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The impact of international and internal remittances on household welfare: evidence from Viet Nam

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  • Nguyen Viet Cuong

    (Faculty of Trade and International Economics, National Economics University, Viet Nam)

Abstract

Using data from the Viet Nam household living standard surveys of 2002 and 2004, this paper measures the impact of international and internal remittances on the household welfare of remittance-receiving households. It finds that both the income and the consumption expenditures of the recipients increased as a result of international and internal remittances. The impact of remittances on non-food expenditures tended to be greater than the impact on food expenditures. For international remittances, the impact on income was much greater than the impact on consumption expenditures, meaning that a large proportion of international remittances were used for savings and investment. The impact of internal remittances on income was slightly greater than the impact on consumption expenditures. In other words, most of the internal remittances were used for consumption expenditures.

Suggested Citation

  • Nguyen Viet Cuong, 2009. "The impact of international and internal remittances on household welfare: evidence from Viet Nam," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 16(1), pages 59-92, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:unt:jnapdj:v:16:y:2009:i:1:p:59-92
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Michael Berlemann & Thi Xuyen Tran, 2021. "Tropical Storms and Temporary Migration in Vietnam," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 1107-1142, December.
    3. Nguyen, Cuong Viet & Vu, Linh Hoang, 2014. "Should Parents Work Away from or Close to Home? The Effect of Temporary Parental Absence on Child Poverty and Children’s Time Use in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 52877, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. ETOWA, Egbe BASSEY & NWEZE, Noble J & ARENE, Chukwuemeka J., 2014. "Effects Of Migrant Remittances On Farm Household Welfare In Nigeria," Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics (RAAE), Faculty of Economics and Management, Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, vol. 18(1), pages 1-8, November.
    5. Bierkamp, Sina & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Grote, Ulrike, 2021. "Environmental income and remittances: Evidence from rural central highlands of Vietnam," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    6. Phan, Diep & Coxhead, Ian, 2016. "Rural-Urban Migration and Remittances in Vietnam Evidence from Migrant Tracer Data," Staff Paper Series 581, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    7. Anh Thu Quang Pham & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya, 2018. "Measurement of Poverty in Multiple Dimensions: The Case of Vietnam," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 953-990, August.
    8. Nguyen, Cuong Viet & Nguyen, Hoa Quynh, 2015. "Do internal and international remittances matter to health, education and labor of children and adolescents? The case of Vietnam," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 28-34.
    9. Nguyen, Cuong & Nguyen, Hoa, 2013. "Do Internal and International Remittances Matter to Health, Education and Labor of Children? The Case of Vietnam," MPRA Paper 48672, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Sridhar Thapa & Sanjaya Acharya, 2017. "Remittances and Household Expenditure in Nepal: Evidence from Cross-Section Data," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-17, May.
    11. Hien, Nguyen Thi Thu, 2019. "Consequences of urban migration of adult children for the elderly left-behind in rural Vietnam," OSF Preprints zxyf8, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International remittances; internal remittances; household welfare; expenditure; income; Viet Nam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances

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