Is the emerging non‐farm market economy the route out of poverty in Vietnam?

Abstract

Are the household characteristics that are good for the transition to a more diversified market-oriented economy in Vietnam also important for reducing poverty? Or are there trade-offs? The determinants of both poverty incidence and participation in rural off-farm activities are modeled as functions of household and community characteristics using comprehensive national household surveys for 1993 and 1998. While there are some common causative factors, such as education and region of residence, the processes determining poverty and inhibiting diversification are clearly not the same. Participation in the emerging rural non-farm market economy will be the route out of poverty for some, but certainly not all, of Vietnam's poor.JEL classifications: I30, O12, O53.

Farmland loss and livelihood outcomes: a microeconometric analysis of household surveys in Vietnam

“…This result is in accordance with the previous findings in rural Vietnam by Van de Walle and Cratty (2004), in some Asian countries by Winters et al (2009). While the size of residential land is not related to activity choice; the prime location of a house or a plot of residential land is positively associated with the probability of a household pursuing the nonfarm selfemployment-based strategy.…”

“…The result is partly consistent with previous findings in rural Vietnam. For instance, Van de Walle and Cratty (2004) found that households who farm only are poorer than all those who combine farming with some type of nonfarm employment. Moreover, as estimated in Pham, Bui, and Dao (2010), on average and ceteris paribus, the shift of a household from pure agriculture to pure non-agriculture raises expenditure per capita, and this outcome tends to steadily increase over time.…”

Are ‘Landlords Taking Back the Land’? An Essay on the Agrarian Transition in Vietnam

“…While clearly important for the welfare of rural households, access to land does not ensure sustained improvements in living standards [World Bank and ADB, 2002: 45 ]. Rather, there is a clear positive association between the degree of diversification and household welfare and living standards, although farms that are more diversified still tend to maintain cultivation activities [van de Walle and Cratty, 2003]. All else being equal, those households that undertake rural non-farm household enterprise activity have a significantly higher probability of being non-poor, while those households that do not undertake rural non-farm household enterprise activity have a significantly higher probability of being poor [van de Walle and Cratty, 2003;Vijverberg and Haughton, 2004].…”

“…Rather, there is a clear positive association between the degree of diversification and household welfare and living standards, although farms that are more diversified still tend to maintain cultivation activities [van de Walle and Cratty, 2003]. All else being equal, those households that undertake rural non-farm household enterprise activity have a significantly higher probability of being non-poor, while those households that do not undertake rural non-farm household enterprise activity have a significantly higher probability of being poor [van de Walle and Cratty, 2003;Vijverberg and Haughton, 2004]. Moreover, as households begin to accumulate resources, they are more likely to become engaged in rural non-farm household enterprise activity, while those households that are falling into a systematic resource deficit become less likely to become engaged in rural non-farm enterprise activity [Vijverberg and Haughton, 2004].…”

Poverty and Ethnic Minorities: The Case of Khmer Households in the Rural Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…However, in some other specific studies, the relationship between poverty and impact from diversification is not always that obvious (Christiaensen et al, 2013). In the case of Vietnam, the study by Van De Walle and Cratty (2004) illustrated that the factors affecting poverty and income diversification were not the same. Meanwhile, economic problems might be the cause of other social problems.…”