labor market This leads to impulsive career choices Many students study in vocational school because training course are free, and they can receive financial support for meal and travel Even, some students participate in vocational training because they are invited by their friends These sources of information are very prevailing in rural, remote and mountainous areas "My class teacher said that this vocational training program will be free; and training time will be also quick So I told my parents to let me go to school" – Student 1,17 year – old, female "My friends informed me about this program Because my classmates would take part in, courses would be funny, and there would be no tuition fee, I also ask my parents to let me attend" – Student 2, 17year-old, male It is evident that there is a lack of an independent intermediary mechanism in 622 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 providing both services and information on career counseling, to address the actual needs of vocational trainees for long-term benefits of vocational training program It would be fruitless if the students or participants merely target at exempting tuition fee or attendance for fun This intermediary mechanism will contribute to mitigating asymmetric information and promoting the sustainable effectiveness of the vocational training The vocational training programs mainly focus on secondary school students with policy related to boarding schools (based on Decision 53/2015 / QD-TTg) because the importance of the vocational training is not properly and fully understood Persuading high school students to attend vocational schools or colleges is extremely difficult for training institutions Among 257 students who participated the survey, there were only 16 students earning college degrees (Hoa Binh College of Technology and Technology, 2019) These students graduated in the first graduation wave in the school year of 2019 Such a change has to be monitored to inform future policies that could intervene in the decreasing rate of learners in vocational schools In fact, according to a report of the Ministry of Home Affairs and UNFPA, the rate of college education in the Northern midland and mountainous regions, including Hoa Binh, accounted for 23.4% (2015) “For the past few years, there have been more enrollments in the - year system (learning both high school and vocational training courses), mostly poor households who are exempted from tuition fee and even receive base salary according to the policies related to boarding schools But it is impossible to recruit college learners, I don't know why”- Manager of provincial vocational training institution 1, male The difficulty in recruiting high school students may come from the competition with enterprises who are willing to recruit unskilled workers with relatively high salaries “To me, it is understandable when they are unable to recruit learners Vocational training usually takes time but is does not guarantee a job Young people who are willing to manual work may earn around 5-7 million VND per month If they go to Ha Nam, Bac Ninh province, their income would be higher In the long term, of course, the vocational training would be better because it would be unstable for the unskilled labors in the future, but local people just care about short-term profit first ”- Commune official 1, male Additionally, many students choose the vocational training but not know about supportive policies, which leads to difficulties in attending the vocational schools and miss out the positive impact of the policy “I don't have enough resources to go to school (paying whole sum of tuition) to study it) Besides, I worked for employers, they did not want to teach me much because they are afraid of me quitting the job when I know everything It was challenging, they did not teach me much In the first year, I only knew how to wash hair while my hometown did not train these types of jobs”Student 4, 24 years old, female Although vocational training in Vietnam is a form of short-term training, and it has been shown its important impacts on income and other social aspects (Nguyen Quang Tuyen, Le Van Tham 2014; Pham Thi Toan, Le Thi Luong 2017), the vocational training is, in reality, the last option for the ethnic minority youths, even after manual labor More importantly, the ethnic minority Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 learners who attend the vocational schools, deciding and choosing career are mainly based on reasons like tuition fee exemption or the trend of their peers or relatives rather than relying on the demand of labor market or their appraisal Of the 84,000 trained workers in Hoa Binh from 2013 to June 2018, there were 43,000 workers trained under months and short-term courses (Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs 2018a) Addverse selection is also seen by the activities of the state stakeholders in managing vocational training system The vocational teaching at the training institutions faces difficulties due to the information asymmetry among state management agencies, including the problem of opening new branches In order to ensure the quality of training, and to be granted a license to open a branch, the General Department of Vocational Education requires an institution to ensure the facilities and the quality of lecturers; however, the Department of Home Affairs is in charge of recruitment, the Department of Finance allocates a budget for facilities – both require intricate licenses “When we asked the General Department of vocational training (MOLISA) to open a new licensed vocational training program, they asked about teachers and facilities to ensure the quality of training When coming to the province, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Finance for investment asked a series of complicated legal documents relating to recruitment and operating licenses It is very tiring”Manager of Provincial vocational training institution 1, male As a consequence, the