Migration and rural household expenditures

A case study from Vietnam

authored by

Duc Loc Nguyen, Ulrike Grote, Trung Thanh Nguyen

Abstract

Understanding the impact of migration on rural household expenditures is important since household expenditure patterns can demonstrate whether remittances are used for consumption or for investment. This paper investigates the effects of rural–urban migration on consumption expenditure patterns of rural households of Vietnam. The econometric analysis of a 3-year panel data set of about 2000 households (about 6000 observations) shows that rural migrant households increase their overall expenditures. Migrant households without remittances spend more on food, health care and other non-food items, but less on education of their children, while migrant households with remittances spend more on housing and other non-food items. The results indicate that migration and remittances bring a good opportunity for rural industries and services such as construction and health care. However, migration and remittances do not influence rural education. To promote rural development in the long-run, we suggest that other financial sources should be established to enhance rural education for improving human capital.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Environmental Economics and World Trade

External Organisation(s)

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Vietnam

Type

Article

Journal

Economic Analysis and Policy (Online)

Volume

56

Pages

163-175

No. of pages

13

ISSN

0313-5926

Publication date

12.2017

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics and Econometrics, Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being, SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2017.09.001 (Access: Closed)