数字技术、性别与结构转型：来自Mashreq的证据（英文）

Digital Technology, Gender, and StructuralTransformation Evidence from the Mashreq Gladys Lopez AcevedoRaymond RobertsonAdeel Tariq Policy Research Working Paper11332 Abstract Technological change has historically widened or preservedgender gaps in labor market outcomes in favor of men.The World Bank’sDigital Transformation and Its Role inExpanding Women’s Economic Opportunities in Iraq, Jordan,and Lebanonprovided a comprehensive diagnostic of thedigital landscape facing women in the Mashreq. The studydocumented large gender gaps in access, skills, and use;identified infrastructure, regulatory, and social constraints;and outlined policy priorities to make digitalization more associated with women’s labor market outcomes. Usinglatent indexes of digital skills and digital use constructedfrom the flagship survey data, the paper shows that digitaltechnology is more strongly associated with women’s laborforce participation, sector-specific earnings, and key medi-ating factors—such as productive internet use, online safetybehavior, and the easing of care-related constraints—thanwith corresponding outcomes for men. By linking these The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about developmentissues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry thenames of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those Digital Technology, Gender, and Structural Transformation: Raymond RobertsonTexas A&M University1620 L Street NWWashington, DC 20005robertson@tamu.edu Gladys Lopez AcevedoWorld Bank1818 H Street, NWWashington, DC 20433gacevedo@worldbank.org Adeel Tariq* (corresponding author)Lahore University of Management SciencesDHA, Lahore Cantt.Lahore, Pakistan 54792 adeel.tariq@lums.edu.pk Keywords: Digitalization; Gender-biased technical change; Women’s labor force participation; JEL Codes: J16, J21, O33, O15, O17 1.INTRODUCTION Historical experience shows that technological change has rarely been gender-neutral. Past wavesof innovation typically favored male labor by complementing physical strength and reallocatingproduction toward tasks in which men held comparative advantage, particularly in agriculture andearly industrialization. These biases were reinforced as industrialization pulled men into factoryemployment with formal wage contracts and unions, while women were pushed toward informal,home-based, or lower-status work. Although the expansion of clerical occupations during theindustrial era opened new employment opportunities for women, it also entrenched occupational Technological change has therefore historically widened or preserved gender gaps in labor marketoutcomes in favor of men, raising a central and unresolved question for growth and equity: Will digitaltechnology similarly reinforce male-biased gender gaps in work? Across both advancedand developing economies, the gendered effects of digital technology are theoretically ambiguousand empirically heterogeneous. In high-income settings, digitalization has sometimes narrowedgender gaps by reducing the importance of physical strength and routine tasks, but it has alsowidened disparities when returns accrue primarily to advanced skills in which women areunderrepresented, leading to greater job instability or reallocation into lower-paying service work.Evidence from developing countries similarly shows that expanding digital connectivity can raisewomen’s labor force participation, yet often through shifts toward self-employment or unpaidwork rather than sustained gains in wage employment, with effects varying by education and life- Recent research also shows how digital technology can expand women’s economic opportunitiesin e-commerce, entrepreneurship, and telework. In China, women own around 40 percent of onlineshops on Alibaba.com, which is significantly more than their ownership share in traditionalbusinesses (World Bank, 2016). Similarly, in India, women benefitted from the rise of business increased female employment in this industry and delayed marriage in rural areas. Anotherexperimental study (Ho et al. 2024) in West Bengal showed how online platforms (which offeredflexible and work-from-home gigs) pulled around half of out-of-work women into the workforce The World Bank’sDigital Transformation and its Role in Expanding Women’s EconomicOpportunities in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon(2025) documents large digital gender divides inaccess and usage that mirror gaps around the world. Around 885 million women in low- andmiddle-income countries do not use mobile internet, with a gender gap in usage of 14 percent(GSMA 2025). Cultural norms in countries like India and the Arab Republic of Egypt limit Our study is situated in this debate. The World Bank’sDigital Transformation and its Role inExpand