The persisting legacies of imperial elites among contemporary top‐ranking <scp>Vietnamese</scp> politicians

Abstract Our study investigates how the legacies of Vietnamese imperial elites continue to affect top‐ranking politicians in Vietnam. The study compares a list of people who passed the imperial examination (1075–1919) at the national level with a list of currently active top‐ranking politicians in Vietnam (1930–2022) by matching their home districts. Using an instrumental variable approach, we find that those living in the same home districts as imperial elites are more likely to be top‐ranking communists. Possible mechanisms for these strong and persistent legacies based on home district connections include a historical culture of striving to reach the upper echelons of Vietnamese society, a belief in meritocracy, and using graduate degrees to signal one's talent.