National pro-poor spending programmes and their effect on income inequality and poverty: Evidence from Vietnam

This article examines the causal effects of the national (pro-poor) targeted programmes (NTPs) on both poverty incidence and inequality in Vietnam over the period 2002-2010. While the links between NTPs and poverty alleviation and income inequality have previously been analysed independently, this s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApplied economics Vol. 49; no. 55; pp. 5579 - 5590
Main Authors Phan, Phuc Van, O'brien, Martin, Mendolia, Silvia, Paloyo, Alfredo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 26.11.2017
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Economic analysis
Economic models
Economic theory
Generalized method of moments
GMM estimators
Income inequality
inequality
Poverty
Pro-poor programmers
public spending
Vietnam
Vietnam
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Summary:This article examines the causal effects of the national (pro-poor) targeted programmes (NTPs) on both poverty incidence and inequality in Vietnam over the period 2002-2010. While the links between NTPs and poverty alleviation and income inequality have previously been analysed independently, this study is the first to offer a comprehensive analysis of NTPs expenditure on poverty and inequality simultaneously. Applying the system generalized method of moments estimator to a panel of Vietnamese regional data, we are unable to establish that NTPs have significantly mitigated poverty incidence. However, we estimate that NTPs have significantly increased inequality. We offer possible explanations why the NTPs have resulted in these unintended outcomes and discuss potential policies which can reduce both poverty and inequality.
ISSN:0003-6846
1466-4283
DOI:10.1080/00036846.2017.1313957