Ethnic Minority Poverty in Vietnam
Although economic reform has brought remarkable progress in poverty reduction in Vietnam, the scale and depth of ethnic minority poverty in Vietnam presents one of the major challenges to achieving the targets for poverty reduction set out in the S...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Report |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/495591468321292112/Ethnic-minority-poverty-in-Vietnam http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28100 |
Summary: | Although economic reform has brought
remarkable progress in poverty reduction in Vietnam, the
scale and depth of ethnic minority poverty in Vietnam
presents one of the major challenges to achieving the
targets for poverty reduction set out in the Socio-Economic
Development Plan, as well as the millennium development
goals. The authors first review a series of monetary and
non-monetary indicators which show the living standards of
the ethnic minorities are improving but still lag seriously
behind those of the majority Kinh-Hoa. The minorities'
lower living standards result from the complex interplay of
overlapping disadvantages, which start in utero and continue
until adult life. Next an analysis of the drivers of the
ethnic gap, in terms of both differences in characteristics
and differences in returns to those characteristics, is
undertaken. Mean and quantile decompositions show that at
least a half of the gap in per capita expenditure can be
attributed to the lower returns to characteristics that the
ethnic minorities receive. The reasons underlying such
differences in returns are discussed, drawing on both
quantitative analysis and the large number of qualitative
studies on ethnic issues in Vietnam. Finally, some of the
short and longer term policy measures which the authors
believe could help to counter ethnic disadvantages in the
nutrition, education, and employment sectors are discussed.
The authors also emphasize the importance of promoting
growth that is geographically broad and socially inclusive
without which, the current disparities between the Kinh-Hoa
and the ethnic minorities will continue to grow. |
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