Although Vietnam has achieved exceptionally rapid growth of exports, “vent-for-surplus” production of agricultural commodities and labour-intensive manufactures has yet to stimulate the development of large-scale, technologically progressive firms. Foreign-invested and small domestic...

Social protection programmes have expanded rapidly in the developing world in recent years. In Southeast Asia, the experience of the Asian Financial Crisis of the 1990s heightened awareness of vulnerability to poverty and the role of government in protecting households from a sudden loss of...