IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v71y2015icp79-93.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rural–Urban Migration, Household Vulnerability, and Welfare in Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Nguyen, Loc Duc
  • Raabe, Katharina
  • Grote, Ulrike

Abstract

This paper investigates the interaction of migration, vulnerability to poverty, and welfare of rural households in three provinces in Central Vietnam. It addresses three questions. (1) To what extent do shocks motivate rural household members to move to urban areas?, (2) Are migrants in the new urban settings better off in terms of working conditions and quality of life?, and (3) What is the effect of migration on rural household’s welfare and vulnerability to poverty? The analysis uses panel data of 2200 households from rural Vietnam covering the period 2007–2010, and a tracking survey of 299 migrants from 2010. The empirical evidence from a probit model shows that migration, especially migration for employment, is a livelihood support strategy for households exposed to agricultural and economic shocks. Migration for education is more likely observed among households with higher human capital and being financially better off. Nevertheless, the probability of migration decreases with the employment opportunity in the village. Migrants perceive themselves to be better off at the place of destination, but income losses from shocks of their rural households may reduce their employment quality. The results from difference-in-difference specifications with propensity score matching techniques suggest that migration has positive income growth effects, and that these effects are more pronounced in provinces with fewer job opportunities. These effects help not only migrant households moving out of poverty, but it also improves the poverty situation in rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Nguyen, Loc Duc & Raabe, Katharina & Grote, Ulrike, 2015. "Rural–Urban Migration, Household Vulnerability, and Welfare in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 79-93.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:71:y:2015:i:c:p:79-93
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.11.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X13002441
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.11.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giesbert, Lena, 2007. "Seeking Opportunities: Migration as an Income Diversification Strategy of Households in Kakamega District in Kenya," GIGA Working Papers 58, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    2. Everett Lee, 1966. "A theory of migration," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 3(1), pages 47-57, March.
    3. Stark, Oded & Bloom, David E, 1985. "The New Economics of Labor Migration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 173-178, May.
    4. Carol Newman & Fiona Wainwright, 2011. "Income Shocks and Household Risk-Coping Strategies: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp358, IIIS.
    5. Mincer, Jacob, 1978. "Family Migration Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 749-773, October.
    6. Nguyen Thu Phuong & Tran Ngo Thi Minh Tam & Nguyen Thi Nguyet & Remco Oostendorp, 2008. "Determinants and Impacts of Migration in Vietnam," Working Papers 01, Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN), Vietnam.
    7. James Heckman & Salvador Navarro-Lozano, 2004. "Using Matching, Instrumental Variables, and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 30-57, February.
    8. Alan de Brauw & Tomoko Harigaya, 2007. "Seasonal Migration and Improving Living Standards in Vietnam," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 89(2), pages 430-447.
    9. Jean-Paul Azam & Flore Gubert, 2006. "Migrants' Remittances and the Household in Africa: A Review of Evidence," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(2), pages 426-462, December.
    10. A. Smith, Jeffrey & E. Todd, Petra, 2005. "Does matching overcome LaLonde's critique of nonexperimental estimators?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 305-353.
    11. Stephan Klasen & Tobias Lechtenfeld & Felix Povel, 2013. "Using Household Surveys to Capture Vulnerability: Issues and Challenges," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stephan Klasen & Hermann Waibel (ed.), Vulnerability to Poverty, chapter 4, pages 80-114, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2012. "Relative concerns of rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 421-441.
    13. Stefan Dercon, 2002. "Income Risk, Coping Strategies, and Safety Nets," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 17(2), pages 141-166, September.
    14. de la Fuente, Alejandro, 2010. "Remittances and Vulnerability to Poverty in Rural Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 828-839, June.
    15. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
    16. Yoko Niimi & Thai Hung Pham & Barry Reilly, 2009. "Determinants of Remittances: Recent Evidence Using Data on Internal Migrants in Vietnam," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 19-39, March.
    17. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5126 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Larry A. Sjaastad, 1970. "The Costs and Returns of Human Migration," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Harry W. Richardson (ed.), Regional Economics, chapter 9, pages 115-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Phung Duc, Tung & Waibel, Hermann, 2009. "Diversification, risk management and risk coping strategies: Evidence from rural households in three provinces in Vietnam," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Frankfurt a.M. 2009 25, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    20. Richard U. Agesa & Sunwoong Kim, 2001. "Rural to Urban Migration as a Household Decision: Evidence from Kenya," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 60-75, February.
