This thesis analyses the impact of institutional change in Vietnam’s Northern Uplands. Using an original dataset collected in a mountain district in 2007/2008, it investigates empirically the functioning and impact of land and credit institutions and analyses determinants of the formation of social capital in an ethnically heterogeneous society.

Camille Saint-Macary studied Development Economics at CERDI (Centre of Study and Research on International Development) at the University of Auvergne (France) and holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University Hohenheim (Germany). She has worked as a research associate at the Department of Rural Development Theory and Policy. Currently she is an economist and research fellow at the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD), member of the DIAL (Development, Institutions and Globalisation) research unit based in Paris.

Inhalt: Northern Vietnam – Institutional Change – Uplands – Land Reform – Soil Conservation – Rural Credit – Social Capital – Participation – Ethnic Minorities – Ethnic Diversity.