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Land Reform and Welfare in Vietnam: Why Gender of the Land‐Rights Holder Matters
Author(s) -
Me Nidhiya,
Rodgers Yana,
Kennedy Alexis R.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.3203
Subject(s) - poverty , welfare , vulnerability (computing) , land titling , household income , land tenure , economics , socioeconomics , land rights , economic growth , business , demographic economics , labour economics , agricultural economics , geography , market economy , computer security , archaeology , environmental planning , computer science , agriculture
Vietnam's 1993 Land Law created a land market by granting households tradable land‐use rights. This study uses mixed methods to analyze whether increased land titling led to improvements in household economic security and whether land titles in women's and men's names had different effects. Using a matched sample of households from Vietnam's 2004 and 2008 Household Living Standards Survey, we find that land‐use rights held exclusively by women or jointly by couples result in beneficial effects that include increased household expenditures, greater women's self‐employment, and lower household vulnerability to poverty. Results from interviews conducted in Vietnam support these conclusions by indicating that women with sole or joint ownership of land enjoyed greater well‐being and higher status. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.