Publication: Vietnam Development Report 2010 : Modern Institutions
Loading...
Published
2009-12-04
ISSN
Date
2012-03-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Institutions are not buildings or organizations, they are the rules by which citizens, firms, and the state interact. The photographs that grace the cover of this Vietnam Development Report (VDR) 2010 epitomize modern institutions. The settings may not appear modern, but the activities they represent are cutting edge, and are transforming Vietnam. Local level planning with the active engagement of citizens. Monitoring of public works by citizens groups. Efficient administrative services with the citizen as the client. Legal advice being provided to citizens. Professional media coverage of important events. These are the roots which feed the growth of a modern, open, and high-performing society. This VDR focuses on devolution and accountability, two aspects of modern institutions that are the essence of Vietnam's experience in the past two decades. At the risk of over-simplifying, this VDR distinguishes between two types of accountability, upward accountability focusing on compliance with rules, dictates, and instructions coming from within the hierarchy, and downward accountability focusing on the results that the person or body is entrusted to deliver. A person or body concerned with upward accountability emphasizes adherence to rules. Those concerned with downward accountability serve their clients. Both forms of accountability are needed. Vietnam's devolution has shown many positive results. Competition among the provinces is driving them to improve their business environments. Eased entry for non-state providers of services and greater autonomy for the management of state facilities are supporting innovation and increasing the variety of services.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2009. Vietnam Development Report 2010 : Modern Institutions. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3175 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Cambodia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-12)Cambodia is one of the world's most open economies, sustaining high levels of growth in an environment of relatively weak governance. Emerging from a legacy of genocide and civil conflict, the country has sought to address human and social capital deficits across sectors, weaknesses in public finance, and corruption. Despite improvements in access to basic services, governance constraints persist and may threaten gains from economic integration. Over the 2004-10 period, the Bank's engagement on Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) issues in Cambodia was not defined by a single, overarching priority or entry point (such as core public sector management, natural resource management, or service delivery). Rather, the Bank was opportunistic, opting to support the government's GAC efforts across multiple sectors and institutions. The relevance of this opportunistic approach is judged to be moderately relevant. The Bank's objectives on public financial management (PFM) were highly relevant given Cambodia's nontransparent and weak public expenditure management and limited capacity. The Bank's response to sectoral governance weaknesses such as red tape, inefficiencies, and other forms of rent-seeking in customs is rated modest given the need for the government to implement its World Trade Organization commitments. The Bank's project level engagement is rated as moderately relevant. As a basis for reinstating suspended projects, portfolio-wide measures included the use of an Independent Procurement Agency (IPA) for the International Development Association (IDA) procurements, and the implementation of Good Governance Frameworks (GGF) for all IDA projects.Publication Asset Recovery Handbook : A Guide for Practitioners(World Bank, 2011-01-18)The handbook is organized into nine chapters, a glossary, and ten appendixes of additional resources. Chapter one provides a general overview of the asset recovery process and legal avenues for recovery, along with practical case examples. Chapter two presents a host of strategic considerations for developing and managing an asset recovery case, including gathering initial sources of facts and information, assembling a team, and establishing a relationship with foreign counterparts for international cooperation. Chapter three introduces the techniques that practitioners may use to trace assets and analyze financial data, as well as to secure reliable and admissible evidence for asset confiscation cases. The provisional measures and planning necessary to secure the assets prior to confiscation are discussed in chapter four; and chapter five introduces some of the management issues that practitioners will need to consider during this phase. Confiscation systems are the focus of chapter six, including a review of the different systems and how they operate and the procedural enhancements that are available in some jurisdictions. On the issue of international cooperation, chapter seven reviews the various methods available, including informal assistance and mutual legal assistance requests; and guides practitioners through the entire process. Finally, chapters eight and nine discuss two additional avenues for asset recovery-respectively, civil proceedings and domestic confiscation proceedings undertaken in foreign jurisdictions.Publication Governance of Securities Regulators : A Framework(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-03)This paper reviews the published work on the governance of regulatory authorities in order to identify the basic governance standards that apply and some of the factors that affect the implementation of good governance. There are four pillars of good regulatory governance: independence, accountability, transparency, and integrity. The regulator should be operationally independent from commercial and political influences in the exercise of its functions and powers. Accountability is the means whereby a regulatory authority is held responsible for the actions it takes. Transparency refers to the publication of relevant information designed to demonstrate consistency and openness. The fourth governance pillar, integrity, refers to the internal processes that the authority adopts to ensure there is discipline and consistency in its operations and to limit the risks of regulatory staff acting in their own