TY - BOOK ID - 133358537 TI - Sources of Ethnic Inequality in Vietnam AU - Walle, de van Dominique AU - Gunewardena, Dileni PY - 1999 PB - Washington, D.C., The World Bank, DB - UniCat KW - Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems KW - Agriculture KW - Basic Infrastructure KW - Cash Crops KW - Communities & Human Settlements KW - Debt Markets KW - Development Policies KW - Disability KW - Discrimination KW - Ethnic Groups KW - Finance and Financial Sector Development KW - Financial Literacy KW - Health Care KW - Health, Nutrition and Population KW - Housing and Human Habitats KW - Ill-Health KW - Income Inequality KW - Indigenous Practices KW - Knowledge KW - Land Tenure KW - Large Population KW - Living Standards KW - Minority KW - Policies KW - Policy KW - Population Policies KW - Poverty KW - Poverty Reduction KW - Public Services KW - Rural Areas KW - Rural Development KW - Rural Development Knowledge and Information Systems KW - Rural Poverty Reduction KW - Social Protections and Labor KW - Urban Development KW - Urban Housing UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:133358537 AB - March 2000 - To redress ethnic inequality in Vietnam, it is not enough to target poor areas. Policies must be designed to reach minority households in poor areas, to open up options by ensuring that minority groups are not disadvantaged (in labor markets, for example), to change the conditions that have caused their isolation and social exclusion, and to explicitly recognize behavior patterns (including compensating behavior) that have served the minorities well but intensify ethnic inequalities in the longer term. Vietnam's ethnic minorities, who tend to live mostly in remote rural areas, typically have lower living standards than the ethnic majority. How much is this because of differences in economic characteristics (such as education levels and land) rather than low returns to characteristics? Is there a self-reinforcing culture of poverty in the minority groups, reflecting patterns of past discrimination? Van de Walle and Gunewardena find that differences in levels of living are due in part to the fact that the minorities live in less productive areas characterized by difficult terrain, poor infrastructure, less access to off-farm work and the market economy, and inferior access to education. Geographic disparities tend to persist because of immobility and regional differences in living standards. But the authors also find large differences within geographical areas even after controlling for household characteristics. They find differences in returns to productive characteristics to be the most important explanation for ethnic inequality. But the minorities do not obtain lower returns to all characteristics. There is evidence of compensating behavior. For example, pure returns to location - even in remote, inhospitable areas - tend to be higher for minorities, though not high enough to overcome the large consumption difference with the majority. The majority ethnic group's model of income generation is a poor guide on how to fight poverty among ethnic minority groups. Nor is it enough to target poor areas to redress ethnic inequality. Policies must be designed to reach minority households in poor areas and to explicitly recognize behavior patterns (including compensating behavior) that have served the minorities well in the short term but intensify ethnic inequalities in the longer term. It will be important to open up options for minority groups both by ensuring that they are not disadvantaged (in labor markets, for example), and by changing the conditions that have caused their isolation and social exclusion. This paper - a product of Public Economics and Rural Development, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the determinants of poverty and the policy implications. Dominique van de Walle may be contacted at dvandewalle@worldbank.org. ER -