Political connections and land-related investment in rural Vietnam

This paper uses household panel data from rural Vietnam to explore the effects of having a relative in a position of political or bureaucratic power. Our results suggest that households increase their investment in land improvements due to such ties. Likely explanations are that connections to office holders strengthen de facto land property rights and access to both credit and transfers. Results also indicate that officials prefer to use informal rather than formal channels of redistribution to relatives. •Study of rural Vietnam.•Politically connected families increase their investment in land-related goods.•Politically connected families have more secure property rights.•Politically connected families have better access to credit and transfers.•Results are robust to inclusion of household fixed effects in regressions.