Book Description

This clear and accessible text explores Vietnam's successful transition from neo-Stalinist central planning to a market economy—“Vietnamese style.” After describing the north Vietnamese system prior to 1975 and its colonial and pre-colonial antecedents, the authors uncover the mechanisms of that changeover. They contend that the Vietnamese transition was largely bottom-up in character and that it evolved over a long enough period for the country's political economy to adjust. This explains in part the rapid shift to a high-growth, externally oriented development path in the early 1990s, despite the loss of Soviet aid and the lack of significant Western substitutes until 1992–1993. Based upon extensive in-country experience, a wealth of primary materials, and wide comparative knowledge of development issues, the book challenges many preconceived notions, both about Vietnam and about the general nature of transition processes.