Local Autonomy in Education Finance in a Mixed Economy: The Case of Vietnam

Vietnam’s government has long recognized the importance of education with its commitment to spending at least 20% of its budget, central and local, on education. No study has, however, examined how public spending is allocated in K-12 education in Vietnam. This study seeks to fill this gap in the literature. We examine provinces’ legal documents specifying how general-purpose funds are allocated to schools within their jurisdiction. We find substantial variation in the provincial allocation of resources between salary and nonsalary purposes, among schools of different grade levels, for socioeconomically disadvantaged and gifted students, and for students with disabilities.