Households in Cambodia
\nderive their income mainly from non-farm self-employment, salaries and wages,
\nagricultural crops and other activities. On average, non-farm self-employment income
\namounts to 29 percent of total income, but its share was largest during the oil
\nand food price increases and the global financial crisis that occurred in 2008
\nand 2009. However, household participation rates in non-farm self-employment
\nduring the crisis were exactly the same as in 2007 and two percentage points
\nlower than in 2010. This suggests that households engaged in non-farm
\nself-employment are likely to gain more benefit during income shocks, which
\nappears to contradict the perception of non-farm self-employment as an
\ninsurance strategy (Lay et al. 2009)\u2014particularly
\nwhen households face income shocks for which they are unable to compensate with
\nlabour. Phnom
\nPenh and other urban areas seem to depend on only two primary sources of income,
\nself-employment and wage labour, while rural households rely mostly on
\nagriculture, but self-employment and wage labour are also important. The lowest
\nquintile of households relies on wage labour and agricultural crops rather than
\nnon-farm self-employment. In contrast, the highest quintile of households
\nderives a higher share of their income from non-farm selfemployment. More than
\n60 percent of the highest quintile participated in non-farm selfemployment, while
\nthe corresponding figure in the lowest quintile was only 20 percent. This inactivity
\nin the non-farm self-employment sector largely reflects a lack of
\nentrepreneurship and\/or education. This finding is consistent with the recent
\nstudy by Rahut and Micevska Scharf (2012), who confirm that education plays a
\nmajor role in access to the non-agricultural sector and reducing poverty in
\nCambodia. Female-headed
\nhouseholds had lower income than male-headed households over the study period.
\nIn addition, the income of female-headed households fluctuated more sharply. The
\ndifference is likely due to capital constraints and a lack of agricultural land
\nand education. Therefore, female-headed households depended more on low-paid
\njobs, while male\u2013headed households relied
\nmainly on self-employment, particularly during the crisis. Income
\nper capita in rural areas amounted to 1,850,000 riels per year in 2004 and
\nedged up to 2,138,000 riels in 2012\u2014an
\nincrease of 16 percent. Income per capita in rural areas was the lowest among
\nthe three regions (Phnom Penh, other urban and rural). The income gap between
\nother urban and rural areas increased over 2004-08 and decreased in 2009 before
\nreaching its narrowest point in 2011. The main source of income in rural areas
\nwas agriculture: crops, fishing, forestry and hunting\u2014representing 33 percent of total income per capita in 2004,
\nand remained almost unchanged over the study period except in 2012. Income from
\nnon-farm self-employment was the least important source for rural households,
\nat 21 percent of total income in 2004 and remaining almost the same during
\n2004-12. Salaries and wages showed increasing importance in the last few years,
\nrising from 21 percent in 2004 to 37 percent in 2012\u2014the trend being the same across wealth quintiles,
\nagro-ecological zones and gender of household head. Rural
\nincome per capita grew by 29.5 percent between 2004 and 2007\u2014equivalent to an annualised rate of 9 percent. In 2008, this
\ncontracted by 9 percent. Female-headed households experienced a larger income
\nloss than male-headed households. The decline was greatest among the second and
\nfifth quintile households. In 2009, rural income per capita grew at the fastest
\nrate, 20 percent, with the largest gain in the highest quintile and
\nfemale-headed households. It experienced slower growth of 6 percent in 2010 and
\nregistered negative growth of 4 percent and 20 percent in 2011 and 2012. Income
\nper capita for the highest quintile in rural areas was 2.8 times larger than in
\nthe lowest quintile in 2004. Income inequality between the lowest and highest
\nquintiles in rural households widened over the study period, although the ratio
\nbetween them declined in the last two years. In other words, the highest
\nquintile households are more likely to have benefited from rural income growth
\nthan the lowest quintile households. Importantly, income disparity in rural
\nareas seems to be higher than at the national level. However, income inequality
\nbetween rural and urban area especially Phnom Penh started to narrow down in
\n2009 and reached its lowest level in 2011. The decrease in the income gap
\nbetween Phnom Penh and rural areas in 2010 and 2011 was mostly due to the sharp
\ndrop of incomes in Phnom Penh, while those in rural areas remain unchanged.
\nThis suggests that broad-based growth strategies are needed to help poor rural
\nhouseholds to benefit more from overall economic growth. More
\nthan two-thirds of households thought their incomes from various sources would remain
\nat least the same, with 21 percent believing that their income would decrease.
\nFactors influencing households\u2019 perceptions about their levels of income in the
\nfuture are both internal and external. Households engaged in agriculture mostly
\nviewed internal factors, specifically factor endowments, as the main
\ndeterminant. Internal and external factors can determine the future of other
\nsources of income. External factors include the villagers\u2019 initial income,
\nlocal labour markets and the business situation. Infrastructure and access to
\ncredit are not viewed by many as main influences on their future levels of
\nincome. Lastly, the past level of income shapes current views about future
\nincome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Households in Cambodia derive their income mainly from non-farm self-employment, salaries and wages, agricultural crops and other activities. On average, non-farm self-employment income amounts to 29 percent of total income, but its share was largest during the oil and food price increases and the global financial crisis that occurred in 2008 and 2009. However, household participation rates in non-farm self-employment during the crisis were exactly the same as in 2007 and two percentage points lower than in 2010. This suggests […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33078","publications","type-publications","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n