Abstract
This article reflects on the findings presented in this issue and its implications for policy. The paper emphasises a number of challenges that researchers face, including technical and practical concerns, but also a difficult political environment and a changing donor landscape. A number of research gaps are considered, most notably furthering our understanding of grand corruption, and several approaches are recommended to study these gaps. Lastly, the article reflects on how research can affect anti-corruption policy in Vietnam.
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Notes
GDP growth is expected to rise from 5.4 % in 2013 to 5.6 % in 2014, according to the World Bank [2]
Government plans to ‘equitise’ (i.e., ‘privatise’) all SOEs by the end of 2015 looks unlikely, particularly as investors still fear Vietnam is ridden with bad debts in both SOEs and banking sectors.
The government’s response to these challenges is contained within the Socio-Economic Development Strategy, 2011–2020, among other official documents.
Prevalence refers to how frequent corruption is perceived to be, measured by the number of respondents that deem common for firms in a same line of business to make irregular additional unofficial payments.
Burden refers to the impact of corruption on a firm’s income, measured by the percentage of income firms estimate goes to making unofficial payments to public officials
Predictability relates to the outcome of the corrupt transaction, specifically, whether firms that make unofficial payments see transactions occurring as they wish.
This principal-agent definition posits that corruption is a sub-optimal outcome that results from interactions between an agent (often in government, also considered to be on the ‘demand’ side), and a principal (a member of the public, such as firms or citizens, often on the ‘supply’ side).
Decision 97 issued by the Prime Minister in 2009 prohibits researchers from commenting on policies from the Communist Party. The authorities swiftly shut down the first independent think tank –The Institute of Development Studies – only two years after it was set-up, although a different view suggests that the IDS willingly disbanded in protest of Decision 97.
Interviews tend to end with a small reward (financial or in-kind) as a token of appreciation. This, however, is not peculiar to Vietnam.
As discussed in Tromme [16]in reference to Datta and Pham [17], researchers from public institutes or ministries work on an agenda that is directly in line with the organisation’s interests and prerogative. There is little independence and scope for deviation. There is less ‘direct’ control over what independent or donor-funded researchers do, although Government is not obliged to take up any recommendation that is generated as part of this process.
There have been some notable attempts to address capacity gaps, for example, the donor-funded POSCIS programme, although this deals more specifically with building capacity to detect and deal with corruption cases, to prevent corruption, and to handle complaints and denunciation.
This requirement has been reiterated by the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) and State authorities in official documentation
At the time of writing (end of 2014), a new call for papers on anti-corruption was published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam.
Johnston calls this the ‘data and benchmarking’ approach [26].
One issue with Social Network Analyses is that the nodes or connections run the risk of being considered mere correlations. Another is that data needs to be available or produced.
The top-down approach is concerned with how the intentions of policy-makers are implemented at the grassroots level, and is based on the premise that there is will to tackle corruption. The bottom-up view, on the other hand, is based on the assumption that local decision-makers face many hurdles (See [29])
Sweden was a ‘historical’ diplomatic partner for Vietnam, going back to the Vietnam War. Sweden was perceived to be a trusted partner by Government, and a natural partner to work on this agenda. However, Sweden has since discontinued bi-lateral aid to Vietnam.
Although, with the exit of the UK Department for International Development from Vietnam, the ‘lead donor’ role will now be dissolved, and anti-corruption initiatives will be integrated within other existing high-level policy forums.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Dr. Bertram Spector, Ms. Do Thi Thanh Huyen (UNDP), and Prof. Edmund Malesky (Duke) for sharing their thoughts and comments on this subject. Responsibility for the ideas in this essay lies exclusively with the author.
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Tromme, M. What next for anti-corruption research in Vietnam?. Crime Law Soc Change 65, 445–458 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9607-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9607-9