EXAMINING INCOME INEQUALITY IN VIETNAM: THE ROLE OF ODA, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND UNEMPLOYMENT

The paper aims to assess the impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the unemployment rate on income inequality in Vietnam from 1992 to 2022. Drawing on theoretical and empirical synthesis, the authors constructed regression models and employed vector autoregression to analyze the data. The study reveals several significant findings regarding income inequality in Vietnam. There is a complex relationship between income inequality and income per capita, with a positive correlation in the initial three years of the forecast and a negative one from the fourth year onwards. Income inequality increases as per capita income rises, particularly among the middle class. Furthermore, there is a negative correlation between income inequality and unemployment. On the other hand, Official Development Assistance positively correlates with income inequality, per capita income, and unemployment.