STATE AND VIRTUE IN ECONOMIC-GROWTH - THE CASE OF VIETNAM

The article asks three questions: 1) What has been the role of the sta te in Vietnam's economic growth since 1986? 2) Will the state in its c urrent form contribute to or impede continued economic growth? 3) Can we draw some general conclusions from the Vietnamese case about concep tual approaches to the role of the state in economic growth? The answe r to the first question is that the state has played a significant rol e by allowing entrepreneurial initiatives from below ('fence-breaking' ), attracting foreign investments, and instituting successful macro-ec onomic control mechanisms. The answer to the second question is that t he state in its current form, with its combination of a market economy and a privileged state sector, provides for marketisation of the stat e itself, i.e., rampant corruption. This will probably impede European and American investments and will also undermine the virtue of the Vi etnamese state-and-society, but if sufficient investments are obtained from well-connected Asian sources, and there is enough competition be tween companies within the state, it is possible that growth can conti nue anyway at a rapid pace. The answers suggested to the third questio n are that in order to understand the role of the state, we must 'unpa ck it', look at various state institutions; stop assuming a clear divi ding line between 'state' and 'society' or 'state' and 'market'; and t hat we must pay close attention to how the state is operating as a com petitive actor in the global market-place.