Entrepreneurs as Agents of Change: Entrepreneurship in Vietnam's Small Cities and Towns

Abstract

This thesis explores the strategies which entrepreneurs in Vietnam¿s small cities and towns have used to secure their economic success since the start of Doi Moi in the late 1980s, in a context where the private sector still experiences many institutional constraints imposed by the state. While past studies tend focus on analyzing institutional conditions, there has been a lack of attention to the agency of entrepreneurs in accounting for their own success and their contribution to institutional changes in Vietnam. I argue that, firstly, through negotiating with institutional rules, private entrepreneurs maneuver to access resources within the limitations imposed by the state. Secondly, through their innovations in the marketplace, private entrepreneurs contribute to the making of market institutions in Vietnam. Thirdly, as private entrepreneurs expand and diversify their businesses, they become increasingly important as actors in the national economy, which contributes to legitimizing the role of entrepreneurship in Vietnam.