世界发展银行-Does-the-Internet-Reduce-Gender-Gaps_-_-The-Case-of-Jordan_38页_1mb

Summary of "Does the Internet Reduce Gender Gaps? The Case of Jordan"

Core Content

This paper investigates the impact of internet adoption on female labor market outcomes in Jordan, a country with significant gender disparities. The study exploits the rapid expansion of mobile broadband technology between 2010 and 2016 to estimate the causal effect of internet access on labor force participation and other labor market indicators. It also explores whether the internet reduces gender-biased social norms, early marriage, and fertility rates.

Main Findings

• Internet increases female labor force participation but has no effect on male participation.
• The increase in online job search explains some but not all of the rise in female labor participation.
• Only older and skilled women experience an increase in employment due to internet access.
• The internet reduces gender-biased social norms, early marriage, and fertility rates.
• The effect is not uniform across all women; it is more pronounced among not married women and those with lower education.

Key Information

Data and Methodology

• The Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey (JLMPS) is the main dataset, covering individuals from 2010 to 2016.
• The sample includes 2,843 women and 2,758 men who were part of the survey in both years.
• The instrumental variable is constructed using the distance to the nearest 3G tower and pre-roll-out communication expenditure, exploiting the natural experiment of mobile broadband expansion.
• The study uses a reduced-form model and instrumental variable (IV) approach to control for unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity issues.

Labor Market Trends

• Female labor force participation in Jordan was less than 20% in 2010, increasing slightly to just over 25% by 2016.
• Male labor force participation remained high, averaging 75% in 2010 and 79% in 2016.
• Internet access at home more than doubled from 16% to 35% between 2010 and 2016.
• Mobile broadband access increased from near zero to 60% of the population during the same period.

Identification Strategy

• The distance to 3G towers is used as an instrument for internet adoption, based on the assumption that closer proximity to towers correlates with better access.
• The instrument satisfies the exclusion restriction because areas with similar pre-treatment trends in labor market outcomes are expected to respond similarly to changes in internet access.
• The study controls for individual and household characteristics such as age, education, marital status, and wealth.

Mechanisms Under Investigation

Changes in Social Norms

• The internet is associated with a decline in the acceptability of domestic violence and reduced fear of disagreeing with male household members.
• These changes suggest an increase in women's empowerment and shifts in household bargaining power.
• However, decision-making power and access to money for home expenses do not change significantly, indicating that the internet's impact is limited to changing attitudes rather than economic empowerment.

Changes in Marriage and Birth Rates

• Internet adoption is linked to a reduction in marriage rates for women, with a 0.6 to 0.9 percentage point decrease for each percentage point increase in internet access.
• The birth rate also declines, with an estimated 0.5 fewer children over a 6-year period for women who gained internet access.
• These results suggest that internet access influences reproductive decisions, potentially by altering social norms and providing access to information.

Comparative Analysis with Chile

• A comparative analysis with Chile, where female labor participation is already high, shows that internet adoption also increased labor participation there, but not as significantly as in Jordan.
• This supports the idea that internet adoption can reduce gender gaps, but its impact depends on pre-existing gender disparities and social norms.

Conclusion

• The internet reduces gender gaps in Jordan by increasing female labor force participation, particularly among not married women and skilled women.
• The effect is driven by changes in social norms, not necessarily by direct economic opportunities.
• The longitudinal data and instrumental variable approach strengthen the validity of the findings by controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity.
• The study contributes to the understanding of how digital technologies can influence gender dynamics and labor market outcomes, especially in contexts with severe gender disparities.

Key Contributions

• The first empirical study to examine the effect of internet access on female labor outcomes in a highly gender-disparate context like Jordan.
• Provides evidence that internet adoption can weaken gender-biased norms, leading to behavioral changes in labor and reproductive decisions.
• Highlights the asymmetry in the impact of internet access on men and women, particularly in traditional societies with strict gender roles.