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Abstract
Using an original dataset from the Vietnamese catfish sector, we study the impact of vertical
coordination options on household welfare and the implications of different stages of vertical
coordination for the success of the whole sector. The welfare gain from contract farming and
employment on processor-owned estate farms is estimated using a maximum simulated likelihood
estimator. Our results show positive welfare effects from participating in contract farming, but not from
employment on processor-owned estate farms. The results imply that contract farming presents
opportunities for economic growth, but additional effort is required to make the contracts more
accessible to smallholders.