training institutions are confronted with various challenges, especially when opening new 623 classes and meeting social needs This caused a higher transaction costs in developing vocational training programs in reality Enterprises are also another factor in vocational training, as it relates to the use of the labor force of vocational training However, due to some specialized characteristics and lack of trust in the quality of the vocational training, their recruitment is pretty limited “There were few enterprises in my hometown and they were rarely in touch with the vocational training institutions and the state management agencies, partly because of their job demands There is a garment factory cooperating with the state agency, but mainly to train women because they want these workers to be familiar with their manufacturing line as fast as possible, while the training process like my school takes longer time They also not trust the quality of training in the state's educational institutions The machines of these institutions, even if being invested, are not as modern as the enterprises” - District official 1, female Another reason is that the salary for the trained workers must be higher than the untrained, so enterprises are not interested in using the trained workers According to Point b, Clause 1, Article of Decree No 157/2018 / ND-CP regulated the regional minimum wage for employees working under labor contracts: “Laborers who have undergone the vocational training is paid at least 7% higher than the regional minimum wage” This may be the reason why enterprises prefer to recruit unskilled workers because they can gain the training costs and lower the initial salaries when signing contracts with new employees A report of the Department of Labor, Invalids 624 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 and Social Affairs in Hoa Binh in 2018 also stated that “There has not been a link between the vocational training institutions and the enterprises in training coordination, developing curriculum and recruiting student post-graduation” (Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in Hoa Binh Province 2018b) “After graduation, many students have to conceal their vocational training diploma because the enterprises tend to recruit manual employees, which helps them acquire training contracts and save the cost of salary” - Manager of provincial vocational training institution 2, male This is a crucial issue that the state management agencies must pay attention to because if the particular policies related to the enterprises, the vocational training institutions and vocational training curriculum for the ethnic minority youths cannot be changed, and the rural workers would not be encouraged and motivated to attend the programs which will affect the efficiency of the program Secondly, moral hazard as a result of asymmetric information can be seen in the responsibilities and activities of vocational training institutions in Hoa Binh province The main purpose of the schools is to recruit more students for greater benefit from the state's financial support rather than targeting on their future professions and the highquality training courses and career orientation, which adversely affecting the initial goals as well as the benefits of students Furthermore, they are stakeholders which theoretically get much more information than others in supportive policies and vocational training programs They could take advantage of these to seek benefits However, there is also asymmetric information in vocational training institutions because there is no information and coordination mechanism in recruitment and training The district-level vocational education centers in Hoa Binh are invested significantly in facilities with ten billion VND per center but focus on primary training only, which is not cost-effective Each year, the centers receive the budget allocation from the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to arrange vocational training classes under Project 1956 for non-agricultural jobs Regarding agriculture job, it is under the management of the Agriculture and Rural Development sector; some localities designated teaching centers but some others assigned agriculture extension centers or community learning centers There are also programs that work together with vocational schools in the province to train labor force locally The vocational training is ineffective and there are many negative effects partly because of the failure to get proper information, and especially the slow process of budget transfer “Every year, after the need of assessment, we would send the report to the district Then if there is an allocation of budget, we will see how much is available to open a class Last year there were more than 100 million VND to organize classes This year, the budget was 508 million, and we tried to open more classes The last June we receive money Under the pressure of class opening and budgeting, we hardly move forward” – Manager of district vocational training institution 4, male As a result, they tried to focus on disbursement of allocated budget from government instead of training qualified vocational programs Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 There is little coordination among 39 vocational training institutions in Hoa Binh and even the competition in enrollment which leads to negative issues and waste of social resources “After the Decision 53/2015 / QD-TTg on the policies related to boarding schools, we can recruit the plus-9-year system, meaning after years, the learners would earn diplomas Students who are eligible for benefit from the vocational training policy would take part in our school, but the problem is that colleges like us are not allowed to teach the universal subjects like at high school It is truly difficult for us to collaborate with the district vocational schools to teach the universal subjects No matter how effective their work is, they still get the same salary, so there is no incentive to boost the process of policy implementation We proposed to open the department of general education in colleges to teach the universal subjects, but policy and procedure are complicated”- Manager of Provincial vocational institution 1, female Paradoxically, while the provincial colleges are confronting difficulties in recruitment for vocational classes in the two-year and three-year programs, the authority agencies still let the central colleges open many classes in Hoa Binh There have been even violations in opening training classes in these institutions According to the investigation of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in 2018, there were violations of the education law at the Northwest Mechanical and Electrical College Particularly, it illegally trained 2179 students at 14 offcampus locations without accreditation and license (Hoang Long 2018) “There were some colleges opening classes here but most learners were 625 commune officials who wanted to be eligible to apply to the civil service exams later In the class of information technology, they arranged for - 10 computers, then officials take these computers away They just wanted to know how to turn on – off the computer, type and open texts Graduates then have an IT certificate to put on their resume” – Commune official 3, female “In fact, it is difficult to collaborate with others I just ask them for data to collect and report They sometimes not have the information and then they ask me again It is necessary to have a mutual management mechanism to be able to improve the efficiency”- District official 1, female This is also pointed out by Oxfam's 2014 study, which reveals that there is no coordination mechanism and no general rules for allocating budget and management decentralization leading to challenges in planning and implementing the vocational training policies for rural workers (Oxfam 2014) Lastly, principal agent problem happened in the process of implementing their state managing responsibilities of local authorities and department of Labor, War Invalid and Social affairs at district and provincial level Local authorities are an important stakeholder in vocational training in rural, remote and mountainous areas According to the criteria of the National Targeted Program on New Rural Development under Decision 1980/QD-TTg in 2016 in order for the Northern midland and mountainous communes to meet the new rural criteria, the percentage of trained workers must reach at least 25% It is not only to mention the effects of vocational training on the youth but also to contribute to the overall development or the area In reality, however, 626 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 the local government does not fully acknowledge the needs of vocational training, the supportive policy and the quality of vocational training programs In terms of the vocational training for rural workers under Project 1956, the local governments are only responsible for assessment people's needs, reporting to the Division of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Vocational Education Center of the District If there is any course being opened, they would inform the locals “If there are documents or announcement letters from colleges and vocational training schools, mainly from Hanoi, I would send them to the youths and their families Few people go to school To survey the training needs for rural workers, I would ask the village heads to inform their villagers, and then send the results to me Sometimes if having a contact, I would get in touch with the district officials to see if there are suitable classes, I will ask them to open for the locals”- Commune officials 2, male The reality shows that, although vocational training for young people is related to local socio-economic development, the local authorities not know the information or the needs of the parties Therefore, they passively assist the need assessment as part of their administrative tasks, without practical initiative and actual solutions This has led to a lack of effort in promoting vocational training, and left this for vocational training institutions, and the divisions of labor and agriculture and rural development Regarding Department of Labor, Invalid War and Social affairs, they are responsible for state management so as to ensure the quality of vocational training However, they mainly focused on the task of disbursing the allocated budget from central government It is demonstrated that although many violations of law have occurred such as illegal vocational training, lack of teachers or facilities in Hoa Binh‟s vocational training activities, they were not detected This problem has created a favorable environment to help vocational training institution exploit supportive policy from government As a result, the quality of vocational training for ethnic minority youth was ineffective and unsustainable In conclusion, the participation of many stakeholders in the management and vocational training activities will bring a diverse services for the ethnic minority youth to access education However, it also creates decentralization, institutional fragmentation, adverse selection, moral hazard and principal–agent problems as the negative effects of the information asymmetry Therefore, limiting information asymmetry is an important solution to improve the effectiveness of the vocational training for the ethnic minority youths Discussion Overall, it can be seen that there are some solutions that can be applied in the vocational training for the ethnic minority adolescents to reduce information asymmetry These include intermediary mechanism as an independent vocational body in schools or communities; Classifying, evaluating and ranking the training institutions can be applied, coupled with assigning the specific number of learners and the particular trained fields collaborated with the enterprises; categorizing the ethnic minority youth groups with different needs to provide