Vietnam in the global economy: development through integration or middle-income trap?

A number of experts warn that Vietnam is in danger of falling into the middle-income trap or may already be affected by it.

The aim of this publication is to analyse the specific way in which Vietnam has been integrating into the global economy and what kind of production structure has been created as a result.

A main conclusion arises that theoretical considerations and empirical analyses support a hypothesis by which an unregulated integration in the world market is not beneficial for Vietnam in the long run and could furthermore lead to Vietnam becoming stuck in the middle-income trap.