Activity and Income Diversification: Trends, Determinants and Effects on Poverty Reduction. The Case of the Mekong River

Until the 1980s, Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world, characterized by economic stagnation and widespread poverty. However, since the late 1980s, this picture has changed. Since 1986, Vietnam has experienced a sharp drop in the incidence of poverty which has fallen from 58 percent in 1993 to 15.5 percent in 2006 (GSO 2004b, 2007, 2008). The country, thanks to its high and stable economic growth, has already met the first Millennium Development Goal target of halving poverty. These dramatic achievements are largely ascribed to the success of various policy reforms implemented during the course of Doi Moi (‘renovation’), a policy which was initiated by the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1986. In addition to overall economic growth, this period has also witnessed notable changes in agriculture, the sector where Vietnam’s program of renovation was initiated. Agriculture was for a number of years even the motor of growth. However, over the years there has been a change in the structure of GDP with an increase in the share of industry and a decline in agriculture showing a clear transformation towards a more industrialized and diversified economy. While a number of authors and empirical studies have examined the pattern of poverty reduction in Vietnam, relatively little attention has been paid to income diversification issues especially in rural areas. Little is known about how economic policy changes required by the renovation in Vietnam determined the livelihoods or income structure of rural households in the Mekong River Delta (MRD). This thesis provides an in-depth investigation of various aspects of economic activity and income diversification in these areas, with the support of a large database, with micro data from the LSMSs conducted in Vietnam over the period 1993-2006. The data is used to examine the patterns, the trends, the determinants, and the links between diversification and household welfare. The study explores the cross-section and panel elements of the data.

• View at Worldcat

Full Text ( Final Version , 1mb )