Adopting the Hirschman–Herfindahl Index to estimate the financial sustainability of Vietnamese public universities

Abstract Over several decades, the Vietnamese government has increasingly cut its investment in public higher education system and also introduced a cost-sharing mechanism. Under this scheme, universities have been seeking other sources of revenue. Despite bold emphasis on need for revenue diversification Vietnam, there is little empirical evidence status quo finance. The purpose paper was to fill research gap by using Hirschman–Herfindahl Index estimate degree financial diversity 51 Vietnam between 2015 2017. Our findings revealed that all institutions study were unsustainable due their weak diversity. Suggestions policy makers university leaders may enhance sustainability include adoption performance-based allocations implementation capacity-building programs with regard fund-raising entrepreneurship skills.