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The effect of land fragmentation on labor allocation and the economic diversity of farm households: The case of Vietnam

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  • Nguyen, Huy

Abstract

This paper investigates the impacts of land fragmentation on economic diversity of farm households in Vietnam. To develop the empirical analysis, a model is presented in which the estimated impact of land fragmentation on economic diversification allows for non-neutral technical change. The paper tests the theoretical predictions of this model by providing empirical evidence of the impact of land fragmentation on farm and nonfarm outcomes such as labour supply, profits, labour intensity and productivity. By using different methods aimed at verifying and checking the consistency of the results, we find that land consolidation may reduce farm labour supply, labour intensity, and improve farm profits and productivity. Similarly, it may release more farm labour to nonfarm sectors and increase nonfarm profits. The empirical results also show that factor-biased technical change plays an important role in explaining the impact of agricultural technical change on economic diversification in Vietnam.

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  • Nguyen, Huy, 2014. "The effect of land fragmentation on labor allocation and the economic diversity of farm households: The case of Vietnam," MPRA Paper 57643, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:57643
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    Cited by:

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    3. Quang Tran, Tuyen & Van Vu, Huong, 2019. "The impact of land fragmentation on household income: Evidence from rural Vietnam," MPRA Paper 98171, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural technical change; land fragmentation; land consolidation; labour allocation; and elasticity of substitution; nonfarm sectors; and economic diversification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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