Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam
Chun, Natalie; Tang, Heiwai | May 2018
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.
Citation
Chun, Natalie; Tang, Heiwai. 2018. Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/8305. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.ISSN
2313-6537(print)
2313-6545(electronic)
Keywords
Gender
Gender Bias
Gender Differences
Gender Discrimination
Gender Equality
Gender Gaps
Gender Inequality
Gender Issues
Gender Relations
Gender Roles
Assessing Corporate Governance
Corporate Governance Reform
Governance Models
Commerce and Industry
Intra-Industry Trade
Large Scale Industry
Labor
Technical Evaluation
Comparative Analysis
Social Research
Sex Discrimination
Employment Discrimination
Women's Rights
Equal Opportunity
Equal Pay
Feminism
Men's Role
Women's Role
Business Ethics
Political Leadership
Institutional Framework
Business Management
Corporate Restructuring
Industrialization
Industrial Economics
Industrial Development
Industrial Policy
Technology assessment
Technological institutes
Employment
Information Media
Mass Media
Export Oriented Industries
Electronics
Computers
Telecommunications Industry
Manufacturing Industries
Microprocessors
Electronic Equipment
Communication Industry
Gender-based analysis
Sex differences
Job bias
Equal employment opportunity
Fair employment practice
Job discrimination
Affirmative action programs
Sex discrimination against women
Pay equity
Sexism
Equal rights amendment
Emancipation of women
Equal rights
Women's movements
Personnel management
Corporate reorganizations
Intergovernmental cooperation
Consolidation and merger of corporations
Industrial Mergers
Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions
Mergers
Microelectronics industry
Electronic industries
Digital electronics
Microelectronics
Podcasts
Music videos
Internet videos
Interactive videos
Videos
Video recordings
Capital market
Developing countries
Market share
Labor
Technology transfer
Innovation
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