Marra, MarleenLanjouw, PeterNguyen, Cuong2013-04-112013-04-112013-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/13156This paper uses small area estimation techniques to update Vietnam's province and district-level poverty map to 2009. It finds that poverty rates continue to be highest in the northern and central mountainous regions, where ethnic minorities make up a large fraction of the population. Poverty has fallen in most provinces and districts over this decade, but the pace of poverty reduction has been least pronounced in those localities with high initial poverty or inequality levels. As a result, poverty rates have become more spatially concentrated over time, which is consistent with widely observed growth processes linked to agglomeration. The authors hypothesize that this makes geographic targeting of the poor more relevant as a means to re-balance growing welfare disparities between geographic areas. Simulations indicate that in both 1999 and 2009, geographic targeting for poverty alleviation improves upon a uniform lump-sum transfer and this becomes more evident the more spatially disaggregated the target populations. The analysis further indicates that the gains from geographic targeting have become more pronounced over time in Vietnam. Although poverty reduction in Vietnam has been impressive, further progress may thus warrant increased attention to geographic targeting.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE INEQUALITYAGGLOMERATION EXTERNALITIESAGGREGATE LEVELANTI-POVERTYANTI-POVERTY RESOURCESCASH TRANSFERSCITIESCOEFFICIENTSDATA SETSDECOMPOSABLE POVERTYDECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURESDELTA REGIONDELTA REGIONSDEPENDENT VARIABLEDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENT REPORTDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHDIFFERENTIALSDISTRICTDISTRICT LEVELDISTRICT-LEVELECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC GROWTHEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEEMPIRICAL STUDIESEQUAL DISTRIBUTIONESTIMATES OF POVERTYESTIMATION METHODESTIMATION TECHNIQUESETHNIC MINORITYETHNIC MINORITY PEOPLEEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE DATAEXPLANATORY VARIABLESEXTREME POVERTYFOOD FOR EDUCATIONFOOD POLICYFOOD SECURITYGEOGRAPHIC REGIONSGINI COEFFICIENTGINI INDEXGLOBAL POVERTYHEALTH INSURANCEHIGH POPULATION DENSITYHIGH POVERTYHOUSEHOLD DATAHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSINGHUMAN CAPITALIMPACT ON POVERTYIMPERFECT INFORMATIONINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOMEINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME POVERTYINEQUALITYINEQUALITY LEVELSINEQUALITY MEASURESINEQUALITY OUTCOMESINEQUALITY WILLLAGGING REGIONSLAND EQUALITYLEVEL OF POVERTYLIVING STANDARDSLOW INEQUALITYLOW POVERTY RATESMINISTRY OF LABORMOUNTAINOUS AREASMOUNTAINOUS REGIONSNATIONAL POVERTYOPTIMAL TARGETINGPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPER CAPITA EXPENDITUREPOINT ESTIMATESPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY MEASURESPOLICY OBJECTIVESPOLICY RESEARCHPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOORPOOR COMMUNITIESPOOR DISTRICTSPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOOR PERSONPOOR POPULATIONPOORER COMMUNITIESPOPULATION SHAREPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPOVERTY ALLEVIATION EFFORTSPOVERTY ALLEVIATION STRATEGYPOVERTY ASSESSMENTPOVERTY COMPARISONSPOVERTY DECLINEPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY INDEXESPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MAPPOVERTY MAPPINGPOVERTY MAPSPOVERTY MEASUREPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY OUTCOMESPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY SEVERITYPOVERTY STATUSPRO-POORPROVINCEPROVINCIAL LEVELPUBLIC ECONOMICSREDUCING POVERTYREDUCTION IN POVERTYREGIONAL LEVELREGIONAL MODELSREGIONAL POVERTYREGIONAL TARGETINGRURALRURAL AREASRURAL PEOPLERURAL PHENOMENONRURAL POVERTYRURAL PROVINCESSAFETY NETSOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL FUNDSSPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONSPATIAL PATTERNSSQUARED POVERTY GAPSTANDARD DEVIATIONSUB-NATIONALTARGETINGTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOTAL POVERTYTOTAL POVERTY RATEURBAN AREASVILLAGEVILLAGE LEVELVILLAGESWARWELFARE INDICATORSWELFARE MEASURESWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6355