The Socialist Market Economy in Asia: Development in China, Vietnam and Laos

This book is intended for policy-makers, academics and students of development studies, area studies, political economy, geography and political science. Three of the best global performers in terms of economic growth are authoritarian states led by communist parties. The ‘socialist market economy’ model employed in China, Vietnam and Laos performs better than the economic systems in countries at a similar level of income per capita on a wide range of development indicators, yet market reforms and governance failures have led to highly unequal societies and significant environmental problems. This book presents the first comparative study of development in these three countries. Written by country experts and scholars of development studies, it explores the ongoing quest for market versus state within their model, and the coherence of their development. Chapter 5 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

About the Author

Arve Hansen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo. He has a decade of experience working on development in Vietnam.

Jo Inge Bekkevold is a Senior Adviser at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. He was previously a career diplomat, with postings to China and Vietnam.

Kristen Nordhaug is a Professor of Development Studies at Oslo Metropolitan University. His work focuses on political and economic development in East and Southeast Asia.