Title: THE ECONOMICS OF HANDMADE VERSUS MASS PRODUCTION IN VIETNAM
Authors:
Chi Mai Khanh and Van Quan Nguyen*
Abstract:
This study examines how actors in Vietnam’s craft sectors experience and interpret the economics of handmade versus mass production. Drawing on a subjectivist ontology and interpretivist epistemology, the study adopts an inductive multiple-case design across three craft sectors: ceramics in Bat Trang, silk and textiles in Van Phuc, and wood furniture in Dong Ky. Data are generated through semi-structured interviews with approximately 18 artisans, workshop owners, workers and intermediaries, complemented by observation and documentary evidence. Using a Gioia-informed analytical approach, the study identifies four aggregate dimensions: lived calculations of labour, time and cost; price as negotiated value; mechanisation as selective adaptation; and uneven value distribution. The findings indicate that producers do not evaluate handmade and machine-based production through productivity or labour costs alone. Instead, production decisions are shaped by household labour, demand conditions, investment risk, perceived craftsmanship, market channels and bargaining relationships. Hybrid production emerges as an important configuration through which producers selectively combine machinery with skilled manual work. The study contributes to craft and economic research by developing a producer-centred understanding of how handmade production persists and transforms within a rapidly industrialising economy.
Keywords: Craft production; handmade production; household enterprise; mass production; mechanisation.
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