Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey Research Articles

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.

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.

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.

The Determinants of Internal Migration in an Emerging Market: Evidence from Vietnam

Internal migration has been a challenging issue for Vietnam in the past three decades, with swift industrialization and urbanization at the two ends of the country—the capital city, Hanoi, in the north and the largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, in the south. This study identifies the determinants of internal migration with a focus on the characteristics of Vietnamese households and the household heads, together with their living conditions. A logit model is used in our analysis in three scenarios: (a) the entire sample of 8,567 households, (b) a sub-sample of households in the rural regions and (c) a sub-sample of households in the urban regions using the latest 2020 Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey. Our empirical results indicate that migration decisions are strongly associated with the characteristics of the households and the household heads, including household income, size, age of the household heads and educational attainment. We also find that living conditions such as radiation and rainfall are inversely related to the decisions for internal migration in Vietnam, meaning that people living in locations with unfavourable rainfall are more likely to migrate to destinations with more favourable rainfall conditions.

Educational Attainment, Household Income and Wealth Accumulation in Vietnam

This study examines the effects of educational attainment and household income on wealth accumulation in Vietnam using various Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) in 2008, 2018 and 2020. We use the threshold regression to separate households into different groups depending on their assets. We find that owning a university degree is optimal to maximize wealth accumulation for households in 2008. However, post-graduate qualifications are needed for wealth accumulation in 2018 and 2020. For those household heads without a university degree, owning advanced training certificates provides the best opportunity to accumulate household wealth in all three surveys. Besides, our empirical results confirm that household income played no role in wealth accommodation in 2008. Interestingly, household income positively contributes to wealth accumulation for households with assets above the threshold of VND 634.40 m in 2020. However, the effect is negative for households with assets below the threshold of VND 440.25 m in 2018. We also find that households with widowed or divorced household heads are associated with lower wealth accumulation. Another interesting finding is that living in urban areas reduces wealth accumulation for households whose assets are below VND 440.25 m in 2018. These findings largely remain unchanged when Lewbel’s (Lewbel, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 30:67–80, 2012) instrument variable estimator is used to ensure the robustness of the empirical results.

Does gender and education of the households’ heads matter for wealth accumulation in Vietnam? Evidence from a recent decade

Asians believe that education plays a crucial role in earning higher income for individuals and accumulating larger wealth for households. Educational achievements have been generally considered an indicator of success. However, gender bias in favour of males as the household heads still exists in Asian societies due to the significant influence of Confucian belief. This study investigates the independent effect of education and gender of the households' heads and their joint effect on household wealth in the Vietnamese context in the most recent decade using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSSs) between 2010 and 2020. Our study uses quantile regression and propensity score matching methods to ensure the robustness of the empirical results. We find that the education of the household heads contributed to increased household wealth in Vietnam in 2010 and 2020. However, household wealth decreases across different wealth quantiles when the households' heads are females. These findings confirm the currently deep-rooted gender stereotypes and a ‘gendered structure’ economy in Vietnam and require attention from the Vietnamese government. In addition, our empirical results reveal that being a female as the household head with a degree/certificate from a general education will increase household wealth. Our empirical results have largely been consistent across different wealth distributions.

Effect of saline intrusion on rice production in the Mekong River Delta

Saline intrusion is increasingly threatening the rice farming system in The Mekong River Delta (MRD). Identifying the impact of this disaster on rice farming and providing promptly adaptable solutions is an urgent issue. This study evaluates the influence of saline intrusion on rice productivity of households in the MRD. We utilize the quasi-experimental method, the difference-in-difference (DID) method, with farm level panel data on rice farming extracted from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) in 2014 and 2016. The empirical results indicate that households affected by saline intrusion have lower total production and lower productivity compared to the unaffected group. The affected group has lower total revenue of approximately 4969.8 thousand VND per ha and lower net revenue, on an average of 4679.3 thousand VND per ha, compared to the comparable unaffected group. Among the subsamples of different regions, the damage magnitude of households in severely affected regions by salinity intrusion is higher than in less severely affected areas. Some policy implications that can be proposed from this research are that the management agency should continue to update information on weather and climate change scenarios for forecasting and timely information for rice farmers. The agency comprehensively evaluates the effectiveness of transformed models of sustainable agricultural production adapted to salinity intrusion and replicates high-effective production models; restructure rice cultivation following the salinity intrusion level of each locality.

