Growth, Structural Transformation, and Rural Change in Viet Nam

Abstract

Development', would call some 15 years later for a data revolution for sustainable development post-2015 as follows:We also call for a data revolution for sustainable development, with a new international initiative to improve the quality of statistics and information available to citizens. We should actively take advantage of new technology, crowd sourcing, and improved connectivity to empower people with information on the progress towards the targets. (Chapter 4, Implementation, Accountability and Building Consensus, p. 21.) xvi As Director of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) since 2009 and in this capacity in recent years as a member of the UN Task Team for the formulation of the post-2015 development agenda, I have come to appreciate these demands for international action. The HLP call for a data revolution is most pertinent, and I note that while substantial improvements in statistical systems have been registered in many developing countries over the past two decades, performance remains poor in far too many sectors and countries. The HLP notes, for example, that more than 40 countries lack sufficiently strong systems to properly track trends in poverty; and the panel also notes unsatisfactorily high time lags for reporting MDG (Millennium Development Goals) outcomes.Recently, large-scale revisions of GDP estimates in Ghana and Nigeria as well as elsewhere serve as reminders of broad-based weaknesses in statistical systems that persist across the developing world, including not only Africa but also the Asia-Pacific region. On this background-and recalling UNU-WIDER's long-standing expertise in innovation in data collection and analysis-leads me to strongly confirm the view that data will be at the centre of the development action post-2015.At the same time, while the logic of a concerted push towards a 'data revolution' is compelling, these calls are often rather fluffy-and it is indeed not entirely clear from ongoing debates that it is widely understood what such a revolution actually requires and means in concrete practice.The aims of this volume were formulated with these concerns in mind using Viet Nam as a case due to the concrete and unique, but coincidental, availability of the solid VARHS experience and panel data set. Furthermore, Viet Nam's contemporary similarities to a large number of developing economies make its experience and policy recommendations, based on analysis of microeconomic data, highly relevant for many regional and extraregional stakeholders. In fact, Viet Nam provides an exceptionally informative environment in which to observe and consider the economic and social mechanisms underlying: A rural economy in transformation,  The critical importance of key production factors and institutions, and  The complex set of welfare outcomes and distributional issues.These dimensions are therefore the three component parts of this volume, identifying throughout the associated policy challenges after setting the scene in the...

Determining key research areas for healthier diets and sustainable food systems in Viet Nam

“…It involves food remittances from the home town to the city. These clearly reflect the intergenerational shift of people from the countryside to the city (Tarp 2017). Additionally, in response to food safety concerns, informal social mobilization to acquire 'safe vegetables' is a common phenomenon (for example, at the workplace).…”

Alternative Design Theories and the Temporal Nature of Top-Down Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Support Processes: Implications for Resource-Constrained Emerging Ecosystems in Transition

“…Recent studies of bottom-up and top-down occurring EEs show that, when fundamental resources and most of the Stam and van de Ven (2021) elements exist, entrepreneurial ecosystems can emerge on their own and evolve over time, like natural ecosystems, and may have an internal culture that coordinates, controls, and motivates stakeholders (Bøllingtoft, 2012;Holmes et al, 2013;Lehmann et al, 2019;Lehmann and Seitz, 2017). EEs like the San Francisco Bay area, New York's Silicon Alley, and Vietnam's South Central Coast agricultural region are examples of these naturally emerging bottom-up ecosystems (Bautista, 2001;Friederichsen et al, 2013;Ngoc et al, 2021;Tarp, 2017).…”

Occupations on the map: Using a super learner algorithm to downscale labor statistics

“…We selected Vietnam as a case study to demonstrate our approach because it is a lower middle-income country that has experienced a phase of rapid economic growth and structural transformation [ 27 ]. As a consequence, the occupational distribution is rather diverse, including roughly equal shares of agricultural and non-agricultural workers as well as a fair share of high-skilled jobs ( S1 Fig ).…”