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The Long-Term Impacts of Bombing Vietnam on Occupations Over Cohorts

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  • Van Le Thy Ha

Abstract

This paper investigates the persistent effects of Vietnam War (1955–1975) bombing on occupations and incomes of different cohorts in 2018. To do this, I link the US National Archives bombing data to a Vietnamese representative household survey. I employ an instrumental variable approach that leverages rounding thresholds used to target villagelevel airstrikes. The results show that bombing increases the share of post-war young cohorts working in low-skilled occupations by 10 percentage points and reduces their income by over 50% in 2018. The effects are even more pronounced for older cohorts who were directly exposed to the war. I estimate that heavily bombed villages lag approximately 1.3 to 1.6 generations behind in occupational transformation. My analysis indicates that educational accessibility and wartime village governance partially mediate these effects. This paper provides the first evidence that bombing distorts occupational and income structures for the post-war generation, causing bombed villages to lag in structural transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Van Le Thy Ha, 2026. "The Long-Term Impacts of Bombing Vietnam on Occupations Over Cohorts," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp813, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp813
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    JEL classification:

    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • N45 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Asia including Middle East

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