Vietnam Household Research Articles

Determinants of agricultural technology changes: Evidence from rice-cultivating households in Vietnam

Determinants of agricultural technology changes: Evidence from rice-cultivating households in Vietnam

The healthcare support program and healthcare utilization of older adults in ethnic minority areas in Vietnam

Over the past few decades, Vietnam has experienced a substantial improvement in health outcomes, providing an example of a low-income country that has achieved a major success in public health despite the lack of resources. However, inequalities in access to healthcare services persist among the poor, ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable groups. To address this issue, the Vietnamese government implemented a healthcare support program in ethnic minority areas in 2013. We examine the effects of this program on healthcare utilization among older individuals aged 55–74. Employing a difference-in-differences approach and data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey from 2008 to 2018, we find that the program has a positive effect on inpatient visits at public health facilities. However, the program has no impact on outpatient visits. Additional analysis reveals that the program increases outpatient visits at commune health stations and inpatient visits at district hospitals. There is also suggestive evidence of a switch from private to public facilities. Our results suggest that providing healthcare resources to disadvantaged areas can increase healthcare utilization of older people, which can, in turn, improve their health outcomes.

The impact of natural disaster on multidimensional poverty of rural households in Vietnam: The regulating role of social assistance

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of natural disasters on multidimensional poverty in rural Vietnam and examines the moderating role of social assistance in mitigating these effects. Utilizing data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey in 2016 and 2018, we employ a probit model to analyze the differential impacts of droughts, floods, and storms on various dimensions of poverty, including income, education, health, housing, and access to information. Our findings reveal that droughts have a more pronounced and lasting impact on overall multidimensional poverty compared to floods and storms. Furthermore, we demonstrate the moderating effect of social assistance in alleviating the adverse consequences of floods on multiple aspects of household well‐being. This study contributes to the literature by adopting a comprehensive, multidimensional approach to poverty and highlighting the critical role of social assistance in building resilience to natural disasters. Our results underscore the need for targeted, context‐specific poverty alleviation strategies that address the multifaceted nature of deprivation and the differential impacts of natural disasters on rural households. These findings have significant implications for policymakers and practitioners in designing effective interventions to promote sustainable development and enhance the well‐being of vulnerable communities in the face of increasing climate‐related challenges.

Study on technical, economic, environmental efficiency of self-consumption rooftop solar power using lithium-ion battery for households in Vietnam

Rooftop solar power (RSP) systems are important to ensure electrical system safety and reduce investment pressure on the national power grid. The Vietnamese Government stopped the FIT price mechanism for solar power and determined that the development solution of RSP in the near future is seft-consumption. In addition, the world is currently developing many RSP projects using lithium batteries to serve self-consumption needs and use the most of excess solar power during the day. However, Vietnam does not have in-depth technical and economic analysis for grid-tied solar power projects using lithium batteries for households, so these projects receive little investment attention, especially in areas with low solar radiation. In this paper, the technical and economic efficiency of a self-consumption RSP system using lithium batteries is specifically analyzed according to different sensitivity ranges to clarify investment possibilities in 3 locations with different climate characteristics in Vietnam. The study results show that the project in Vung Tau city (Southern region) has the highest amount of solar electricity output and the net present value (NPV) is 2669$ while the projects in Hai Phong city (Northern region) and Binh Dinh (Central region) only reach $129 and $1661, respectively. The payback period of the project at the locations in Hai Phong, Binh Dinh, Vung Tau is 12.4 years, 10.7 years, and 9.9 years, respectively. Finally, the actual operating results of a typical RSP system using lithium battery present that the storage system can increase self-consumption and reduce the use of grid electricity for household loads.

Transient and Persistent Technical Efficiencies in Rice Farming: A Generalized True Random-Effects Model Approach

This study estimates transient and persistent technical efficiencies (TEs) using a generalized true random-effects (GTRE) model. We estimate the GTRE model using maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods, then compare it to three simpler models nested within it to evaluate the robustness of our estimates. We use a panel data set of 945 observations collected from 344 rice farming households in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta. The results indicate that the GTRE model is more appropriate than the restricted models for understanding heterogeneity and inefficiency in rice production. The mean estimate of overall technical efficiency is 0.71 on average, with transient rather than persistent inefficiency being the dominant component. This suggests that rice farmers could increase output substantially and would benefit from policies that pay more attention to addressing short-term inefficiency issues.

Does Household Alcohol Consumption Affect Children’s Education? Evidence from a Lower Middle-Income Country

We examine the impact of alcohol consumption on children’s educational achievement using the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys from 2012 to 2018. We find that alcohol consumption negatively impacts children’s schooling years and their likelihood of tertiary and higher education, while also positively affecting the lag in their school achievement. The impact is more severe in rural areas, while urban areas show no evidence. The influence of alcohol consumption varies among regions, with southern areas having a stronger effect on children’s education. Female students appear to be more affected than male students when their households consume the same amount of alcohol.