self-interest as opposed to that of the authority and the market. These four elements are mutually reinforcing, in that accountability is necessary to provide legitimacy to independence, transparency is necessary to demonstrate that independence does not lead to abuse or improper behavior, and integrity is necessary to provide the discipline to control the exercise of independent powers. Available evidence suggests that independence and accountability are far from being universally applied in practice. The paper concludes with some practical suggestions that experience indicates are likely to enhance the effectiveness of the governance of securities regulators. Good governance of the securities regulator is necessary for effective regulation. It is also of importance in setting an example to encourage good corporate governance in the private sector.Publication Enhanced Transparency in Procurement through Voluntary Disclosure under the RTI Act 2005(Washington, DC, 2009-03)Good practices reduce costs and produce timely results; poor practices lead to waste and delays and are often the cause for allegations of corruption and Government inefficiency. Enhanced transparency in procurement through voluntary disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act (2005)' is one of the individual components of the larger initiative undertaken by Yashwantrao Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA) under the national resource centre for social accountability, and funded by the World Bank institute, New Delhi. Sound public procurement policies and practices are among the essential elements of good governance. The objective of the study is to: study the current procurement process; suggest measures to tackle the discrepancies by developing mechanisms; and enhance social accountability and transparency in the procurement process by focused implementation of right to information as a tool. The project takes into account the four pillar approach towards public procurement which believes that unless all the aspects of the function (i.e. efficiency, economy, fairness and transparency) are taken care of, the overall impact will not be evident. The focus of this project is mainly on social accountability. Obviously the focus of the study is on transparency and how by making the systems more transparent the other aspects of fairness, efficiency and economy can be pushed for reforming the procurement process.Publication Mauritania : Anti-Corruption Study(Washington, DC, 2008-09)This report provides analytic support to the National Anti-corruption Strategy (NACS) formulation, offers lessons from international experience on governance and anti-corruption (GAC) policy, and generally supports the Government and its development partners to better understand the phenomenon of corruption in Mauritania. The report is structured as follows: Chapter 2 focuses on the definition and measurement of corruption and the Mauritanian political economy. Chapter 3 focuses on corruption in public procurement. Chapter 4 concentrates on corruption in the courts of law. Chapter 5 deals with the extractive industries. Chapter 6 focuses on corruption from the perspective of the private sector, based on the results of the recent Investment Climate Assessment (ICA). On the basis of the analysis conducted in this report, the single most important message concerns the need for maintaining momentum and pressing ahead with the finalization of ongoing anti-corruption strategic thinking and legislation, and the implementation of already approved GAC laws and measures. Looking forward, the emphasis should shift from passing laws and rules to concrete implementation of procedures on a broader agenda of greater political accountability. Priority areas include: (1) independence of the media, (2) monitoring procedures (such as a governance diagnostic survey) and (3) the establishment of an effective mechanism through which the voice of citizens and users of public services can be heard.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication The Container Port Performance Index 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-18)The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) measures the time container ships spend in port, making it an important point of reference for stakeholders in the global economy. These stakeholders include port authorities and operators, national governments, supranational organizations, development agencies, and other public and private players in trade and logistics. The index highlights where vessel time in container ports could be improved. Streamlining these processes would benefit all parties involved, including shipping lines, national governments, and consumers. This fourth edition of the CPPI relies on data from 405 container ports with at least 24 container ship port calls in the calendar year 2023. As in earlier editions of the CPPI, the ranking employs two different methodological approaches: an administrative (technical) approach and a statistical approach (using matrix factorization). Combining these two approaches ensures that the overall ranking of container ports reflects actual port performance as closely as possible while also being statistically robust. The CPPI methodology assesses the sequential steps of a container ship port call. ‘Total port hours’ refers to the total time elapsed from the moment a ship arrives at the port until the vessel leaves the berth after completing its cargo operations. The CPPI uses time as an indicator because time is very important to shipping lines, ports, and the entire logistics chain. However, time, as captured by the CPPI, is not the only way to measure port efficiency, so it does not tell the entire story of a port’s performance. Factors that can influence the time vessels spend in ports can be location-specific and under the port’s control (endogenous) or external and beyond the control of the port (exogenous). The CPPI measures time spent in container ports, strictly based on quantitative data only, which do not reveal the underlying factors or root causes of extended port times. A detailed port-specific diagnostic would be required to assess the contribution of underlying factors to the time a vessel spends in port. A very low ranking or a significant change in ranking may warrant special attention, for which the World Bank generally recommends a detailed diagnostic.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.