Educational Outcomes of Children Who Grew Up during the Transition to Market Economy in Vietnam

Nobuko Mizoguchi, University of California, Berkeley

In the decade following the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, Vietnam experienced a period of economic hardship which resulted in a series of economic reforms that introduced market economy in the late 1980's. An examination of the 1999 census of Vietnam revealed that educational outcomes of those who where children during the transition to market economy were negatively affected. This paper seeks to investigate the potential causes of the drop in education level observed among cohorts born around 1978 observed in the 1999 Vietnam Census. While the paper focuses on Vietnam, it could have broader policy implications for other countries who are undergoing similar market reforms.