Is the Emerging Nonfarm Market Economy the Route Out of Poverty in Vietnam?

Are the household characteristics that
are good for transition to a more diversified
market-oriented development process in Vietnam also
important for reducing poverty? Or are there tradeoffs? The
determinants of both poverty incidence and participation in
rural off-farm activities are modeled as functions of
household and community characteristics using comprehensive
national household surveys for 1993 and 1998. Despite some
common causative factors, such as education and region of
residence, the processes determining poverty and inhibiting
diversification are clearly not the same. Participation in
the emerging rural nonfarm market economy will be the route
out of poverty for some, but certainly not all, of
Vietnam's poor.