Skip to main content
Log in

Implications of economic reform and spatial mobility for fertility in Vietnam

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Vietnam has registered a dramatic decline in fertility during the last decades. While the causes of such a sustained decline are still not well documented, many observers believe that government policies adopted in the 1980s have contributed to lower fertility. This article focuses on the implications of the Doi Moi program of market reforms on fertility, taking into account the influences of migration and population policy. The analysis is based on a sequential logit model of birth histories of ever married women interviewed in Vietnam in 1997. The results show a substantial decline in fertility since the Doi Moi program was introduced. The disruptive effects of migration are less pronounced, although migrants generally exhibit lower childbearingrates, and a somewhat different pattern of parity progression. We argue that the economic reforms of 1986, and the two-child policy initiated two years later, have reinforcedVietnamese women's desire for smaller families.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allison, P.D. (1984), Event History Analysis: Regression for Longitudinal Event Data. Beverly Hills/London/New Delhi: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allman, J., Nhan, V.Q., Thang, N.M., San, P.B.& Man, V.D. (1991), Fertility and family planning in Vietnam, Studies in Family Planning 22(5): 308–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbieri, M., Allman, J., Pham, B.S.& Nguyen, M.T. (1995), La situation démographique du Viet Nam, Population 50(3): 621–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaujot, R. (1991), Population Change in Canada: The Challenges of Policy Adaptation. Toronto: McClelland&Stewart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bledsoe, C.H., Casterline, J.B., Johnson-Kuhn, J.A.,& Haaga, J.G. (1999), Critical Perspectives on Schooling and Fertility in the Developing World. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blossfeld, H.P., Hamerle, A.& Mayer, K.U. (1989), Event History Analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, J. (1998), Communism, poverty, and demographic change in North Vietnam, Population and Development Review 24(2): 235–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulatao, R.A.& Lee R.D., eds. (1983), Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries. New York: Academy Press.

  • Dang, N.A. (1999), Rural-urban transition and the impacts of migration in Vietnam. Paper presented at the 1999 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New York City, 25–27 March 1999.

  • Dang, N.A. (1998), Patterns of migration and economic development in Vietnam, Journal of Socio-economic Development 64(2): 35–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dang, N.A. (1997), Development, government policy and internal labor migration in Vietnam. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Dang, A., Goldstein, S.& McNally, J. (1997), Internal migration and development in Vietnam, International Migration Review 31(2): 312–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desbarats, J. (1987), Population redistribution in Vietnam, Population and Development Review 13(1): 43–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Djamba, Y., Goldstein, A.& Goldstein, S. (1999), Permanent and temporary migration in Vietnam during a period of economic change, Asia-Pacific Population Journal 14(3): 25–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Do, V.H. (1998), Resettlement in Vietnam: its effects on population and production, in Proceedings of the International Seminar on International Migration: Implications for Migration Policy in Vietnam. Hanoi: The Population Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, K. (1990), Duration of residence in the United States and fertility of US immigrants, International Migration Review 24(1): 34–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • General Statistical Office (GSO) (1999), Viet Nam Demographic and Health Survey 1997. Hanoi, Viet Nam: Statistical Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • General Statistical Office (GSO) (1995), Viet Nam Intercensal Demographic Survey 1994: Major Findings. Hanoi, Viet Nam: Statistical Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, A., White, M.& Goldstein, S. (1997), Migration, fertility, and state policy in Hubei Province, China, Demography 34(4): 481–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, S.& Goldstein, A. (1981), The impact of migration on fertility: an ‘own children’ analysis of fertility for Thailand, Population Studies 35(2): 265–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodkind, D.M. (1995), Vietnam's one-or-two-child policy in action, Population and Development Review 21(1): 85–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodkind, D. (1994), Abortion in Vietnam: measurements, puzzles, and concerns, Studies in Family Planning 25(6): 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvie, C.& Hoa, T.V. (1997), Vietnam's Reforms and Economic Growth. New York: St Martin's Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haughton, J. (1997), Falling fertility in Vietnam, Population Studies 51(2): 203–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoa, H.T., Toan, N.V., Johansson, A., Hoa, V.T., Höjer, B.& Persson, L.Å. (1996), Child spacing and two child policy in practice in rural Vietnam: cross sectional survey, British Medical Journal 313 (7065):1113–1116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keyfitz, N. (1982), Development and elimination of poverty, Economic Development and Cultural Change 30: 649–670.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, M. (1976), Why Poor People Stay Poor: Urban Bias in World Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luc, N., Thang, N.M., Swenson, I.& San, P.B. (1993), Selected determinants of fertility in Vietnam: Age at marriage, marriage to first birth interval and age at first birth, Journal of Biosocial Science 25(3): 303–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Committee for Population and Family Planning (NCPFP). (1998), Population and Reproductive Health Profile of Vietnam. Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

  • Ng, E.& Nault, F. (1997), Fertility among recent immigrant women to Canada, 1991: An examination of the disruption hypothesis, International Migration35(4): 559–580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, V.P., Knodel, J., Mai, V.C.& Hoang, X. (1996). Fertility and family planning in Vietnam: Evidence from the 1994 inter-censal demographic survey, Studies in Family Planning 27(1): 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ram, B.& George, M.V. (1990), Immigrant fertility patterns in Canada, 1961–1986, International Migration 28(4): 413–426.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

White, M.J., Djamba, Y.K. & Anh, D.N. Implications of economic reform and spatial mobility for fertility in Vietnam. Population Research and Policy Review 20, 207–228 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010604730408

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010604730408

Navigation