The Proliferation of Piracy in the Publishing Supply Chains of Emerging Countries: A Study in Vietnam

Book piracy is a significant problem throughout the world and particularly in emerging countries. Such a phenomenon is costly to all participants in the publishing supply chain. This paper aims to investigate factors that influence Vietnamese students’ purchases of photocopied textbooks. The findings reveal that students’ purchases are motivated by their perceived value, subjective norms representing social influence and the lack of regulation enforcement. Using these findings, this paper suggests interventions for policymakers, publishers, distributors and universities to limit the purchase of pirated textbooks as well as to improve the value of original textbooks.