Research

In my research, I combine large-scale firm-level data with contextual data on local governments to explore questions at the intersection of economics and politics. These include the economic effects of political cycles and term limits, as well as how firms navigate their interactions with government officials. I also study the subnational natural resource curse and the use of informality as a strategy by small-scale businesses.

Methodologically, I employ a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative causal inference, field experiments, and qualitative fieldwork.

Current Research

Administrative Reform and Governance in Vietnam

I am currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Research Fellow. This fellowship, funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, supports my collaborative project with the Anti-Corruption Research Centre at Dublin City University on the effects of Vietnam’s 2025 administrative reforms.

Journal Articles

Decoding Corruption Cycles: Collusive versus Extractive Corruption
Tuan-Ngoc Phan and Dean Dulay
Political Behavior, forthcoming, 2026.

Do Better Managers Bribe Less? A Field Experiment in Vietnam
Edmund Malesky, Tuan-Ngoc Phan, Daniel Y. Xu, and Robert Fetter
Business & Politics, 2026, 1–30.
DOI

Safety in Numbers: How Transparency Can Backfire in the Fight against Bureaucratic Corruption
Tuan-Ngoc Phan
Governance, 38(4), 2025, e70047.
DOI

Incentives, Audits and Procurement: Evidence from a District-Level Field Experiment in Ghana
Elaine K. Denny, Tuan-Ngoc Phan, Diego Romero, and Erik Wibbels
Governance, 37(3), 2024, 729–750.
DOI

Do Subnational Performance Assessments Lead to Improved Governance? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Vietnam
Edmund Malesky, Tuan-Ngoc Phan, and Anh Quoc Le
Fulbright Review of Economics and Policy, 2(2), 2022, 117–135.
DOI

Social Norms, Organizational Learning and Bribes in Emerging Economies: A Study of Foreign Invested Firms in Vietnam
Binh Thao Vuong, Thang Van Nguyen, and Tuan-Ngoc Phan
Multinational Business Review, 29(2), 2021, 237–261.
DOI

Book Chapter

Rust Removal: Why Vietnam’s Anti-Corruption Efforts Have Failed to Deliver Results and What That Implies for Future Campaigns
Tuan-Ngoc Phan and Edmund Malesky
In Meredith Weiss and Cheng Chen (eds.), The Political Logics of Anticorruption Efforts in Asia, pp. 129–173. SUNY Press, 2019.

Selected Working Papers

Competence and Connections: Promotion Determinants of Vietnamese Provincial Elites
with Hieu Nguyen-Minh
Manuscript under revision.

Ascent or Avarice: How Promotion Incentives Shape Corruption Behavior in Vietnamese Provinces
University of Gothenburg - GLD Working Paper Series.
Honourable Mention, Vietnam Studies Group Graduate Essay Award, 2022.

The Privileged Rush In? How the Informal Economy Serves as an Incubator for Network-Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies
with Markus Taussig
Manuscript under revision.

Rising FDI and Its Impact on Party Membership Attraction in Vietnam
with Mai Truong
Manuscript under revision.

Mining and Misgovernance: The Natural Resource Curse at Vietnamese Provinces
with Uyen Nguyen
Manuscript under revision.