Rent seeking continues to be a topic of much discussion and debate within political economy. This new study challenges many previous assumptions and sets out a new analysis of the dynamics and workings of rent and rent seeking, using the case of Vietnam. The book argues that not only has there been an incomplete understanding of the Vietnamese political economy of the last two decades, but also that neoclassical tools do not adequately address many of the issues that are endangering Vietnam's growth. Underlining the need to re-examine how economic actors and the state collaborate through formal and informal institutions, this study fills a gap in the scholarship of the political economy of rent and rent seeking and on the way in which rents might be used for developmental purposes.