The determinants of financial inclusion from the households' perspectives in Vietnam.

Various studies have been conducted to measure financial inclusion at the country level. However, measuring financial inclusion at the household level has largely been neglected in the existing literature, particularly for emerging markets such as Vietnam. This study constructs an index of financial inclusion at the household level using the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys (VHLSS) in 2014, 2016, and 2018. We also identify the determinants of financial inclusion from the perspective of Vietnamese households. Our study also utilizes an ordered logit model to examine the effects of the determinants on each level of financial inclusion. Our empirical results reveal three key determinants, including (i) total income per household, (ii) relative income representing the difference between the average income of the province that the household currently lives in and the total income of this household, and (iii) the distance from the household to the nearest bank branch, are crucial factors driving the financial inclusion. While the total income per household positively enhances financial inclusion, relative income appears to reduce the degree of financial inclusion. Besides, distance to the nearest bank branch poses another challenge in achieving the financial inclusion goals in Vietnam in the future.

Impact of saltwater intrusion on poverty in rural households in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between saline intrusion and poverty in rural households in the Mekong Delta based on the 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey data.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: A sample of 344 rural households in the Mekong Delta is used to analyze the causal relationship between saline intrusion and poverty through income. This study employed the Ordinary Least Squares method and the oprobit model to investigate the causal relationship between saline intrusion and rural household income. Finally, this study estimates the impact of saline intrusion on poverty using different propensity score matching methods.
 Findings: 1) Saltwater intrusion has a significant negative impact on the income of rural households, making households more likely to fall into the lower income group; 2) Saltwater intrusion has a greater negative impact on the incomes of poorer households than non-poor households, while also having a negative impact on households with low education and farming; and 3) By reducing household income as well as income from farming activities, infiltration increases the risk of poverty for rural households and reduces the household's ability to escape poverty.
 Conclusion: This study demonstrates how saltwater intrusion affects household poverty by reducing income and raising the likelihood that households will fall below the Vietnamese government's designated poverty income threshold.

The Crowding-out Effect of Tobacco Expenditure on Health Expenditure: Evidence From a Lower-Middle-Income Country.

Poor people have remarkably lower health expenditures than rich people in Vietnam. According to the 2016 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS), per capita health expenditure of the top quintile households is around 6 times higher than that of the bottom quintile households. We analyze economic inequalities in health expenditure using the concentration index approach and data from the VHLSS 2010-2016. Next, we use the instrumental-variable regression analysis to examine the crowding-out effect of tobacco expenditure on health expenditure. Finally, we use decomposition analysis to explore whether economic inequality in tobacco expenditure is associated with an economic inequality in health expenditure. We find a crowding-out effect of tobacco expenditure on health expenditure of households. The share of health expenditure of households with tobacco spending is 0.78% lower than that of households without tobacco spending. It is estimated that a one-VND increase in tobacco expenditure results in a 0.18 Vietnamese Dong (VND) (95% CI: -0.30 to -0.06) decrease in health expenditure. There is a negative association between economic inequality in tobacco expenditure and economic inequality in health expenditure. This means that if the poor consume less tobacco, their expenditure on health can be increased, resulting in a decrease in inequality in health expenditure. Findings from this study suggest that reducing tobacco expenditure could improve health care of the poor and reduce inequality in health care in Vietnam. Our study recommends that the government continuously increase the tobacco tax in order to effectively reduce tobacco consumption. Empirical studies show mixed results on the effect of tobacco expenditure on health expenditure. We find a crowding-out effect of tobacco expenditure on health expenditure of poor households in Vietnam. It implies that if the poor reduce their expenditure on tobacco, economic inequality in health expenditure can be reduced. Our findings suggest that reducing tobacco consumption in poor households can increase their health expenditure, therefore, decreasing inequality in health expenditure. Different policies to reduce tobacco consumption such as tobacco taxation, smoke-free areas, and tobacco advertisement bans should be strengthened.

