Diffusion, transmutation, and regulatory regime in socialist market economies: telecoms reform in China and Vietnam

Marketization and state restructuring are proceeding apace in China and Vietnam. China and Vietnam are not, however, converging upon the global regulatory model, even allowing for customary national variations. Rather, they are building up distinctive forms of regulatory regimes aiming to maintain t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pacific review 2011-09, Vol.24 (4), p.375-395
Main Authors: Yeo, Yukyung, Painter, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authoritarianism
China
China (People's Republic)
Economic control
Economic reform
Economic structure
Incentives
institutional transmutation
Market Economy
Marketization
Peoples Republic of China
policy diffusion
Reform
Regulation
regulatory regime
Socialism
Socialist economies
State
Technology transfer
Telecommunications
Telecommunications industry
telecoms reform
Vietnam
World Economy
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Summary:Marketization and state restructuring are proceeding apace in China and Vietnam. China and Vietnam are not, however, converging upon the global regulatory model, even allowing for customary national variations. Rather, they are building up distinctive forms of regulatory regimes aiming to maintain the party-state's control over key state sectors, while at the same time integrating with the global economy and conforming to international norms and standards. This study argues that the regulatory model being adopted in Vietnam and China is the product of a specific kind of transition from a command to a market economy within an authoritarian political regime. While diffusion theories are of use in identifying external driving forces for the reform effort, these theories are of limited value for unveiling the dynamics of local contexts. Indigenous incentives, opportunity structures, and the experimental nature of public policy explain why, despite their exposure to global reform movements and commitment to multilateral institutions, China and Vietnam are likely to end up not with just a variety of the same regulatory regime, but a different one. The case of telecommunications regulation is used to illustrate this.
ISSN:0951-2748
1470-1332
DOI:10.1080/09512748.2010.546871