Industrial relations in Asian socialist-transition economies: China, Vietnam and Laos

Abstract

This article compares developments in industrial relations in three Asian socialist-transition countries: China, Vietnam and Laos. Previous comparative studies of China and Vietnam have identified major commonalities between these two labour regimes both before and after the economic reforms undertaken since the 1980s. Some studies have also identified key differences between the two, to the extent that it is said that the two labour regimes are ‘on the road to divergence’. Others have suggested that the reform paths undertaken by China and Vietnam are fundamentally similar. This article argues that Laos shares many of the similarities of China and Vietnam, but that to the extent that China and Vietnam are taking different paths Laos is tending to follow the more conservative Chinese path with some unique characteristics of its own.