数字连接和家庭收入：来自越南女性户主家庭的证据（英）2026

EVIDENCE FROM WOMEN-HEADED HOUSEHOLDSIN VIET NAM Pinghan Liang, Shu Tian, and Yichuan Zhang ADB ECONOMICSWORKING PAPER SERIES ADB Economics Working Paper Series Digital Connectivity and Household Income:Evidence from Women-Headed Households in Viet Nam Pinghan Liang (liang.pinghan@gmail.com) is a professorand Yichuan Zhang (zhangych236@mail2.sysu.edu.cn)is a PhD candidate at the School of Government,Sun Yat-sen University. Shu Tian (stian@adb.org) isa principal economist at the Economic Research andDevelopment Impact Department, Asian DevelopmentBank. Pinghan Liang, Shu Tian, and Yichuan ZhangNo. 846 | May 2026 TheADB Economics Working Paper Seriespresents research in progress to elicit commentsand encourage debate on development issuesin Asia and the Pacific. The views expressedare those of the authors and do not necessarilyreflect the views and policies of ADB orits Board of Governors or the governmentsthey represent. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2026 Asian Development Bank6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, PhilippinesTel +63 2 8632 4444; Fax +63 2 8636 2444www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2026. ISSN 2313-6537 (print), 2313-6545 (PDF)Publication Stock No. WPS260222-2DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/WPS260222-2 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policiesof the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for anyconsequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that theyare endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, ADB does notintend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. This publication is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be boundby the terms of this license. For attribution, translations, adaptations, and permissions, please read the provisionsand terms of use at https://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess. This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributedto another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it.ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material. Please contact pubsmarketing@adb.org if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wishto obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to usethe ADB logo. Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda. ABSTRACT This paper examines the effect of digital connectivity on income of women-headed households inViet Nam. Using the Viet Nam Digital Economy Access Index and the Viet Nam Household LivingStandards Survey, empirical evidence shows that increased digital connectivity significantlyimproves the income of women headed households. Disadvantaged groups, such as those withlimited educational attainment and lower income levels, and living in rural areas, benefit morefrom having digital connectivity. We explore the mechanisms behind this relationship and find thatdigital connectivity is related to increased participation in the labor market, particularly in theservices sector. This paper offers new insights into the inclusive effects of digital connectivity andprovides policy recommendations for advancing digital infrastructure development. Keywords:digital connectivity, digital access, household income, women-headed householdJEL codes:O33, O15, J16, O12 1.INTRODUCTION Despite continued economic development, gender inequalities remain a persistent developmentchallenge worldwide. Recent advancements in digital technology offer new opportunities andchallenges in shaping this gap. On the one hand, there are a few broader pathways through whichdigital connectivity may benefit women differently, including flexibility in jobs, new employmentandentrepreneurship opportunities,greater bargaining power,better access to economicopportunities such as finance, education, and business network, and reduction in care burdensdue to automation and monitoring. For example, digital technology has the potential to reducemen’s traditional advantage in the workplace and benefit women by providing increased accessto higher-paying professions (Black and Spitz-Oener 2010, Blau and Kahn 2017). Moreover,digital technology provides women, including housewives, with flexible employment opport