The Role of Special Economic Zones in Shaping Viet Nam’s Local Business Environment
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Publication Type:
Publisher:
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Publication:
May 2026
Special economic zones in Viet Nam significantly shaped firm growth and local governance from 2006 to 2020.
Viet Nam presents a compelling example of an attractive emerging market for foreign direct investments, having established over 300 special economic zones across various provinces in the past decade, bringing the total to nearly 600.
Using panel data and instrumental-variable estimates, the study finds that greater special economic zones coverage increased employment, revenues, and the number of foreign-invested firms. However, domestic private firms experienced declines in both revenues and firm counts. Special economic zones also worsened provincial economic governance by reducing land access and transparency while raising informal charges.
Contents
- Introduction
- Related Literature
- Data and Descriptives
- Estimation Model
- Empirical Results
- Conclusion
