The Evolution of Economics and Law in Vietnam

Abstract This paper presents an overview of the development of law and economics in Vietnam. In this respect, we divide the history of law and economics studies in Vietnam using the following milestones: i) the pre 1986 comprehensive economic reform; ii) post 1986 comprehensive economic reform to the early 2000s, iii) the period of more economic opening in the 2000s to the 2020s, and iv) the recent 2020s period onward. This paper employs a qualitative, historical-analytical method to explore the development of economics and law in Vietnam. For each period, we analyzed the institutional and regulatory changes, the impacts of global economic trends, and the role of legal reform in shaping Vietnam’s development trajectory. We discuss two critical drivers of change in economics and law, both professional and academic sides, which are globalization and technological development. We also discuss some challenges that future Vietnamese law and economics studies face.