Is Women’s Work Enough to Reduce Poverty in Vietnam?

Author(s)

Van Thi Nghiem ,

Download Full PDF Pages: 23-35 | Views: 310 | Downloads: 98 | DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3464801

Volume 5 - July 2016 (07)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of women’s work in reducing poverty in Vietnam during the period of 2004-08. We use t-test to compare the equality of means of a group of family with working woman and a group of family with non-working woman using two indexes to calculate expenditure per capita: (1) expenditure per capita; (2) expenditure per equivalence of scales. Expenditure per capita is simply counting the number of people in a household while expenditure per equivalence of scale deflates expenditure by the number of children scaling by some fractions of an adult. This is our contribution to the literature since no research has used expenditure per equivalence of scale before. The determinants of poverty rates in Vietnam are also considered. The result shows that women’s work itself is not enough to reduce poverty in Vietnam. The problem of being poor mainly comes from other characteristics rather than women’s work such as husband’s wage, family’s asset, the number of years of schooling of the husband, the number of years of schooling of the wife and the age of the wife. JEL Classification: I3. 

Keywords

(poverty, equivalence scale). 

References

  1. Bali, S. R., V. S. Nguyen and V. T. Vo (2008) “Microfinance and poverty reduction in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam” African and Asian Studies Vol. 7(2-3): 191-215.
  2. Brauw, A. D and T. Harigaya (2007) “Seasonal migration and improving living standards in Vietnam” American Journal of Agriculture Economics Vol. 89(2): 430-447.
  3. Browning (1992) “Children and household economic behavior” Journal of Economic Literature 30: 1434-1475.
  4. Deaton, A. and J. Muellbauer (1986) “On measuring children costs: With applications to poor countries” Journal of Political Economics 94(4): 720-744.
  5. Espenshade, T. J. (1984) Investing in children Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
  6. Giang, T. L. and W. D Pfau (2009a) “Ageing, poverty and the role of a social pension in Vietnam” Development and Change Vol. 40(2): 333-360.
  7. Heo, Y. and K. D. Nguyen (2009) “Trade liberalization and poverty reduction in Vietnam” The World Economy Vol. 32(6): 934-964.
  8. Imai, K. S, R. Gaiha and W. Kang (2011) “Poverty, inequality and ethnic minorities in Vietnam” International Review of Applied Economics Vol. 25(3): 249-282.
  9. Jenkins, R. (2004) “Vietnam in the global economy: trade, employment and poverty” Journal of International Development Vol. 16(1):13-28.
  10. Justino, P. and J. Litchfield (2004) “Welfare in Vietnam during the 1990s: poverty, inequality and poverty dynamics” Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy Vol. 9(2):145-169.
  11. Justino, P, J. Litchfield and H. T. Pham (2008) “Poverty dynamics during trade reform: evidence from rural Vietnam” Review of Income and Wealth Vol. 54(2): 166-192.
  12. Liu, A. Y. C (2001) “Market, inequality and poverty in Vietnam” Asian Economic Journal Vol. 15(2): 217-235.
  13. Minot, N. (2000) “Generating disaggregated poverty maps: an application to Vietnam” World Development Vol. 28(2):319-331.
  14. Minot, N. and F. Goletti (1998) “Export liberalization and household welfare: the case of rice in Vietnam” American Journal of Agricultural Economics Vol. 80(4): 738-749.
  15. Muellbauer (1977) “Testing the Barten model of household composition effects and the costs of children” The economic Journal 87:460-487.
  16. Nghiem, T. V. (2016) “An inverted U-shaped relationship between the female labor supply and the age of children: A case of Vietnam” accepted for publication on Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, July/August 2016.
  17. Nguyen, V. C. (2008a) “Is a governmental micro-credit program for the poor really pro-poor? Evidence from Vietnam” The Developing Economies Vol. 46(2): 151-187.
  18. Nguyen, V. C. (2011) “Can Vietnam achieve the Millennium Development Goal on poverty reduction in high inflation and economic stagnation?” The Developing Economies Vol. 49(3): 297-320.
  19. Niimi, Y. , P. V. Dutta and L. A. Winters (2007) “Trade liberalization and poverty dynamics in Vietnam” Journal of Economic Integration Vol. 22(4): 819-851.
  20. Mont, D. and C. V. Nguyen (2011) “Disability and poverty in Vietnam” World Bank Economic Review Vol. 25(2):323-359.
  21. Rothbarth, E. (1943) “Note on a method of determination equivalent income for families of different composition” in War-time pattern of saving and spending. Ed.: Charles Madge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Appendix 4: 123-130.
  22. Ut, T. T, M. Hossain and A. Janaiah (2001) “Modern farm technology and infrastructure in Vietnam: impact on income distribution and poverty” Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 35 (52-53): 4638-4643.
  23. Watts, H. (1967) “The Iso-prop index: An approach to the determination of differential poverty income thresholds” Journal of Human Resources Vol. 2(1): 3-18.
  24. White, H. and E. Masset (2003) “The importance of household size and composition in constructing poverty profiles: an illustration from Vietnam” Development and Change Vol. 34(1): 105-126.

Cite this Article: