The policy reforms called for in the transition from a socialist command-economy to a developing market-economy bring both opportunities and risks to the living standards of a country's citizens. Starting in the early 1980s in Vietnam, reforms were introduced to promote the transition from the socialist mode of agricultural production to market-based agriculture. The book assesses the welfare impacts, both in terms of efficiency and equity, of the main elements of Vietnam's agrarian reforms, namely the dismantling of the old collectives and assigning land to households, and the introduction of a market in land-use rights.
Assessing the welfare impacts of an economy-wide reform is never going to be easy. One does not have the enormous informational advantage of being able to observe non-participants in the reform at the same time as one observes participants. The lack of a comparison group means that we must rely more heavily on economic theory to infer the counterfactual of what the economy would have looked like without the reform and assess what types of households are likely to gain from the reforms, and which are likely to lose. The book offers a set of methods for this purpose, drawing on the tool kit of modern economics.
The book's principal finding is that, while there were certainly some losers (including amongst the poor), on balance Vietnam's agrarian reforms were poverty reducing, though more so in some regions than others. This finding, and a number of the more detailed findings along the way, will have implications for other countries that have not embarked on similar reforms, including neighboring China. The book's findings will also have implications for broader issues of social protection in developing rural economies.
'Land in Transition provides a thought-provoking read. Through a comprehensive, yet comprehensible analysis of lessons learned from Vietnam's land reforms, Ravallion and van de Walle share with us insights gained from a thoughtful study of key issues for poverty reduction and social protection in a developing country on the road to a market economy.' - Moe Thuzar, Asean Economic Bulletin
'This excellent book...is a valuable publication, which should be of great interest to scholars and students of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian studies, as well as to anyone interested in development studies and transition economies.' - Newsletter of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies
Introduction
The Historical Context and Policy Debates
Data and Summary Statistics
Welfare Impacts of Privatizing Land-Use Rights
Land Reallocation after Introduction of a Land Market
Rising Landlessness: A Sign of Success or Failure?
Access to Credit for the Landless Poor
Conclusions
MARTIN RAVALLION is Senior Research Manager in the Development Research Group of the World Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics, and Political Science, UK, and has taught economics at L.S.E., Oxford University, the Australian National University, and Princeton University. His main research interests over the last twenty years have concerned poverty and policies for fighting it. He has advised numerous governments and international agencies on this topic, and he has written extensively on this and other subjects in economics, including two books and over 150 papers in scholarly journals and edited volumes. He currently serves on the Editorial Boards of ten economics journals and is a Senior Fellow of the Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis of Development.
DOMINIQUE VAN DE WALLE is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group (Human Development and Public Services Team). Her research interests are in the general area of poverty and public expenditures. She holds a Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and a Ph. D. in economics from the Australian National University, and began her career at the Bank as a member of the core team that produced the 1990 World Development Report on Poverty. She has worked on Argentina, Hungary, Morocco, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The bulk of her recent research has been on Vietnam, covering poverty, rural development, land reform, infrastructure (rural roads and irrigation) and poverty, impact evaluation and safety nets.
Description
The policy reforms called for in the transition from a socialist command-economy to a developing market-economy bring both opportunities and risks to the living standards of a country's citizens. Starting in the early 1980s in Vietnam, reforms were introduced to promote the transition from the socialist mode of agricultural production to market-based agriculture. The book assesses the welfare impacts, both in terms of efficiency and equity, of the main elements of Vietnam's agrarian reforms, namely the dismantling of the old collectives and assigning land to households, and the introduction of a market in land-use rights.
Assessing the welfare impacts of an economy-wide reform is never going to be easy. One does not have the enormous informational advantage of being able to observe non-participants in the reform at the same time as one observes participants. The lack of a comparison group means that we must rely more heavily on economic theory to infer the counterfactual of what the economy would have looked like without the reform and assess what types of households are likely to gain from the reforms, and which are likely to lose. The book offers a set of methods for this purpose, drawing on the tool kit of modern economics.
The book's principal finding is that, while there were certainly some losers (including amongst the poor), on balance Vietnam's agrarian reforms were poverty reducing, though more so in some regions than others. This finding, and a number of the more detailed findings along the way, will have implications for other countries that have not embarked on similar reforms, including neighboring China. The book's findings will also have implications for broader issues of social protection in developing rural economies.
Reviews
'Land in Transition provides a thought-provoking read. Through a comprehensive, yet comprehensible analysis of lessons learned from Vietnam's land reforms, Ravallion and van de Walle share with us insights gained from a thoughtful study of key issues for poverty reduction and social protection in a developing country on the road to a market economy.' - Moe Thuzar, Asean Economic Bulletin
'This excellent book...is a valuable publication, which should be of great interest to scholars and students of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian studies, as well as to anyone interested in development studies and transition economies.' - Newsletter of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies
Contents
Introduction
The Historical Context and Policy Debates
Data and Summary Statistics
Welfare Impacts of Privatizing Land-Use Rights
Land Reallocation after Introduction of a Land Market
Rising Landlessness: A Sign of Success or Failure?
Access to Credit for the Landless Poor
Conclusions
Authors
MARTIN RAVALLION is Senior Research Manager in the Development Research Group of the World Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics, and Political Science, UK, and has taught economics at L.S.E., Oxford University, the Australian National University, and Princeton University. His main research interests over the last twenty years have concerned poverty and policies for fighting it. He has advised numerous governments and international agencies on this topic, and he has written extensively on this and other subjects in economics, including two books and over 150 papers in scholarly journals and edited volumes. He currently serves on the Editorial Boards of ten economics journals and is a Senior Fellow of the Bureau for Research in Economic Analysis of Development.
DOMINIQUE VAN DE WALLE is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group (Human Development and Public Services Team). Her research interests are in the general area of poverty and public expenditures. She holds a Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and a Ph. D. in economics from the Australian National University, and began her career at the Bank as a member of the core team that produced the 1990 World Development Report on Poverty. She has worked on Argentina, Hungary, Morocco, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The bulk of her recent research has been on Vietnam, covering poverty, rural development, land reform, infrastructure (rural roads and irrigation) and poverty, impact evaluation and safety nets.
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