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Staying in the cities or returning home? An analysis of the rural-urban migration behavior in Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Loc Duc Nguyen

    (Leibniz University Hannover Königsworther Platz 1
    Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development)

  • Ulrike Grote

    (Leibniz University Hannover Königsworther Platz 1)

  • Rasadhika Sharma

    (Leibniz University Hannover Königsworther Platz 1)

Abstract

This paper investigates the migration behavior of rural-urban migrants within Vietnam. It focuses on the length and intensity of migration and its respective determinants. The analysis uses panel data of 2200 rural households and data from a migrant tracking survey of 299 migrants from Vietnam. The findings show that migrants coming from rural households that faced a higher number of idiosyncratic shocks increase their stays in the cities, while those from households that experienced covariate shocks such as floods, droughts, or economic shocks shorten the lengths of their stays in the cities. An increased length of migration is also observed among migrants and households with higher human capital. Furthermore, a decreased income gap between rural and urban provinces due to the higher economic growth in the cities increases the duration of migration. With respect to the migration intensity, migrants intend to return sooner when they face shocks in the cities and the living conditions at their original places improve. JEL Classification: D13, J28, J61, O15, O18, Z13

Suggested Citation

  • Loc Duc Nguyen & Ulrike Grote & Rasadhika Sharma, 2017. "Staying in the cities or returning home? An analysis of the rural-urban migration behavior in Vietnam," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izamig:v:7:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1186_s40176-017-0089-z
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-017-0089-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Sihong Xiong & Ya Wu & Shihai Wu & Fang Chen & Jianzhong Yan, 2020. "Determinants of migration decision-making for rural households: a case study in Chongqing, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(2), pages 1623-1639, November.
    2. Kalandi Charan Pradhan & K. Narayanan, 2019. "Intensity of labour migration and its determinants: insights from Indian semi-arid villages," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 955-994, October.
    3. Busso, Matias & Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Herrera L., Nicolás, 2021. "Rural-urban migration at high urbanization levels," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Freund, Richard & Favara, Marta & Porter, Catherine & Scott, Douglas & Thuc, Duc Le, 2022. "The Mental Cost of Job Loss: Assessing the Impact on Young Adults in Vietnam," IZA Discussion Papers 15522, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Esteban J. Quiñones & Sabine Liebenehm & Rasadhika Sharma, "undated". "Left Home High and Dry-Reduced Migration in Response to Repeated Droughts in Thailand and Vietnam," Mathematica Policy Research Reports ac2ba236e1b8428fbeb6d8b43, Mathematica Policy Research.
    6. Wang, Wenlue & Ren, Qian & Yu, Jin, 2018. "Impact of the ecological resettlement program on participating decision and poverty reduction in southern Shaanxi, China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 1-9.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Length of migration; Migration intensity; Random-effect Tobit regression; Vietnam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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