Structural Transformation and Intertemporal Evolution of Real Wages, Machine Use, and Farm Size–Productivity Relationships in Vietnam

27 Pages Posted: 13 May 2016 Last revised: 12 May 2017

See all articles by Yanyan Liu

Yanyan Liu

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

William J. Violette

Brown University

Christopher B. Barrett

Cornell University - Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management

Date Written: April 2017

Abstract

This paper explores the evolution of real agricultural wages, machinery use, and the relationship between farm size and productivity in Vietnam during its dramatic structural transformation over the course of the 1990s and 2000s. Using six rounds of nationally representative household survey data, we find strong evidence that the inverse relationship between rice productivity and planting area attenuated significantly over this period and that the attenuation was most pronounced in areas with higher real wages. This pattern is also associated with sharp increases in machinery use, indicating a scale-biased substitution effect between machinery and labor. The results suggest that rural-factor market failures are receding in importance, making land concentration less of a cause of concern for aggregate food production.

Keywords: VIET NAM; VIETNAM; SOUTH EAST ASIA; ASIA; Productivity; Structural Change; Farm Size; Food Production; Households; Mechanization

Suggested Citation

Liu, Yanyan and Violette, William J. and Barrett, Christopher B., Structural Transformation and Intertemporal Evolution of Real Wages, Machine Use, and Farm Size–Productivity Relationships in Vietnam (April 2017). IFPRI Discussion Paper 1525, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2779297

Yanyan Liu (Contact Author)

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

1201 Eye St, NW,
Washington, DC 20005
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William J. Violette

Brown University ( email )

Box 1860
Providence, RI 02912
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.brown.edu/

Christopher B. Barrett

Cornell University - Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management ( email )

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Ithaca, NY 14853-7801
United States
607-255-4489 (Phone)
607-255-9984 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://aem.cornell.edu/faculty_sites/cbb2/

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