Land Reform and Welfare in Vietnam: Why Gender of the Land-Rights Holder Matters

Abstract

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.