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Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam

Author

Listed:
  • Natalie Chun

    (Asian Development Bank)

  • Heiwai Tang

    (Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies)

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of firms’ investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) on their demand for female and skilled workers. Using the gradual liberalization of the broadband Internet sector across provinces from 2006 to 2009 as a source of exogenous variation to identify the causal impacts of ICT, we find evidence from the country’s comprehensive enterprise survey data that firms’ adoption of broadband Internet and other related ICT increased their relative demand for female and college-educated workers. The effect of ICT on firms’ female employment is particularly strong among the college-educated workers, and is stronger in industries that are more dependent on highly manual and physical tasks. These results suggest that ICT can lower gender inequality in the labor market by shifting the labor demand from highly manual, routine tasks in which men have a comparative advantage toward more nonroutine, interactive tasks in which women hold a comparative advantage. However, the effect of ICT is weaker in industries relying more on complex and interactive tasks, suggesting that gender differences in education may have limited female labor supply for the most innovative industries that require highly technical skills to complement ICT.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalie Chun & Heiwai Tang, 2018. "Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 545, Asian Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbewp:0545
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Natalie Chun & Heiwai Tang, 2018. "Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam," Working Papers id:12804, eSocialSciences.
    2. World Bank, 2017. "World Development Indicators 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 26447, April.
    3. Mark M. Pitt & Mark R. Rosenzweig & Mohammad Nazmul Hassan, 2012. "Human Capital Investment and the Gender Division of Labor in a Brawn-Based Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3531-3560, December.
    4. Ogutu, Sylvester Ochieng & Okello, Julius Juma & Otieno, David Jakinda, 2014. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology-Based Market Information Services on Smallholder Farm Input Use and Productivity: The Case of Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 311-321.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kusumawardhani, Niken & Pramana, Rezanti & Saputri, Nurmala Selly & Suryadarma, Daniel, 2023. "Heterogeneous impact of internet availability on female labor market outcomes in an emerging economy: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    3. Nkoumou Ngoa, Gaston Brice & Song, Jacques Simon, 2021. "Female participation in African labor markets: The role of information and communication technologies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9).
    4. Bahia, Kalvin & Castells, Pau & Cruz, Genaro & Masaki, Takaaki & Pedrós, Xavier & Pfutze, Tobias & Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos & Winkler, Hernán, 2024. "The welfare effects of mobile broadband internet: Evidence from Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
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    6. Jain Ritika, 2021. "Information and Communication Technology Adoption and the Demand for Female Labor: The Case of Indian Industry," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 695-722, April.
    7. Fang, Lan & Quan, Yurong & Mao, Hui & Chen, Shaojian, 2022. "The Information Communication Technology and Off-farm Employment of Rural Laborers: An Analysis Based on the Micro Data of China Family Panel Studies," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322088, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Bahia,Kalvin & Castells,Pau & Masaki,Takaaki & Cruz,Genaro & Rodriguez Castelan,Carlos & Sanfelice,Viviane, 2021. "Mobile Broadband Internet, Poverty and Labor Outcomes in Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9749, The World Bank.
    9. Hermann Ndoya & Simplice A. Asongu, 2022. "Digital divide, globalization and income inequality in sub-Saharan African countries: analysing cross-country heterogeneity," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, October.
    10. Cledwyn Fernandez & Shravani Prakash & Havishaye Puri, 2024. "Digital Technology as an Instrument to Bridge the Gender Gaps in Access to Labour Markets," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Policy Paper 31, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, India.
    11. Carlos Rodríguez-Castelán & Denisse Pierola, 2022. "Determinants and Welfare Impacts of Mobile Internet Adoption in African Countries," World Bank Publications - Reports 38007, The World Bank Group.
    12. Hongyun Zheng & Yuwen Zhou & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2023. "Smartphone use, off‐farm employment, and women's decision‐making power: Evidence from rural China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1327-1353, August.
    13. Niu, Meng & Wang, Zhenguo & Zhang, Yabin, 2022. "How information and communication technology drives (routine and non-routine) jobs: Structural path and decomposition analysis for China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    14. Fietz, Katharina & Lay, Jann, 2023. "Digitalisation and labour markets in developing countries," GIGA Working Papers 335, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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