Factors Affecting the Decision of Rural Households to Participate in Non-Agricultural Activities in Dien Bien Province

Abstract

The paper examines factors affecting the decision of rural households to participate in non-agricultural activities in Dien Bien province through the Logit model, using the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey 2016 by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. The results indicated that the decision to participate in non-agricultural activities is driven by both “push” and “pull” factors, but there is also an indication of an “ability” factor at work. Access to the information variable has the greatest influence on the decision of households to participate or not. Moreover, education is not significant and has no influence on the decision to engage in non-agricultural activities of households in rural area of Dien Bien province. Based on the findings, as well as the rural development orientation of Dien Bien province, the author proposes some solutions to promote rural non-agricultural economic development. Rural non-agricultural development policies should attend to promotion of the education level of rural households and create favorable conditions for households to access resources.