Market participation as livelihood and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage: A case of Chăm ethnic minority pottery households in Vietnam

This study examines the extent of market participation among Chăm pottery producers in Vietnam and the factors that influence this extent. The research utilized the total market participation index to assess the level of market participation and Tobit regression to examine the factors influencing market participation. Primary data were collected from a sample of 150 pottery households. The study demonstrates that pottery households are involved in the market to varying degrees. Factors such as family size, hired labourers, production space, self-owned transportation, average distance to customers, amount of advertising, and credit accessibility positively affect their participation in the market. Shipping damage, government assistance, non-pottery income, and education level of household head have a negative effect. The findings indicate that government assistance should consider the requirements of pottery households to develop efficient support measures. The research serves as a useful reference for policymakers and managers in devising strategies to promote both the growth of traditional craft production and the sustained well-being of ethnic groups. This, in turn, would contribute to the overall economic advancement of the country.

Understanding driving forces of food waste separation intention to enhance regional and local solid waste planning: application of PLS-SEM and multi-group analysis

This study extended the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and applied it to analyse influencing factors of food waste separation intention (FSI) among households in central Vietnam. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyse the data. The heterogeneity of factors contributing to FSI in cities of three levels was examined using multi-group analysis (MGA). The results indicate that attitudes, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC), awareness of benefit (AB), information publicity (IP), facility availability (FA), and trust significantly affected FSI of households. MGA results indicated the heterogeneity of impacts of PBC and attitude on FSI of households among three municipal levels. The results will serve as basic data for waste officers, solid-waste management project leaders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and other related stakeholders to lay the foundation of food waste management planning in terms of regional scale and local scale. This study will also aid the creation of a circular economy by providing a scientific base for enhancing food waste separation at source in central Vietnam.

Vietnam Healthcare Expenditure

Household health expenditure is important in shaping human capital for developing countries, including Vietnam. This study aims to examine the factors affecting household health expenditure in Vietnam. The study used a combination of descriptive and multivariate regression analysis based on the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) 2016. As a result of the regression analysis, demographic factors such as gender, ethnicity, age, education level, and region are the most important determinants of healthcare spending in Vietnam. This result is similar to other studies conducted in Vietnam and other countries. For developing countries including Vietnam, the determinants of personal health expenditure raise several issues that need to be addressed by health planners. Some policy implications are suggested, including (i) improving the health care system in rural areas, (ii) strengthening the existing social safety net for the elderly, and (iii) developing health insurance covering the entire population.

Relational Empowerment and Ethnic Minority Women in Vietnam: How Do Household and Community Relations Matter?

ABSTRACT Empowerment projects and research have focused on marginalised women, but often with less attention to the intersectional and relational conditions affecting their marginalisation. Ethnic minority women in Vietnam have multiple marginalising conditions, and they are targeted by government programmes to increase their participation in labour markets, their income, and their empowerment. Yet what the empowerment process looks like and achieves for these women is an important area for further study. This paper draws on a mixed-methods longitudinal study of an economic empowerment and livelihoods project that involved Hmong and Dao households in Vietnam. The quantitative data showed differences in women’s and men’s empowerment as measured on the A-WEAI, and among the different ethnic groups. Given these differences, we explored how power relations in the household and in the community affected Hmong and Dao women’s empowerment differently. We used a relational capabilitiarian approach to analyse the relations between men and women as well as the community structures that affected empowerment and wellbeing. The analysis shows that women’s and men's sharing of information, resources and workload are critical for improving women’s livelihoods and wellbeing, but these processes look different for Hmong and Dao women, and they are affected by different social structures.

Financial incentives for sanitation take-up: A randomized control trial in rural Vietnam

This study assesses the impact of financial incentives on hygienic latrine ownership by poor/near-poor households in Vietnam. Rural communes were randomly assigned to a control group and three treatment arm groups: (T1) a rebate for households that installed a hygienic latrine; (T2) a financial reward for commune governments if the proportion of hygienic latrines in their commune increased by 30 percentage points; (T3) both a household rebate and a commune reward. We find a strong and positive effect from the household rebate (treatment arms 1 and 3) but an insignificant effect from the commune reward (treatment arm 2) on household ownership of a septic tank latrine. Our analysis provides suggestive evidence that microcredit is a channel through which a rebate encourages the installation of septic tank latrines. We also find that treatment arm 3 increases people's knowledge regarding sanitation and the availability of water and soap for handwashing within households.

