The private small-scale manufacturing sector has emerged as a key actor in the development of the Vietnamese economy since the launch of market-oriented reforms, but little is known about the nature and dynamics of this sector during this crucial period. Drawing upon a survey made in 1991 of some 1000 non-state manufacturing enterprises, a repeat survey in 1997 of some 400 of the same enterprises and a parallel survey in the same year of a further 500 enterprises not previously surveyed, this book addresses the lack of hard data on these developments. The result is an in-depth analysis of the development and transformation of the private manufacturing sector in Vietnam during the first decade of "doi moi". The study describes the considerable consolidation seen in this sector during the 1990s in terms of size, capital intensity and labour productivity, and in this regard it notes that this process has been accompanied by a sharp reduction in regional differences.
This transformation has taken place through two parallel processes: firstly, through the appearance of new enterprises that are fundamentally different from previously established enterprises and, secondly, through a growth and transformation of the existing enterprises. Following a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of the enterprises in 1997, these two processes are analyzed in detail, whilst the past part of the book is devoted to separate analysis of the "losers" and the "winners".