IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v38y2010i11p1603-1615.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Formal and Informal Institutions in a Transition Economy: The Case of Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Steer, Liesbet
  • Sen, Kunal

Abstract

Summary We examine the role of informal and formal institutions behind the growth of private sector in Vietnam since the official recognition of private enterprises in the early 1990s. We show that firms have increasingly taken on risks in their transactions in spite of weak formal institutions. Risk-taking by firms can be explained by the use of informal institutions such as relational contracts and networks along with recourse to emerging formal institutions such as written contracts. Our results suggest that informal institutions remain important as mechanisms of risk management even as the economy matures and new formal institutions gradually develop.

Suggested Citation

  • Steer, Liesbet & Sen, Kunal, 2010. "Formal and Informal Institutions in a Transition Economy: The Case of Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1603-1615, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:11:p:1603-1615
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(10)00052-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 1999. "Interfirm Relationships and Informal Credit in Vietnam," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1285-1320.
    2. Lyons, Bruce R, 1994. "Contracts and Specific Investment: An Empirical Test of Transaction Cost Theory," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 257-278, Summer.
    3. Daniel Kaufmann & Aart Kraay, 2002. "Growth without Governance," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2002), pages 169-230, August.
    4. Dani Rodrik, 2007. "Introductiion to One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth," Introductory Chapters, in: One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth, Princeton University Press.
    5. Hendley, Kathryn & Murrell, Peter, 2003. "Which mechanisms support the fulfillment of sales agreements?: Asking decision-makers in firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 49-54, January.
    6. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    7. Klein, Benjamin & Leffler, Keith B, 1981. "The Role of Market Forces in Assuring Contractual Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(4), pages 615-641, August.
    8. Stoyan Tenev & Amanda Carlier & Omar Chaudry & Quynh-Trang Nguyen, 2003. "Informality and the Playing Field in Vietnam's Business Sector," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15084, December.
    9. Avinash Dixit, 2009. "Governance Institutions and Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 5-24, March.
    10. Simon Johnson & John McMillan, 2002. "Courts and Relational Contracts," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 221-277, April.
    11. Woodruff, Christopher, 1998. "Contract enforcement and trade liberalization in Mexico's footwear industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 979-991, June.
    12. Telser, L G, 1980. "A Theory of Self-enforcing Agreements," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 27-44, January.
    13. Bruce R. Lyons, 1994. "Contracts and Specific Investment: An Empirical Test of Transaction Cost Theory," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 257-278, June.
    14. Steer, Liesbet & Taussig, Markus, 2002. "A little engine that could: domestic private companies and Vietnam?s pressing need for wage employment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2873, The World Bank.
    15. William M. Dugger, 1996. "The Mechanisms of Governance," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 1212-1216, December.
    16. Henrik Hansen & John Rand & Finn Tarp, 2009. "Enterprise Growth and Survival in Vietnam: Does Government Support Matter?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 1048-1069, August.
    17. McMillan, John & Woodruff, Christopher, 1999. "Dispute Prevention without Courts in Vietnam," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 637-658, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Sekkat, Khalid, 2015. "The formal and informal institutional framework of capital accumulation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 754-771.
    2. Qiu, Tongwei & Zhang, Danru & Choy, S.T. Boris & Luo, Biliang, 2021. "The interaction between informal and formal institutions: A case study of private land property rights in rural China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 578-591.
    3. Nguyen, Thi Tuyet Mai, 2017. "An examination of independent directors in Vietnam," OSF Preprints ay6dv, Center for Open Science.
    4. Berulava, George, 2013. "Do Trust-Based Relations Improve Firm’s Performance? Evidence from Transition Economies," MPRA Paper 48430, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Jing Wang & Kai Zhao & Yue Cui & Hui Cao, 2022. "Formal and Informal Institutions in Farmers’ Withdrawal from Rural Homesteads in China: Heterogeneity Analysis Based on the Village Location," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Mike, Károly & Kiss, Gábor, 2017. "Hitelesek-e a vállalkozások ígéretei Magyarországon? [Do Hungarian entrepreneurs make credible promises?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1285-1315.
    7. Svatopluk Kapounek, 2017. "The Impact of Institutional Quality on Bank Lending Activity: Evidence from Bayesian Model Averaging," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 67(5), pages 372-395, October.
    8. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Khalid Sekkat, 2013. "The Formal and Informal Framework of Foreign Direct Investment," Working Papers 810, Economic Research Forum, revised Dec 2013.