Healthcare Services Utilisation and Financial Burden among Vietnamese Older People and Their Households

Background: This research examined differences in the utilisation of healthcare services and financial burden between and within insured and uninsured older persons and their households under the social health insurance scheme in Vietnam. Methods: We used nationally representative data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS) conducted in 2014. We applied the World Health Organization (WHO)’s financial indicators in healthcare to provide cross-tabulations and comparisons for insured and uninsured older persons along with their individual and household characteristics (such as age groups, gender, ethnicity, per-capita household expenditure quintiles, and place of residence). Results: We found that social health insurance was beneficial to the insured in comparison with the uninsured in terms of utilization of healthcare services and financial burden. However, between and within these two groups, more vulnerable groups (i.e., ethnic minorities and rural persons) had lower utilization rates and higher rates of catastrophic spending than the better groups (i.e., Kinh and urban persons). Conclusion: Given the rapidly ageing population under low middle-income status and the “double burden of diseases”, this paper suggested that Vietnam reform the healthcare system and social health insurance so as to provide more equitable utilisation and financial protection to all older persons, including improving the quality of healthcare at the grassroots level and reducing the burden on the provincial/central health level; improving human resources for the grassroots healthcare facilities; encroaching public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the healthcare service provision; and developing a nationwide family doctor network.

The economic circumstances of widows in Vietnam.

Information on the living conditions of widows in Vietnam is limited. Prior studies of gender gaps have identified widows as vulnerable to the risks of poverty. However, widows are only included as a sub-group in broader studies of women's well-being. Large gaps remain in the knowledge based on the factors affecting both widows' susceptibility to poverty and the conditions or circumstances that might minimize these risks. This paper attempts to help redress these knowledge gaps by contributing an analysis of data from the 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys. The paper compares the likelihood of poverty for widowed and other households using probit regression. It also assesses whether widows who head up their households face different risks of poverty from those who live in other households. Finally, the paper examines the effects on the risk of poverty of a range of social, demographic and locational characteristics of widow households in Vietnam. Our results indicate that widowed households have experienced a higher probability of falling into poverty. Moreover, widow-headed households have faced more vulnerability to fresh water and housing, especially among widowed households. Policy implications have emerged based on the findings of this paper.

Aquaculture, household income and inequality in Vietnam’s coastal region

Using data from the 2020 Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey, we examine the link between aquaculture, household income, and inequality in Vietnam’s coastal region. Using a two-step cluster analysis, we identify five clusters of livelihood strategies (LS) pursued by local households. We find that about 13% of the total number of households are engaged in aquaculture, but only 6% pursued an aquaculture LS, while half the number of households followed a wage-earning LS. Our regression analysis shows that, on average, those in the aquaculture LS cluster have higher incomes than those in the wage-earning or “other income” LS clusters. Interestingly, the quantile regression result reveals that in the top percentiles of income distribution, those adopting an aquaculture livelihood attain higher incomes than those in all other livelihood clusters. This implies that there is a positive link between the choice of aquaculture LS and household income. Also, we find that aquaculture land is positively associated with the likelihood of participation in aquaculture and deriving income from it. Notably, Gini decomposition analysis indicates that the distribution of aquaculture land and income from it are highly uneven and skew much more towards the well-off. Given the significant positive relationship between aquaculture land and the profitability of the aquaculture LS, our findings imply that expanding the aquaculture sector (e.g., granting access to aquaculture land or/and training in skills for aquaculture farmers) may help local households boost their income and reduce inequality in the coastal region.

Labor Migration Trends in Vietnam in The Period 2014-2018

Information about labor migration plays an important role in planning and implementing socio-economic development policies in each region and for the whole country. This study used data from Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey 2018, 2016 and 2014 conducted by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam to analyze labor migration trends based on demographic characteristics and regional features. Statistical results show that the percentage of labor migrants tended to increase in the period 2014-2018. The results show that demographic factors such as ethnicity, age, gender, marital status, and education had a strong relationship with labor migration flows. In addition, there was a positive correlation between regional characteristics such as unemployment and underemployment and labor migration. By understanding the demographic and regional characteristics that influence specific groups of migrant workers, policymakers can establish target policies to effectively control labor migration flows

