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.