[STBI-16-02-2017] The Sage is Dead, Long Live the Sage! Confucianism and Economic Development in Vietnam.

Ho Hoang Anh

University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh city

11:00 am, Thursday, 16-02-2017

Hall H.001, UEH School of Economics

1A Hoang Dieu Street. Phu Nhuan District. HCM city

Abstract:

From the eleventh to eighteenth centuries, ancient states of Vietnam had gradually expanded its territory from the Red to Mekong River plains and established its Confucian bureaucracy accordingly. Using historical archives and survey data, I find that areas being governed by the Confucian bureaucracy longer, nowadays have lower expenditure per capita on average. The size effect is substantial and robust to various control variables as well as different empirical specifications including an instrumental variable estimation. It is, however, reduced to some extent from the 1990s to 2000s, indicating a catch-up process among the more Confucian areas. Important mechanisms behind this finding are also analyzed. In overall, the experience within Vietnam seems to match the history of comparative development between the East Asian economies and their Western counterparts.

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