Livelihood Choice and Household Economic Wellbeing in Vietnam’s Northwest region

This paper examines factors affecting livelihood choices in the Northwest region, the country’s poorest one, populated mainly by ethnic minorities. We utilized secondary data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys (VHLSS) in 2016 and 2018, and applied micro-econometric analysis. Our cluster analysis results offer the initial classification into six livelihood groups characteristic of rural households. Bonferroni pairwise tests are used to compare per capita income and poverty rates across livelihood options. We discovered that households with nonfarm or formal wage-earning livelihoods had the highest levels of income and the lowest poverty rates, while those reliant on the cultivation of crops had the lowest income and the highest poverty levels. A multinomial logit model is used to explore factors affecting livelihood choice. We found that ownership of more cropland reduces the likelihood of choosing high-return livelihoods. Furthermore, household head education has a beneficial effect on the pursuit of profitable occupations, meaning that improved education could lead to households shifting away from low-return activities. We also discovered that households in communes with available transportation are more likely to adopt high-return livelihoods.

Does educational attainment and gender inequalities affect wealth accumulation? Evidence from Vietnam

Vietnamese have always believed that education is crucial in increasing income and accumulating household wealth. Educational attainment has been an indicator of successful people. As such, higher education is generally linked to higher income and wealth in Vietnam. However, the existing literature has largely neglected empirical analysis of the education-wealth relationship. We use data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys (VHLSS) in ten years between 2008 and 2018 to examine the effects of educational attainment on Vietnamese households' wealth accumulation. The threshold and the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions with robust standards for cross-sectional data analysis are employed. Selected households' demographic characteristics are also incorporated in our analysis. Our results indicate that a university degree was sufficient to accumulate wealth in 2008. However, higher educational attainment is linked with higher wealth accumulation in 2018. For people without a university degree or higher, achieving intermediate vocational training certificates is required to maximize wealth accumulation in both 2008 and 2018. Our empirical results confirm that household demographic factors, including age, marital status, gender, and urban-rural living areas, significantly affect wealth accumulation. In addition, inequality in households' wealth accumulation caused by gender and urban-rural living areas declined over the ten years.

The Impact of Remittances on Saving Behaviour and Expenditure Patterns in Vietnam

We examine the effects of receiving remittances on household saving behaviour and expenditure patterns in Vietnam. We consider the amount of saving, the saving rate, and the share of expenditure, as well as per capita expenditure on education, health, assets, house repairs, food, non-food, and utilities. We apply propensity score matching to data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS) of 2012. We find that remittances have a positive impact on household savings and increase both the amount of saving and the saving rate. As far as expenditure patterns are concerned, our results indicate that receiving households spend more on health, assets, and house repairs, and less on food. This finding suggests that households tend to use remittances productively, with receiving households increasing their investments in human and physical capital. For the economy as a whole, remittances can create more opportunities for the development of services provided by banks, financial institutions, hospitals and healthcare centres, and give incentives to the production of building materials and tangible assets.

Catastrophic health expenditure in the Northern midlands and mountainous areas and its determinants, Vietnam from 2014 to 2020: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe study assesses households’ catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) by income group, urban versus rural area, and influencing factors in the Northern midlands and mountainous areas of Vietnam.Design/settingA cross-sectional study with...

Impoverishing effect of tobacco use in Vietnam

BackgroundTobacco consumption places a significant economic burden on households, which is particularly severe in developing countries like Vietnam. In a country where the social insurance system is weak and healthcare...

Childcare and maternal employment: Evidence from Vietnam

Little literature currently exists on the effects of childcare use on maternal labor market outcomes in a developing country context, and the few recent studies offer mixed results. We attempt to fill these gaps by analyzing several latest rounds of the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey spanning the early to mid-2010s. Addressing endogeneity issues with an instrumental variable/ regression discontinuity design estimator based on children’s birth months, we find sizable and positive effects of childcare on women’s own labor market outcomes and their household income and poverty status. The effects of childcare differ by women’s characteristics and are stronger for women in the ethnic majority group or women with daughters. These effects are also somewhat larger for areas with higher income levels. Furthermore, we also find that some positive effects last after two years.