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Autonomy of Public Service Delivery Units in Vietnam: an Institutional Perspective

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AUTONOMY OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY UNITS IN VIETNAM: AN INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE BY VO THI HAI MINH A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2018 ABSTRACT Intrigued by the burgeoning commercialisation of public services in Vietnam, this research seeks to understand the nature of autonomy that public service delivery units have been given as part of the greater effort of the Government of Vietnam to separate business and service provision from state management. In addressing this objective, the research bases its analysis on historical institutionalism and sociological institutionalism that illuminate insights into institutional factors shaping the autonomy policies and the implementation of the policies in practice. The main data sources the research draws on are legal documents, government reports and in-depth interviews with managers and staff of public service delivery units. The research findings illustrate that autonomy is very limited in many aspects of management because the autonomy reforms are largely influenced by the socialist- oriented market path dependence. Amidst the exhaustion of resources and legitimacy due to the regime’s flawed economic structure and inherent problems of cronyism and corruption, autonomy is utilized primarily as a strategic instrument to mobilize resources indispensable for the socialist survival. This policy direction creates incentives for the various forms of rent-seeking and corrupt behaviour among public service delivery units, occasioning the rapid and aggressive commercialization of public services. While the root of these problems lies in the intent of the policies, these problems are further nurtured by historical and cultural factors, and seriously compounded by the absence of an effective regulatory and accountability system and the lack of political commitment to fight corruption from the top leaders. The research addresses the gap in the academic literature by offering an illuminating insight into the nature of autonomy of a country context and demonstrating the merit of converging historical institutionalism and sociological institutionalism for the study of public policies. The research’s significant contribution to policy-making is that it highlights the need to build institutions to fit in well with the reform ideas, especially when such ideas are borrowed or transferred from advanced countries with well- developed institutional foundations. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my primary supervisor, Associate Professor Karl Lofgren, for the continuous support of my PhD thesis. His guidance, especially his theoretical and methodological consciousness, helped me a great deal in all the time of my research and writing of this thesis. I also would like to render my warmest thanks to my second supervisor, Dr. Wonhyuk Cho, for the valuable advice on my thesis as well as on the academic career I have been aiming for. I am wholeheartedly grateful to Rob Laking for the generous, kind, and unconditional assistance that I could not ask for more from a lecturer of my Master’s study. His thoughtful advice and feedback on every bit of my thesis helped improve it greatly. My sincere thanks also go to my former second supervisor, Associate Professor Bill Ryan, for his consistent support and encouragement during the significant time of my research journey. I wish to acknowledge my appreciation to Professor Bob Gregory for his helpful comments on my research proposal that guides me throughout my research journey. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the academic and administrative staff of the School of Government for the kind support that I have received for the past years. I am deeply indebted to the New Zealand - ASEAN Scholarship for enabling me to achieve my academic dream. I am thankful for the support and sharing from my research fellows during the whole journey. I should like to express my grateful thanks to my Vietnamese colleagues who have enabled me to conduct the field trip for this research. I am truly grateful to my research’s participants who have provided me with meaningful perspectives. I wish to thank my husband for his love, caring, and wholehearted support. I love to thank my children for coming to me and filling my life with joy and happiness. You are my endless source of inspiration. Finally, this thesis is for you, my Vietnamese fellows. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... XI LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... XIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................... XV INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 RESEARCH MOTIVATIONS .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................. 7 1.3 THESIS STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................... 7 AUTONOMY CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES: A LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 KEY CONCEPTS ........................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.1 Delegation as part of the New Public Management reforms ............................ 11 2.1.2 Agency and agencification ............................................................................... 14 2.1.3 Autonomy and control ...................................................................................... 18 2.1.4 Regulation ........................................................................................................ 21 2.1.5 Accountability .................................................................................................. 22 2.2 EXPERIENCES OF AGENCIFICATION ACROSS COUNTRIES .......................................................... 25 2.2.1 Agencification in developed countries ............................................................. 25 2.2.2 Agencification in developing and transitional countries .................................. 28 2.3 AUTONOMISATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY UNITS IN VIETNAM ..................................... 32 2.3.1 How has Vietnam’s decentralisation been characterised? ............................... 32 2.3.2 How is the autonomy of PSDUs in Vietnam featured by existing studies? ..... 35 PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY UNITS IN VIETNAM ................................... 45 3.1 PUBLIC SERVICES AND PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY UNITS ........................................................ 45 3.1.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 45 3.1.2 Autonomisation of public service delivery units .............................................. 48 3.1.3 Accountability in public services ..................................................................... 52 3.2 OVERVIEW OF HEALTH CARE AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN VIETNAM ....................................... 65 3.2.1 Health care ....................................................................................................... 65 3.2.2 Higher education .............................................................................................. 71 NEO-INSTITUTIONALISM: A FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF AUTONOMY ................................................................................................................................. 77 4.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................... 77 4.2 INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES .................................................................................................. 80 4.2.1 Rational choice institutionalism ....................................................................... 81 4.2.2 Historical institutionalism ................................................................................ 82 4.2.3 Sociological institutionalism ............................................................................ 83 4.3 CHOICE OF INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES FOR THE STUDY OF AUTONOMY ............................... 84 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 93 5.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY ........................................................................................................... 93 vii 5.2 A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 93 5.2.1 Document analysis ............................................................................................ 94 5.2.2 Semi-structured interview ................................................................................. 94 5.2.3 Sampling ........................................................................................................... 95 5.2.4 Interview process .............................................................................................. 99 5.3 DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................
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