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Economic and non-economic returns to communist party membership in Vietnam

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  • Markussen, Thomas
  • Ngo, Quang-Thanh

Abstract

Single-party political systems exist in a number of countries, such as China and Vietnam. In these countries, party membership is potentially an important source of economic and social status. This paper investigates these effects and the mechanisms behind them. In particular, we use household- and individual level panel data to analyze the causes and consequences of Communist Party membership in rural areas of Vietnam. Fixed effects models are employed to control for unobserved differences between party members and others. Results suggest that party membership has a moderate, positive effect on income, on the order of 7 percent, and a large, positive effect on subjective well-being, even after controlling for income. Party membership is closely associated with working for the government but also appears to increase the propensity to use credit and to boost income from farm- and non-farm enterprises. There are strong gender effects: Men are several times more likely to be party members than women are, and the effects of membership on income and subjective well-being are only present among men. Overall, results confirm that in spite of pro-market, economic reforms, Communist Party membership continues to be of high value in rural Vietnam.

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  • Markussen, Thomas & Ngo, Quang-Thanh, 2019. "Economic and non-economic returns to communist party membership in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 98384, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:98384
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    Cited by:

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    2. Phan, Van-Phuc, 2023. "Is the internet penetration pro-poor? Evidence from a panel data analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8).
    3. Trinh, Trong-Anh & Feeny, Simon & Posso, Alberto, 2022. "Political connections and post-disaster assistance in rural Vietnam," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Futaba Ishizuka, 2020. "Political Elite in Contemporary Vietnam: The Origin and Evolution of the Dominant Stratum," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 58(4), pages 276-300, December.
    5. Emi Kojin, 2020. "Diversifying Factors of Income Inequality in the Rural Mekong Delta: Evidence of Commune‐Level Heterogeneity," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 58(4), pages 360-391, December.
    6. Ngo, Thanh Quang & Luu, Khai Duc & Nguyen, Danh Ngọc & Bui, Thanh Xuan & Van, Sang Nguyen & Nguyen, Ky Tran, 2022. "Effects of Land Quality on Land Use: Farm-level Panel-data Evidence from Viet Nam," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 14(4), December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Communist Party membership; income; credit; subjective well-being; Vietnam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

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