Globalization and poverty : impacts on households of employment and restructuring in the textiles industry of Vietnam

This paper traces down to the level of individual workers' household livelihoods the effects of the industrial restructuring that developing countries undergo as they integrate into global value chains, taking the case of the textiles industry of Vietnam. Based on interviews with current and retrenched workers, it adds to the small but growing number of studies showing that working in export industries can have some positive aspects. The impacts of retrenchments from textile employment, as firms restructure, have been mitigated thanks to a combination of compensation payments, pensions, and other income earning opportunities for retrenched workers and their family members. (J Asia Pac Econ/GIGA)