Factors Influencing Community Resource Mobilization to Support Households in Achieving Sustainable Poverty Alleviation: The Case of Dao People in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

This article explains the factors influencing community resource mobilization in achieving sustainable poverty alleviation focusing on Dao households in Vietnam. It found that two factors influenced community resource mobilization to help Dao households sustainably escape poverty focuses on two dimensions: internal and external factors. Internal factors include education level, occupation, skills, experience, the number of healthy workers in the household, and the household's physical capital resources. External factors encompass broader influences such as state policies and support from state organizations and non-governmental organizations. While internal factors are crucial in determining the ability to mobilize community resources, external factors, though not decisive, play a significant role in facilitating the mobilization of these resources to support the Dao people in Thanh Hoa in achieving sustainable poverty alleviation. This study contributes to the study on how poverty should be alleviated in communal levels in Asia with a special reference to Vietnam.

Navigating Credit Access: Uncovering The Dynamics Within Poor Households in Vietnam

In the context of Vietnam's dynamic but uneven economic landscape, the challenge of credit access for poor households signifies a critical disparity in financial inclusion. This research identifies and addresses a gap in understanding the influence of socioeconomic factors on credit accessibility for economically disadvantaged populations. To explore the impacts of household income stability, financial literacy, social norms, credit history, formal financial identity, and asset ownership, our study employs multivariate linear regression analysis to uncover the nuanced relationships between these factors and credit access. The findings reveal significant positive correlations, highlighting the complex interplay of economic and social elements in facilitating financial inclusion. These results offer valuable insights for policymakers, financial service providers, and development practitioners, suggesting targeted interventions in financial education, income stabilization, and adapting financial services to cultural contexts. Ultimately, this study provides a roadmap for enhancing financial accessibility for Vietnam's poor households, contributing to the broader goal of bridging the gap in financial inclusion within the country.

Urbanization and Health Expenditure: An Empirical Investigation from Households in Vietnam

This study examines the effects of urbanization on household health expenditure. Using a unique bi-annually household-level dataset from 2012–2016 from Vietnam, we obtain key findings as follows. To mitigate possible endogeneity concerns, we utilize a two-stage least squares regression (2SLS) approach, employing the development of information and communication (ICT) infrastructure at the province level as an instrumental variable (IV). The key findings can be summarized as follows. First, urbanization significantly reduces Vietnamese households’ inpatient and outpatient health expenses. Second, the self-treatment expenses of households increase as the process of urbanization advances. In addition, we perform various robustness checks, encompassing different measures of urbanization, the use of lag of urbanization as an additional IV, and the plausible exogenous IV. The outcomes derived from these rigorous sensitivity analyses substantiate the reliability and consistency of our key results. Finally, we propose different ways to explain these results, including health insurance expenses and household income.

Assessment of the Vulnerability of Households Led by Men and Women to the Impacts of Climate-Related Natural Disasters in the Coastal Areas of Myanmar and Vietnam

Farm households along the coastlines of Myanmar and Vietnam are becoming increasingly vulnerable to flooding, saltwater intrusion, and rising sea levels. There is little information available on the relative vulnerability of men- and women-headed households, and the governments of Myanmar and Vietnam have not identified or implemented any adaptive measures aimed specifically at vulnerable peoples. This study aims to fill these gaps and assess the relative climate change vulnerability of men- and women-headed farm households. This study considers 599 farm households from two regions of Myanmar and 300 households from Thua Thien Hue province of Vietnam for the period 2021–2022. We offer a livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) analysis of men- and women-headed farm households using 46 indicators arranged into seven major components. The aggregate LVI scores indicate that farm households in Myanmar are more vulnerable (scores of 0.459 for men and 0.476 for women) to climate-related natural disasters than farm households in Vietnam (scores of 0.288 for men and 0.292 for women), regardless of the gender of the head of household. Total vulnerability indexing scores indicate that women-headed households are more vulnerable than men-headed households in both countries. Poor adaptive capacity and highly sensitive LVI dimensional scores explain the greater vulnerability of women-headed farm households. The findings also highlight the importance of the adaptive capacity components reflected in the LVI analysis in reducing farm households’ vulnerability.

The changing distribution of land in rural Vietnam, 2004–2014

This paper analyses the changing distribution of land in rural Vietnam based on plot-level information in the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys. Both agricultural and residential land holdings in Vietnam became more unequally distributed between 2004 and 2014, due to rising landlessness in the bottom quintile and land accumulation in the top quartile of the land distribution. Applying Fields’ regression-based inequality decomposition, we find the main drivers of land inequality were the share of household members working in agriculture and the shares of forestry and perennial crop land. In contrast, irrigation and off-farm employment contributed to reducing land inequality. Landlessness and near landlessness, which increased by almost two-fifths, is associated with similar factors, along with higher education of the household head. Taken together, these results underline the rapid structural transformation that has occurred in rural Vietnam. The rise in functional landlessness observed presents a challenge to the Vietnamese Government’s desire to promote growth with equity.

