Vietnam's Evolving Poverty Map : Patterns and Implications for Policy

This paper uses small area estimation techniques to update Vietnam's province and district-level poverty map to 2009. It finds that poverty rates continue to be highest in the northern and central mountainous regions, where ethnic minorities make up a large fraction of the population. Poverty has fallen in most provinces and districts over this decade, but the pace of poverty reduction has been least pronounced in those localities with high initial poverty or inequality levels. As a result, poverty rates have become more spatially concentrated over time, which is consistent with widely observed growth processes linked to agglomeration. The authors hypothesize that this makes geographic targeting of the poor more relevant as a means to re-balance growing welfare disparities between geographic areas. Simulations indicate that in both 1999 and 2009, geographic targeting for poverty alleviation improves upon a uniform lump-sum transfer and this becomes more evident the more spatially disaggregated the target populations. The analysis further indicates that the gains from geographic targeting have become more pronounced over time in Vietnam. Although poverty reduction in Vietnam has been impressive, further progress may thus warrant increased attention to geographic targeting.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Marra, Marleen, Lanjouw, Peter, Nguyen, Cuong
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-02
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE INEQUALITY, AGGLOMERATION EXTERNALITIES, AGGREGATE LEVEL, ANTI-POVERTY, ANTI-POVERTY RESOURCES, CASH TRANSFERS, CITIES, COEFFICIENTS, DATA SETS, DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY, DECOMPOSABLE POVERTY MEASURES, DELTA REGION, DELTA REGIONS, DEPENDENT VARIABLE, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DEVELOPMENT REPORT, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, DIFFERENTIALS, DISTRICT, DISTRICT LEVEL, DISTRICT-LEVEL, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, EQUAL DISTRIBUTION, ESTIMATES OF POVERTY, ESTIMATION METHOD, ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES, ETHNIC MINORITY, ETHNIC MINORITY PEOPLE, EXPENDITURE, EXPENDITURE DATA, EXPLANATORY VARIABLES, EXTREME POVERTY, FOOD FOR EDUCATION, FOOD POLICY, FOOD SECURITY, GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS, GINI COEFFICIENT, GINI INDEX, GLOBAL POVERTY, HEALTH INSURANCE, HIGH POPULATION DENSITY, HIGH POVERTY, HOUSEHOLD DATA, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, IMPACT ON POVERTY, IMPERFECT INFORMATION, INCIDENCE OF POVERTY, INCOME, INCOME INEQUALITY, INCOME POVERTY, INEQUALITY, INEQUALITY LEVELS, INEQUALITY MEASURES, INEQUALITY OUTCOMES, INEQUALITY WILL, LAGGING REGIONS, LAND EQUALITY, LEVEL OF POVERTY, LIVING STANDARDS, LOW INEQUALITY, LOW POVERTY RATES, MINISTRY OF LABOR, MOUNTAINOUS AREAS, MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS, NATIONAL POVERTY, OPTIMAL TARGETING, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE, POINT ESTIMATES, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY MEASURES, POLICY OBJECTIVES, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POOR, POOR COMMUNITIES, POOR DISTRICTS, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POOR PEOPLE, POOR PERSON, POOR POPULATION, POORER COMMUNITIES, POPULATION SHARE, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY ALLEVIATION EFFORTS, POVERTY ALLEVIATION STRATEGY, POVERTY ASSESSMENT, POVERTY COMPARISONS, POVERTY DECLINE, POVERTY ESTIMATES, POVERTY GAP, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY INDEXES, POVERTY LEVELS, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY MAP, POVERTY MAPPING, POVERTY MAPS, POVERTY MEASURE, POVERTY MEASURES, POVERTY OUTCOMES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY SEVERITY, POVERTY STATUS, PRO-POOR, PROVINCE, PROVINCIAL LEVEL, PUBLIC ECONOMICS, REDUCING POVERTY, REDUCTION IN POVERTY, REGIONAL LEVEL, REGIONAL MODELS, REGIONAL POVERTY, REGIONAL TARGETING, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL PEOPLE, RURAL PHENOMENON, RURAL POVERTY, RURAL PROVINCES, SAFETY NET, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL FUNDS, SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION, SPATIAL PATTERNS, SQUARED POVERTY GAP, STANDARD DEVIATION, SUB-NATIONAL, TARGETING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TOTAL POVERTY, TOTAL POVERTY RATE, URBAN AREAS, VILLAGE, VILLAGE LEVEL, VILLAGES, WAR, WELFARE INDICATORS, WELFARE MEASURES,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/02/17211672/vietnams-evolving-poverty-map-patterns-implications-policy https://hdl.handle.net/10986/13156
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