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[Research Contribution] The Role of Human Capital in Enterprise Export Activities: Evidence from the ASEAN Region

6 October, 2025

Keywords: ASEAN, employee training, employee education level, human capital, export

Human capital plays a crucial and indispensable role in enterprise export activities. Research by scholars from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) has provided assessments of the impact of human capital on enterprise export activities, based on an analysis of the effects of employee education levels and employee training on the export activities of ASEAN enterprises.

Human capital plays a crucial and indispensable role in enterprise export activities. High-quality and experienced human resources in the export field can influence the success and sustainable development of enterprises in the international market. Employees with knowledge and skills in procedures, customs processes, relevant laws, and target markets constitute a critical factor in ensuring that export processes proceed smoothly and comply with regulations.

Currently, enterprises all exhibit a trend toward international integration and expansion of their operational scope to increase value as well as profits. It is evident that enterprises in developing regions often tend to promote export activities into major economic markets such as European countries to expand business capabilities. Additionally, ASEAN is one of the regions experiencing strong growth in the economic operating environment, which helps enterprises in the ASEAN region gain more opportunities to promote goods exports to international markets according to the trend of globalization.

The export-import turnover of the ASEAN region reached 1.713 trillion USD in 2021. This is a highly open region with total export-import turnover equal to 99.8% of the region’s GDP in 2021. Most ASEAN countries are developing nations, so export activities contribute an important role in promoting the region’s economic development. Moreover, export activities increasingly play a major role in economic development. This can be explained through the fact that exporting enterprises will learn additional knowledge about technology, products, and production processes from importing countries, and enterprises in the ASEAN region also enhance profits and revenue through access to customers in the international market.

Human capital resources with high knowledge and education levels will also help enterprises improve efficiency in export activities. Therefore, to sustainably develop exports, good human capital resources are essential. Currently, research focuses heavily on the role of human capital in exports using data at the national level. However, there is little research on this role using data at the enterprise level. Especially in the context of ASEAN countries, there is currently no research on this issue. Therefore, the research by authors from UEH will have scientific and practical significance when analyzing these issues.

Research Data

Research data were taken from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys (https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/enterprisesurveys), including a total of 180,000 enterprises across 154 countries. Direct interviews with company owners and senior managers were conducted to collect over 100 indicators on enterprise characteristics and their assessments of the environment in which they operate. Additionally, these statistics are aggregated using methods that are both standardized and consistent throughout the entire process, allowing for comparison between countries.

The research uses data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys in 2015 for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and in 2016 for Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. After removing observations without complete data, the final dataset includes 3,335 observations.

Research Results

The results have indicated that general human capital, specifically high employee education, increases export activities, as they have the ability to acquire new knowledge as well as resolve issues arising from changes in the international market. Countries in the ASEAN region regularly face volatility in the international market. Highly educated employees have the ability to quickly acquire new knowledge and effectively respond to these changes. This is particularly important in the context of developing ASEAN countries that need to adapt to strict requirements from the global market.

Furthermore, general human capital will help employees recognize information, thereby seizing market opportunities more quickly. The ASEAN market is very diverse and developing rapidly. Highly educated employees have better market information recognition capabilities, thereby seizing business opportunities more effectively. This helps ASEAN enterprises maximize export opportunities.

The market will always experience innovation, and enterprises need to grasp trends to meet market demands. General human capital will help ASEAN enterprises establish an appropriate information system to identify new opportunities as well as potential customers to optimally exploit foreign markets. Moreover, highly educated employees will more easily integrate into the international market, as they will have sufficient expertise and skills to respond to changes in each country.

Additionally, employee training has a positive impact on export activities. Training programs will help employees acquire new skills and knowledge to apply in export activities in the international market. In the ASEAN region, where there is fierce competition and demand for enhanced export capacity, employee training is an important strategy to strengthen competitiveness. Furthermore, in reality, the export market is constantly changing, so training programs will give employees the opportunity to acquire new technologies and knowledge to develop and innovate products suitable for each country.

Additionally, improving employee competency through training programs will help employees increase their understanding of international markets, thereby increasing experience in export activities. This is considered an important factor for enterprises to participate in the international market effectively. Through training programs, enterprises will increase human capital resources, thereby creating a competitive advantage in the international market. Specifically, when employees are updated with new knowledge and skills, they will apply them to work to increase efficiency in export operations and exploit new opportunities. This is an important factor for enterprises to participate in the international market effectively, especially in the context of developing ASEAN countries expanding global trade relations.

The international market always experiences certain changes, and enterprises will need training programs to help employees grasp new trends and information to operate optimally in the international market. Additionally, countries around the world constantly update standards and requirements related to quality and production processes and products of enterprises operating in exports. Therefore, enterprises in the ASEAN region must constantly develop training programs to enhance knowledge and related information to promote the effectiveness of export activities in the international market.

Managerial Implications

Research results have proposed important managerial implications to help enterprises increase and develop their export activities. First, employee education levels have a positive role in export activities. Employees are the main implementers of export activities for enterprises, so their competency will impact export activities. Therefore, enterprises should have appropriate recruitment policies and standards to consider the qualifications and experience of employees related to export activities; thereby, ASEAN enterprises will promote export activities to the world market.

Furthermore, employee training activities have an important impact on company export activities. In reality, because export activities continuously change according to the demands and trends of each different country, if employees do not update that knowledge, it will reduce the efficiency and progress of the enterprise’s export implementation. Therefore, enterprises need to invest in human capital resources through employee training programs to improve qualifications, expertise, and new knowledge; thereby, leveraging them to promote export activities more effectively.

This research has shown two main contributions:

First, most research on the role of human capital in export activities has been conducted in developed countries. Additionally, there is not much current research focusing on this topic with data sources at the enterprise level. Research focusing on enterprise data sources to assess the role of human resources in export activities will provide a realistic perspective on activities in the international market. Using enterprise data sources in developing countries will help research assess the effectiveness in theoretical terms of the human capital issue. From there, the research will examine in detail factors related to human resource levels as well as related activities, and contribute further in theoretical terms regarding the role of human capital in export activities at the enterprise level.

Second, the ASEAN region has a high growth rate in export activities and ranks fifth in terms of large economic scale on a global scale. The ASEAN region is one of the dynamic economic regions in the current trend of globalization with abundant human resources. This is not only an important region in exporting to countries with large market economies but also where enterprises achieve rapid growth rates in international activities from agriculture to industry. This will help research assess the impact level of human capital in export activities in developing countries, especially in the ASEAN region. However, there is currently no research on the role of human capital in export activities in the ASEAN region, so this research will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of export activities through improving human capital in the ASEAN region.

View the complete research article: The Role of Human Capital in Enterprise Export Activities: Evidence from the ASEAN Region HERE.

Author Team: Dr. Nguyen Van Dung, Doctoral Candidate M.Sc. Do Huynh Lam Thinh – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City

This article is part of the Research Dissemination and Applied Knowledge Series from UEH with the message “Research Contribution For All”. UEH respectfully invites readers to watch the next UEH Research Insights newsletter.

News, images: Authors, UEH Department of Communications and Partnerships