Introducing the socialist market economy

This introductory chapter outlines developments in China, Vietnam and Laos over the recent decades and places these cases in the literature on development as well as in the contemporary world economy. It discusses the socialist market economy in relation to theories on the developmental state and other forms of state-led developmentalism, as well as in relation to regional economic integration and production networks. This includes discussing the three countries’ positions in the theory of the ‘flying geese’, as well as their overall strategies and policies towards both protectionism and integration. The chapter outlines overall development trends in the socialist market economies and their performance on economic and social indicators, and discusses to what extent they are ‘development success stories’. The chapter ends by outlining how the respective chapters in the book contribute to address the overarching issues in our analysis.