Working Paper
The Political Economy of Industrial Development in Vietnam

Impact of State-Business Relationship on Industrial Performance, 1986-2012

Vietnam’s industrial development since doi moi is a success, but only a partial one. This paper provides a political economy account of Vietnam’s industrial growth since 1986. It shows that the key determinant of Vietnam’s industrial growth lies in the relationship between the party-state and the private sector. It also shows that the level of distrust and discrimination against the private sector—and therefore the level of industrial growth—depends on the degree of the tradeoff between the political ideology and economic legitimacy, on the internal structure of the state, and on the quality of leadership.