David Hausman (2009) Persistence of patronage through civil service reform

'True pay reform would threaten the interests of those who distributed and earned large allowances, project funding, or bribes; the government had not attempted it. The salary increases of the past decade had, like Vietnam’s other reforms, attempted to satisfy domestic and international pressure for reform without placing patronage networks at risk... [M]ost of the measures offered ample opportunities to continue old practices from within the framework of new policies.'

David Hausman (2009) Policy Leaps and Implementation Obstacles: Civil Service Reform in Vietnam, 1998-2009 Link