Publication: Does Rising Landlessness Signal Success or Failure for Vietnam's Agrarian Transition?
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Published
2008
ISSN
03043878
Date
2012-03-30
Author(s)
van de Walle, Dominique
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Abstract
In the wake of reforms to establish a free market in land-use rights, Vietnam experienced a pronounced rise in rural landlessness. To some observers this is a harmless by-product of a more efficient economy, while to others it signals the return of the pre-socialist class structure, with the rural landless at the bottom of the economic ladder. We study the issue empirically using four household surveys spanning 1993-2004. Although we find rising landlessness amongst the poor, the post-reform landlessness rate tends to be higher for the non-poor. We find no support for the claim that the process of rising landlessness has been poverty-increasing in the aggregate.
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Publication Does Rising Landlessness Signal Success or Failure for Vietnam’s Agrarian Transition?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-04)In the wake of reforms to establish a free market in land-use rights, Vietnam is experiencing a pronounced rise in rural landlessness. To some observers this is a harmless by-product of a more efficient economy, while to others it signals the return of the pre-socialist class-structure, with the rural landless at the bottom of the economic ladder. The authors' theoretical model suggests that removing restrictions on land markets will increase landlessness among the poor, but that there will be both gainers and losers, with uncertain impacts on aggregate poverty. Empirically, they find that landlessness is less likely for the poor and that the observed rise in landlessness is poverty reducing on balance. 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