    21. Amare, Mulubrhan & Hohfeld, Lena & Jitsuchon, Somchai & Waibel, Hermann, 2012. "Rural–Urban Migration and Employment Quality: A Case Study From Thailand," Asian Development Review, Asian Development Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 57-79.
    22. Amare, Mulubrhan & Hohfeld, Lena & Jitsuchon, Somchai & Waibel, Hermann, 2012. "Rural–Urban Migration and Employment Quality: A Case Study from Thailand," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 309, Asian Development Bank.
    23. Jonathan Haughton & Shahidur R. Khandker, 2009. "Handbook on Poverty and Inequality," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11985, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Grote, Ulrike & Waibel, Hermann, 2017. "Rural-Urban Migration, Welfare and Employment : Comparing Results from Thailand and Vietnam," 2017 ASAE 9th International Conference, January 11-13, Bangkok, Thailand 284809, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
    2. Umar Mukhtar & Zhangbao Zhong & Beihai Tian & Amar Razzaq & Muhammad Asad ur Rehman Naseer & Tayyaba Hina, 2018. "Does Rural–Urban Migration Improve Employment Quality and Household Welfare? Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2010. "Modest expectations: Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries," MPRA Paper 29507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Iva Vuksanović Herceg Tomislav Herceg Lorena Škuflić, 2020. "New EU member states’ emigration: Projections for future and lessons for the new EU candidates," Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 23(2), pages 129-140, November.
    5. Nguyen, Duc Loc & Grote, Ulrike, 2015. "Migration, Agricultural Production and Diversification: A case study from Vietnam," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 229379, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Cristina Procházková Ilinitchi, 2010. "Selected Migration Theories and their Importance on Drawing Migration Policies [Vybrané teorie migrace a jejich význam při vytváření migračních politik]," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2010(6), pages 3-26.
    7. Eva-Maria Egger & Julie Litchfield, 2019. "Following in their footsteps: an analysis of the impact of successive migration on rural household welfare in Ghana," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Hien, Nguyen Thi Thu, 2019. "Consequences of urban migration of adult children for the elderly left-behind in rural Vietnam," OSF Preprints zxyf8, Center for Open Science.
    9. Elena Vitalievna, Lebedeva, 2007. "Determinants of International Migration and Remittances," MPRA Paper 104789, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2007.
    10. Aleksandr Grigoryan & Knar Khachatryan, 2018. "Remittances and Emigration Intentions: Evidence from Armenia," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp626, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    11. Daniel Rauhut & Birgit Aigner-Walder & Rahel M. Schomaker, 2023. "Economic Theory and Migration," Springer Books, in: The Economics of Immigration Beyond the Cities, chapter 0, pages 21-50, Springer.
    12. Yilmaz, Binhan Elif, 2004. "The Determinants of Migration: A Study of Sending and Destination Perspective," MPRA Paper 104552, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Mauro Augusto dos Santos & Alisson Flávio Barbieri & José Alberto Magno de Carvalho & Carla Jorge Machado, 2010. "Migração: uma revisão sobre algumas das principais teorias," Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG td398, Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
    14. Isabell Duda & Anja Fasse & Ulrike Grote, 2018. "Drivers of rural-urban migration and impact on food security in rural Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(4), pages 785-798, August.
    15. Nguyen Viet Cuong & Vu Hoang Linh, 2018. "The Impact of Migration and Remittances on Household Welfare: Evidence from Vietnam," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 945-963, November.
    16. Barbarito, Antonella, 2005. "The Determinants of Migration: A Theorizing and Conceptualizing of Policy Issues in Perspective of Sending and Destination Effects," MPRA Paper 104469, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2005.
    17. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2008. "Why do people migrate? A review of the theoretical literature," MPRA Paper 28197, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Nguyen Viet Cuong & Daniel Mont, 2012. "Economic impacts of international migration and remittances on household welfare in Vietnam," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(2), pages 144-163, June.
    19. Giesbert, Lena, 2007. "Seeking Opportunities: Migration as an Income Diversification Strategy of Households in Kakamega District in Kenya," GIGA Working Papers 58, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    20. Behnaz, Flippo, 2008. "Conceptualizing Determinants of International Migration and Remittances," MPRA Paper 104915, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2008.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:71:y:2015:i:c:p:79-93. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.