INTERNAL MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN VIETNAM

This article is a step toward understanding the nature of the interrel ationship between population movement and development as Vietnam conti nues to move toward intensive market reforms. Underutilized tabulation s from the 1989 census and national statistical data on characteristic s of provinces were explored to gain insights into the roles of develo pment in interprovincial migration within a context of institutional i ntervention. The overall results of OLS regression indicate that more developed provinces attracted higher volumes of inmigrants, whereas le ss developed provinces produced more outmigrants, other things being e qual. Most of the migrants, especially females, moved to more urbanize d and industrialized areas, regardless of their origin home provinces. The government's organized population movements towards remote resett lement areas were costly from the view of the migrants, The study resu lts suggest the importance of interpreting population movement in Viet nam within the broader context of its current transition to a market e conomy. Government key-policy deliberations must include careful atten tion to how migration relates to long-term national development.