Strategic Dynamics and Behavioral Drivers of ESG Manipulation in Vietnamese Firms

Successful applicants will join as Master’s students / PhD students /  -Research Assistants at the Smart Green Transformation Center (GREEN-X), College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), VinUniversity.

Project Information 

This research reveals the mechanisms and motivations behind how and why companies exaggerate or withhold sustainability (ESG) information, a critical challenge in Vietnam’s green-transition era. 

As Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards become pivotal for investment flows, the phenomenon of “greenwashing” creates significant market distortions. This project applies Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyze thousands of ESG reports and market datasets to identify behavioral patterns of information manipulation. By providing new indicators for assessing transparency, the research helps regulators design more effective disclosure requirements and anti-greenwashing policies tailored to the Vietnamese context. 

VinUniversity’s Smart Green Transformation Center (GREEN-X) is a research and innovation hub dedicated to smart green transformation, integrating data-driven technologies and sustainability management. 

The project team includes: Assoc. Prof. Phan Thi Thuc Anh (Principal Investigator), Dr. Pham Thu Thuy (Co-PI) and colleagues at GREEN-X. 

Research Objectives 

Building upon these foundational pillars, the core objectives of the project are: 

(i) To develop an AI-enabled measurement framework: Constructing NLP and machine learning models to quantify ESG information manipulation through firm-level indices (GWI, GHI, ESG-MI), capturing discrepancies between disclosures and underlying performance. 

(ii) To analyze behavioral and institutional drivers: Investigating how executive incentives, ownership structures, and regulatory pressures shape firms’ ESG disclosure strategies. 

(iii) To assess consequences and inform policy: Examining market and perceptual impacts of ESG manipulation and developing data-driven policy tools and an open ESG transparency dataset to support regulators and investors. 

Project Contact 

For further information, please contact Assoc. Prof. Phan Thi Thuc Anh via email: [email protected] 

Graduate Admissions Contact 

• VinUni Graduate Admissions
•  0978 549 846
• [email protected]

Apply now: https://apply.vinuni.edu.vn/graduate/s/login/ 

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