HAPRI SEMINAR: Impacts of trade liberalization on household nutrition transition: the Vietnam case.

While trade openness increases living standards and food availability in developing countries, it may engender nutritional diseases. No studies have been conducted on the relationship between trade liberalization and nutrition transition demonstrating that the country’s development is a result of trade liberalization. This paper investigates the impacts of trade liberalization on nutrition transition in Vietnamese households between 2002 and 2020. The study uses a multiple index model and ordinary least squares to measure the impact of trade liberalization on nutrition transition. Trade liberalization is measured by exposure to exports and tariff indices that can capture the responsiveness of households to the new opportunities brought about by trade reforms. Nutrition transition is defined as the difference between the nutritional structure of households and the recommended dietary balance. Our study shows that trade liberalization shifts the nutrition transition in…