The long term impact of Vietnam war's veteran on economic governance

Abstract

I investigate the effects of Vietnam War’s veteran on long run economic development in Vietnam. Using a unique dataset containing the number of war invalids at province levels, I find the number of war invalids from each province to be an important determinant of its current economic performance. To correct for potential biases arising from reverse causality, measurement error and unobservable province characteristics, I use an instrumental variable approach exploiting distance to the 17th parallel demilitarized zone. I also find that the importance of the war invalids for contemporary development is a result of its impacts on overall provincial economic governance and other disaggregated economic institutions, such as the pro-activity of provincial leadership, the quality of the legal institutions and services supporting business development.War invalids, economic governance, economic development, Vietnam