proper assistance; monitoring as well as Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 strengthening the training quality of the training institutions, checking the outcome of training or proposing solutions to encourage enterprises in recruiting employees, along with strict sanctions With this comprehensive collaboration, the vocational training for the ethnic minority young would be more effective References Aiyedogbon, John O and Bright O Ohwofasa 2012 “Poverty and youth Unemployment in Nigeria, 1987-2011” International Journal of Business and Social Science 3(20): 269-279 Auronen, L 2003 Asymmetric Information: Theory and Applications Helsinki University of Technology Chu Thanh Van 2018 The young population is decreasing year by year VNA / Vietnamplus Retrieved June 23, 2019 (https://www.vietnamplus.vn/dan-so-thanhnien-viet-nam-dang-co-xu-huong-giam-dantung-nam/544267.vnp) Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Hoa Binh Province - Hoa Binh Dolisa 2018a The preliminary report on 5-year implementation of Resolution No 29-NQ / TW (Session XI) of November 4, 2013 on "Basic and comprehensive renovation of education and training, meeting the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the conditions of socialist-oriented market economy” Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Hoa Binh Province – Hoa Binh DOLISA 2018b The report on Vocational Training and Job Creation (the Report sent to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hoa Binh Province Dike, Victor 2009 “Addressing youth unemployment and poverty in Nigeria: A call for action, not rhetoric” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 11(3): 129-147 627 Duong Ngan Ha 2014 “The information asymmetry theory - Situation on Vietnam's stock market” Vietnam Securities Review 193: 15-18 Hammarström, Anne 1994 “Health consequences of youth unemployment - review from a gender perspective” Social Science & Medicine 38(5): 699-709 Hoa Binh College of Technology and Technology 2019 “The Graduation Ceremony of College and the Vocational Secondary School the first time in 2019” Retrieved September 6, 2019 (http://kythuatcongnghehb.edu.vn/index.php/14 -bai-vit-trang-ch/419-lb-gi-ngand the exchange-of-capital-of-high-capital-of-thebests-cpdt-1-year-2019) Hoang Long 2018 “The Northwest Mechanical and Electrical College illegally trains 2,179 students” Retrieved September 7, 2019 (http://thanhtra.com.vn/phap-luat/dieu-tra-quadon-thu/cao-dang-co-dien-tay-bac-dao-tao-traiphep-2179-hoc-sinh_t114c39n137052) ILO 2017 Report: “Global employment trends for youth 2017: Paths to a better working future” Mai Thi Dung and Le Thi Xuan Huong 2017 “The theory of information asymmetry in the field of social insurance” The Financial magazine Retrieved September 6, 2019 (http://tapchitaichinh.vn/nghien-cuu-traodoi/nghien-cuu-dieu-tra/ly-thuyet-bat-doixung-thong-tin-in-linh-vuc-bao-hiem-xa- hoi118174.html) McQuaid, Ronald 2015 Multiple scarring effects of youth unemployment The Skills Development Scotland Co Ltd Skills Development Scotland 10.13140/ RG.2.1.1300.4964 Ministry of Home Affairs and UNFPA 2015 The national report on Vietnamese youth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2005 The youth Law No 53/2005/ QH11 National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2013 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 628 Bui Thanh Minh / VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 5, No (2019) 616-628 National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 2019 Evaluating report on three years of implementing eco-socio supportive policy for ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the period of 2016-2018 Nguyen Quang Tuyen and Le Van Tham 2014 “Evaluating the effectiveness of vocational training for rural workers in Tam Binh district, Vinh Long province” Science Journal of Can Tho University 34: 34-35 Nguyen Van Lich and Hoang Quoc Viet 2012 “Unemployment picture of the world's youth” Journal of Economic Research 415: 56-60 Oxfam 2017 The Report on "Improving the efficiency of vocational training for rural workers towards poverty reduction in ethnic minority areas Pham Thi Toan and Le Thi Luong 2017 “Analyzing the impact of vocational training on employment opportunities for young people in rural Vietnam” Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Retrieved September 6, 2019 (http://ilssa.org.vn/en/news/phan-tich-anhhuong-cua-dao-tao-nghe-den-co-hoi-viec-lamcho-thanh-nien-nong-thon- viet-nam-150) Phung Duc Tung et al 2017 Overview of the socio-economic situation of 53 ethnic minorities - Sub-project report on poverty reduction PRPP (the Ethnic Committee) Raheem, M I 1993 "Nigeria for Africa: A Case for Labor Export", in Applied Economics and Economic Policy - In Honor of Emmanuel C Edozien, edited by Oyejide, T A and M I Obadan Ibadan: Ibadan University Press Rothschild, Michael and Joseph Stiglitz 1976 “Equilibrium in Competitive Insurance Markets: An Essay on the Economics of Imperfect Information” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 90(4): 629-649 Schuring, Merel et al 2009 “Ethnic differences in unemployment and ill health International archives of occupational and Environmental health” Springer Open Choice 82(8): 10231030 Vietnam Program at Harvard 2008 Choosing success: Lessons from East Asia and Southeast Asia for the future of Vietnam MA: Harvard University  ... government have introduced policies to develop vocational training system and to support ethnic minority youth in vocational training processes Asymmetric information theory and applications in research... and other social organizations Regarding the vocational training at schools, the involved parties consist of the ethnic minority youth, vocational training institutions, and vocational training. .. there is also asymmetric information in vocational training institutions because there is no information and coordination mechanism in recruitment and training The district-level vocational education