van de Walle, DominiqueRavallion, Martin2012-03-302012-03-302008Journal of Development Economics03043878https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4878In 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.ENEconomic Development: AgricultureNatural ResourcesEnergyEnvironmentOther Primary Products O130Socialist Systems and Transitional Economies: Planning, Coordination, and Reform P210CollectivesCommunesAgriculture P320Land Ownership and TenureLand ReformLand UseIrrigationAgriculture and Environment Q150Agricultural PolicyFood Policy Q180Journal ArticleWorld Bank