Poverty in Rural Cambodia: The Differentiated Impact of Linkages, Inputs, and Access to Land

Cambodia has been growing rapidly over the past few years, but remains one of the poorest countries in East Asia.

Spring/Summer 2008, Vol. 7, No. 2, Pages 74-95
Posted Online June 19, 2008.
(doi:10.1162/asep.2008.7.2.74)

Poverty in Rural Cambodia: The Differentiated Impact of Linkages, Inputs, and Access to Land

Anders Engvall
Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, SE-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden, Anders.engvall@hhs.se

Örjan Sjöberg
Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, S-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden, Orjan.sjoberg@hhs.se

Fredrik Sjöholm
The Research Institute of Industrial Economics and Örebro University, P.O. Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden, Fredrik.sjoholm@ifn.se


Cambodia has been growing rapidly over the past few years, but remains one of the poorest countries in East Asia. This paper analyzes rural poverty in Cambodia to identify the factors that explain its occurrence and persistence.

The reduction of rural poverty in Cambodia requires (1) improvements in agricultural productivity and (2) the establishment of other income-earning opportunities for the rural population.

Our econometric investigation of the 2004 Cambodian Socio-Economic Survey shows that the main causes of poverty differ between landowners and the landless, and between different regions. Increasing inputs to agriculture (e.g., fertilizers) is critical to increasing the welfare of landowning poor, and linkages with the rest of the economy are of vital importance to both landowners and the landless poor.