Impacts of economic integration on living standards and poverty reduction of rural households.

Abstract

Economic integration has been accelerated in Vietnam as in other East Asia countries with the aim to reduce poverty and inequality. However, challenges including widening income gap between urban and rural and between households have emerged. This article examines the effect of economic integration on poverty and inequality of rural households in Vietnam. Corrected for fixed effects and other potential bias we find that the effect of economic integration on household welfare is minimal and statistically insignificant. Our study suggests policy agendas will require a redistributive household and community level component in addition to macroeconomic growth to effectively reduce poverty.