Description: Sources of Ethnic Inequality in Vietnam

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Sources of Ethnic Inequality in Vietnam

Vietnam's ethnic minorities, who tend to live mostly in remote rural areas, typically have lower living standards than the ethnic majority. How much is this because of differences in economic characteristics (such as education levels and land)...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	van de Walle, Dominique, Gunewardena, Dileni
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES COMMODITIES COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS COMMUNITY LEVEL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES CROPS CURRICULA DATA COLLECTION DATA SET DECENTRALIZATION DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS DEMOGRAPHICS DEPENDENT VARIABLE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT POLICIES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME DISADVANTAGED GROUPS ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ECONOMIC DATA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS EDUCATION LEVEL EDUCATION LEVELS EDUCATION SERVICES EDUCATION SYSTEM EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ESCAPE POVERTY ETHNIC GROUP ETHNIC GROUPS ETHNIC MINORITIES ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS EXTERNALITIES FARMERS FISH FOREST PRODUCTS GENDER GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS GEOGRAPHICAL AREA GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE HEALTH CARE HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD LABOR HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HOUSING HUMAN CAPITAL INCOME INCOME GENERATION INCOME INEQUALITY INCOMES INDIVIDUAL LIVING STANDARDS INFORMAL SECTORS LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LIVELIHOODS LIVING STANDARDS LIVING STANDARDS MEASUREMENT LOCAL REALITIES LOW INCOME MARKET ECONOMY MARKET MECHANISM MINORITY GROUPS NEGATIVE IMPACT NON-FARM EMPLOYMENT POLICY IMPLICATIONS POLICY MAKING POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESPONSE POLITICAL INFLUENCE POOR AREAS POVERTY LINE POVERTY LINES PRIMARY EDUCATION PUBLIC SERVICES RURAL AREAS RURAL DEVELOPMENT RURAL ECONOMY RURAL HOUSEHOLDS SHORT TERM SOCIAL EXCLUSION STATISTICAL OFFICE SURVIVAL STRATEGIES TEACHERS TECHNICAL SUPPORT UNIVERSITY EDUCATION URBAN AREAS WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGES WORK EXPERIENCE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/03/437905/sources-ethnic-inequality-vietnam http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22315

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Summary:	Vietnam's ethnic minorities, who tend to live mostly in remote rural areas, typically have lower living standards than the ethnic majority. How much is this because of differences in economic characteristics (such as education levels and land) rather than low returns to characteristics? Is there a self-reinforcing culture of poverty in the minority groups, reflecting patterns of past discrimination? The authors find that differences in levels of living are due in part to the fact that the minorities live in less productive areas characterized by difficult terrain, poor infrastructure, less access to off-farm work and the market economy, and inferior access to education. Geographic disparities tend to persist because of immobility and regional differences in living standards. But the authors also find large differences within geographical areas even after controlling for household characteristics. They find differences in returns to productive characteristics to be the most important explanation for ethnic inequality. But the minorities do not obtain lower returns to all characteristics. There is evidence of compensating behavior. For example, pure returns to location--even in remote, inhospitable areas--tend to be higher for minorities, though not high enough to overcome the large consumption difference with the majority. The majority ethnic groups' model of income generation is a poor guide on how to fight poverty among ethnic minority groups. Nor is it enough to target poor areas to redress ethnic inequality. Policies must be designed to reach minority households in poor areas and to explicitly recognize behavior patterns (including compensating behavior) that have served the minorities well in the short term but intensify ethnic inequalities in the longer term. It will be important to open up options for minority groups both by ensuring that they are not disadvantaged (in labor markets, for example), and by changing the conditions that have caused their isolation and social exclusion.