Migration and rural household expenditures: A case study from Vietnam

Understanding the impact of migration on rural household expenditures is important since household expenditure patterns can demonstrate whether remittances are used for consumption or for investment. This paper investigates the effects of rural-urban migration on consumption expenditure patterns of rural households of Vietnam. The econometric analysis of a 3-year panel data set of about 2000 households (about 6000 observations) shows that rural migrant households increase their overall expenditures. Migrant households without remittances spend more on food, health care and other non-food items, but less on education of their children, while migrant households with remittances spend more on housing and other non-food items. The results indicate that migration and remittances bring a good opportunity for rural industries and services such as construction and health care. However, migration and remittances do not influence rural education. To promote rural development in the long-run, we suggest that other financial sources should be established to enhance rural education for improving human capital. (C) 2017 Economic Society of Australia, Queensland. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.