Does rising landlessness signal success or failure for Vietnam's agrarian transition?

Martin Ravallion () and Dominique van de Walle ()

No 3871, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: 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 observedrise in landlessness is poverty reducing on balance. However, there are marked regional differences, notably between the north and the south.

Keywords: Land Use and Policies; Rural Land Policies for Poverty Reduction; Rural Poverty Reduction; Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev and nep-tra
Date: 2006-04-01
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Journal Article: Does rising landlessness signal success or failure for Vietnam's agrarian transition? (2008)
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