Trade liberalization and women's marriage and fertility decisions in Vietnam

This study investigates the impact of a large demand shock driven by the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in 2001 on the timing of women's marital decisions and first childbirth experiences in Vietnam. We hypothesize that the reduction in women's and men's self-employment would delay family formation and childbirth, with the ultimate impact on marriage remaining ambiguous. Analyzing data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys, we find that both men and women are less likely to be self-employed in the face of a substantial trade shock. Notably, the decreasing impact on women's self-employment becomes more pronounced than that for men post-2012, a decade after the agreement's enforcement. Employing the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and survival analysis, we empirically demonstrate that increased exposure to trade postpones women's timing of marriage and first childbirth. On average, in 2013, the BTA resulted in a 7.39- and 7.42 %-point decrease in the probability of entering marriage and becoming a mother, respectively. We also present suggestive evidence that increased exposure to trade liberalization eventually increases the likelihood of marriage and the number of children among women over 40. The findings in this study imply that policy promoting trade liberalization should consider its extensive impacts on young labor force's family formation through change in their individual economic prospects.

Energy Poverty and Health Expenditure: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Utilizing data from the 2016 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey, we undertake an empirical investigation into the influence of energy poverty on the health expenditure of Vietnamese households. Employing a double-hurdle model, our empirical findings reveal a negative relationship between energy poverty and health expenditure. Specifically, our results indicate that for each incremental unit increase in energy poverty, there is a substantial reduction of 42.5 percentage points in the overall health expenditure of the households. Furthermore, as energy poverty deepens, we observe declines of 24.6 percentage points and 45.5 percentage points in the expenses incurred for inpatient/outpatient care and self-treatment, respectively. To validate the robustness of our results, we conduct several sensitivity analyses, including propensity score matching, double/debiased machine learning. Across all these methods, our findings consistently underscore the significant and persistent adverse impact of energy poverty on the examined outcome variables. Additionally, to examine the underlying pathways, we conduct a structural equation modeling analysis and find that the relationship between energy poverty and health expenses is mediated by household hospitalization and expenditures on essential items, such as food and daily necessities.

Exploring Brand Loyalty in Online Shopping: The Context of Vietnam's Household Appliances Market

In the dynamic e-commerce landscape, where online shopping has become a fundamental aspect of consumer behavior, a profound comprehension of the factors influencing brand loyalty is imperative for businesses striving to excel in the digital marketplace.This study aims to investigate the factors influencing brand loyalty of consumers in Viet Nam, with a specific focus on household appliance brands. Additionally, it seeks to elucidate the mediating role of customer satisfaction and brand trust in influencing brand loyalty. The study provides valuable information for developing effective brand strategies, helping strengthen customer loyalty, and increasing market share for home appliance brands. The research will employ a qualitative and quantitative approach, gather primary data through a structured questionnaire survey. The data analysis will be conducted using Smart PLS 4 and SPSS 26. The results of the study indicate that there are several factors influencing brand loyalty, including brand image, brand indentification, brand awareness, brand trust, and customer satisfaction. This underscores the importance of applying the research findings to optimize brand management and marketing strategies. Paper type Research paper

Adverse shocks, vulnerability, and coping by rural households in Vietnam

AbstractMotivationVulnerability to poverty derives from adverse shocks and adaptive capacity. To alleviate poverty, policy‐makers must understand sources of vulnerability, household coping strategies, and the effectiveness of current insurance. Vietnam is an important case due to the many hazards that rural households face and the inadequacy of social safety nets.PurposeThis article investigates the role of adverse shocks on vulnerability, coping strategies, and recovery of households in rural Vietnam.Approach and methodsUsing a unique panel data set from Vietnam Access to Resources Household Surveys (VARHSs) during 2008–2016, I first estimate and deconstruct sources of vulnerability. To examine household behaviour when coping with adverse shocks, I use a multivariate probit model; to investigate whether coping strategies help households recover from shocks, I use a multinominal probit model. Finally, I evaluate the effectiveness of existing risk‐management mechanisms.FindingsThe average rural household in Vietnam experiences a 72% decrease in utility due to shocks. Idiosyncratic shocks contribute 32% of the loss. Rural households are highly dependent on informal coping, such as reducing food consumption, withdrawing savings, taking children out of school or selling capital assets. Household savings allow the wealthiest households to recover; but for low‐income households, consumption has to be cut, which depletes human capital development and prevents recovery.Policy implicationsRural Vietnamese need more public support to cope with and recover from shocks. Because idiosyncratic shocks hit households hard, public support should focus on alleviating their impacts. Expanding health insurance to all rural households should be a priority.Households suffer less in areas with higher levels of economic development, so economic growth is a defence against shocks. More roads and links to towns and more irrigation would help.