The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of ownership structure on the performance of listed firms in transition economy. Buiding upon agency theory, hypotheses on such relationship are proposed. A detailed panel data of 502 non-financial companies listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and Hanoi Stock Exchange over the period from 2013 to 2018, and the system generalized method of moment estimation are employed to test the proposed hypotheses. To ensure the reliability of data, this study excludes companies that violate information disclosure regulations or that are subject to special supervision by the State Securities Commission of Vietnam. Some firms with inadequate information, firms that lack the financial data required for creating variable or firms that have inconsistent construction are also re-screened. We only collect the data of enterprises that have ownership structure of two or more components. Estimation results reveal that state ownership has an U-shaped relationship with the performance of Vietnamese listed firms, while foreign ownership and the degree of ownership concentration have an inverted U-shaped relationship with listed firms’ performance. The article provides governance implications that Vietnamese listed firms should decrease state ownership and foreign ownership to improve firm performance in order to boost investors’ confidence.