    9. Ihli, Hanna Julia & Chiputwa, Brian & Musshoff, Oliver, 2016. "Do Changing Probabilities or Payoffs in Lottery-Choice Experiments Affect Risk Preference Outcomes? Evidence from Rural Uganda," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 41(2), May.
    10. Michael Danquah & Kunal Sen, 2022. "Informal institutions, transaction risk, and firm productivity in Myanmar," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1721-1737, March.
    11. von der Leyen Victoria, 2019. "Religion als Anreiz für Kooperation," Journal for Markets and Ethics, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 35-49, June.
    12. Ritchie, Holly A., 2016. "Unwrapping Institutional Change in Fragile Settings: Women Entrepreneurs Driving Institutional Pathways in Afghanistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 39-53.
    13. Nguyen, Bach, 2021. "Local institutions, external finance and investment decisions of small businesses in Vietnam," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(3).
    14. Dang, Quyen Thao & Jasovska, Pavlina & Rammal, Hussain Gulzar, 2020. "International business-government relations: The risk management strategies of MNEs in emerging economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    15. Zhongfeng Su, 2021. "The co-evolution of institutions and entrepreneurship," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 1327-1350, December.
    16. Yu Ri KIM & TODO Yasuyuki, 2019. "Are Politically Connected Firms More Likely to Export?," Discussion papers 19049, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Liu Yang & Anthony Rezitis & Yang Ren, 2022. "How Significant Are the Roles Moral Obligation and Formal Institutions Play in Participatory Irrigation Management?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beckmann, Volker & Boger, Silke, 2004. "Courts and contract enforcement in transition agriculture: theory and evidence from Poland," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 251-263, December.
    2. Pyle, William, 2006. "Resolutions, recoveries and relationships: The evolution of payment disputes in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 317-337, June.
    3. Beckmann, Volker & Boger, Silke, 2003. "Courts And Contract Enforcement In Agricultural Transition - Theory And Evidence From Poland," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22213, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Guo, Hongdong & Jolly, Robert W., 2008. "Contractual arrangements and enforcement in transition agriculture: Theory and evidence from China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 570-575, December.
    5. López-Bayón, Susana & González-Díaz, Manuel, 2010. "Indefinite contract duration: Evidence from electronics subcontracting," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 145-159, June.
    6. Haucap, Justus, 2017. "The rule of law and the emergence of market exchange: A new institutional economic perspective," DICE Discussion Papers 276, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    7. James M. Malcomson, 2012. "Relational Incentive Contracts [The Handbook of Organizational Economics]," Introductory Chapters,, Princeton University Press.
    8. Tran, Thi Bich & Grafton, R. Quentin & Kompas, Tom, 2009. "Institutions matter: The case of Vietnam," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-12, January.
    9. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "The Central Role of Entrepreneurs in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 153-170, Summer.
    10. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry, 2005. "Industrial Clusters in Developing Countries: A Survey of the Literature," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 15-34, Jul-Dec.
    11. Simon Johnson & John McMillan, 2002. "Courts and Relational Contracts," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 221-277, April.
    12. Francis,David C. & Karalashvili,Nona & Murrell,Peter, 2022. "Transactional Governance Structures : New Cross-Country Data and an Application tothe Effect of Uncertainty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10118, The World Bank.
    13. Susan Rose-Ackerman, "undated". "Trust, Honesty, and Corruption: Reflection on the State-Building Process," Yale Law School John M. Olin Center for Studies in Law, Economics, and Public Policy Working Paper Series yale_lepp-1013, Yale Law School John M. Olin Center for Studies in Law, Economics, and Public Policy.
    14. Kang, Min-Ping & Mahoney, Joseph T. & Tan, Danchi, 2007. "Why Firms Make Unilateral Investments Specific to Other Firms: The Case of OEM Suppliers," Working Papers 07-0110, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    15. W. Bentley MacLeod, 2006. "Reputations, Relationships and the Enforcement of Incomplete Contracts," CESifo Working Paper Series 1730, CESifo.
    16. William Pyle, 2006. "Collective action and post-communist enterprise: The economic logic of Russia's business associations," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(4), pages 491-521.
    17. Shingo Ishiguro, 2011. "Relationships and Growth," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 11-31-Rev, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics, revised May 2013.
    18. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Sekkat, Khalid, 2015. "The formal and informal institutional framework of capital accumulation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 754-771.
    19. Andrabi, Tahir & Ghatak, Maitreesh & Khwaja, Asim Ijaz, 2006. "Subcontractors for tractors: Theory and evidence on flexible specialization, supplier selection, and contracting," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 273-302, April.
    20. Haggard, Stephan & Noland, Marcus, 2016. "Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea," MPRA Paper 105812, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:11:p:1603-1615. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.