The Impact of Natural Disasters on the Livelihood Outcomes of Households in Rural Vietnam: The Regulator Role of Adaptive Capacity

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of natural disasters on the livelihoods of households in rural Vietnam. By using VHLSS data 2014, 2016, 2018 of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam with the support of STATA software version 14.0, the results show that all three catastrophic floods, floods and droughts have negative impacts on the per capita income and expenditure of households. In particular, the per capita income of households living in a commune that is affected by disaster reduces by about 76.3% due to storms, 106.4% due to floods and 163.6% due to droughts. Similarly, per capita expenditure decreases due to storms, floods, and droughts 88.2%, 128.4% and 194.5%, respectively. Natural disasters cause detrimental effects to households, but when they have the capability to adapt better then disasters will have less harmful effect on them. The findings in this study may be useful inputs for policies to enhance resilience to natural disasters.