The impact of land loss on household income: the case of Hanoi\u27s sub-urban Areas, Vietnam

Using a novel dataset from a 2010 household survey, this study has provided the first econometric evidence of the impacts of farmland loss (due to urbanization and industrialization) on total household income and its sources in Hanoi\u27s sub-urban areas, Vietnam. It was found that the loss of farmland had a positive impact on nonfarm income and other income but a negative impact on farm income. More importantly, the results showed that farmland loss had no negative effect on total household income. The above findings suggest that under the impacts of land loss, households have actively participated in nonfarm activities in order to supplement their income with nonfarm incomes, which in turn might have compensated for the loss of farm income due to land loss. Therefore, the loss of farmland should not be considered as an absolutately negative factor as it can help households improve their income by motivating them to change their livelihoods towards nonfarm activities