Economic Reform and Performance: A Comparative Study of China and Vietnam

摘要

Since the launch of economic reforms in China in 1978 and Vietnam in 1986, both countries have made impressive achievements. However,rnthe two countries have experienced a notable divergence in growth,rneven though the context and characteristics of their reforms were broadlyrnsimilar. This paper documents three principal findings: (1) China andrnVietnam were similar in their initial conditions and approaches to reform and economic management; (2) the growth divergence betweenrnthe two countries is substantial not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, and the growth gap widened during good times, whenrnboth the countries enjoyed accelerated growth; and (3) the growthrndivergence between China and Vietnam can be explained mainly byrnconsiderable disparity in government effectiveness rather than by arnsignificant gap in the quality of institutions or human capital.