New Rural Development and Hierarchical Governance in Vietnam: Impacts of government support on rural households’ income using a Hierarchical Linear Modelling

The New Rural Development (NRD) program is one of the most important policies in agriculture and rural development of Vietnam by 2020. In the period of 2010 – 2015, the government mobilized about 851,380 billion Vietnam Dong (VND) (approximately US$38.7 billion) for investments in rural development projects across the country. Among the top priorities, solving a broadening income and poverty gap between urban and rural areas, between leading and lagging regions, and among ethnic groups are one of the most essential issues. This research paper is targeted to provide an empirical evidence for answering the question whether the government assistance could effectively and positively impact on rural households’ income through the NRD program by using a hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). The results of the mixed effect model could firmly reveal that the financial assistance could positively influence on rural households’ income through investments in roads, income generation models, and technical trainings.