数字包容能否缩小中东和北非地区的性别经济差距？（英）

PublicDisclosureAuthorized PublicDisclosureAuthorized PolicyResearchWorkingPaper10663 CouldDigitalInclusionClosetheGenderEconomicGapintheMENARegion? MahmoudMohieldinRachaRamadan MiddleEastandNorthAfricaRegionOfficeoftheChiefEconomistJanuary2024 PolicyResearchWorkingPaper10663 Abstract Closingthegenderdigitaldividebyensuringequalaccesstoandbenefitoftheinternetmayreduceeconomicinequali-tiesandclosethegendergapinemploymentbyprovidingneweconomicopportunitiesandfacilitatingaccesstomarketinformation.Thispaperestimatestheimpactofdigitalinclusion,measuredbytheInclusiveInternetIndexonthefemale-to-malelaborforceparticipationratio,whilecontrollingforothereconomicandsocialfactors.UsingdatafromtheWorldDevelopmentIndicators,theEcon-omistIntelligenceUnitdatabase,andtheWorldBank’sWomen,BusinessandtheLawdatabasefor13countries intheMiddleEastandNorthAfricaregionforfouryears(2018to2021),apooledcrosssectiondatasetiscon-structed.Themodelisestimatedusinggeneralizedleastsquarestocontrolforheteroskedasticity.Theresultsshowthataninclusiveinternetenvironmentwouldreducethegendergapinthelaborforce.Otherkeydriversincludethestructureoftheeconomicgrowth,norms,andgenderrolesinthesociety.TheseresultsarerelevantfortheUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoalsagenda,mainlygoals5and10. ThispaperisaproductoftheOfficeoftheChiefEconomist,MiddleEastandNorthAfricaRegion.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebathttp://www.worldbank.org/prwp.Theauthorsmaybecontactedatracha.ramadan@feps.edu.eg. ThePolicyResearchWorkingPaperSeriesdisseminatesthefindingsofworkinprogresstoencouragetheexchangeofideasaboutdevelopmentissues.Anobjectiveoftheseriesistogetthefindingsoutquickly,evenifthepresentationsarelessthanfullypolished.Thepaperscarrythenamesoftheauthorsandshouldbecitedaccordingly.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizations,orthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent. ProducedbytheResearchSupportTeam CouldDigitalInclusionClosetheGenderEconomicGapintheMENARegion?1 MahmoudMohieldin2–RachaRamadan3 Keywords:AccessandConnectivity,digitaldivide,FemaleLaborMarket,GenderandEconomicEmpowerment,MENAcountries. JELclassification:D63,O10,O33 1ThisworkwassupportedbytheMENChiefEconomistOfficeunderthelaborandgenderresearchprograms(TTLs:NellyElmallakhandNazmulChaudhury) ThispaperisaproductoftheOfficeoftheChiefEconomist,MiddleEastandNorthAfricaregion.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebathttp://www.worldbank.org/prwp.Theauthor(s)maybecontactedatracha.ramadan@feps.edu.eg. 2ProfessoratFacultyofEconomicsandPoliticalScience-–CairoUniversity.IMFExecutiveDirectorandtheUnitedNation’sSpecialEnvoyonFinancingthe2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopment.Email:Mahmoud.mohieldin@feps.edu.eg.GoogleScholarpage:MahmoudMohieldin 3ProfessoratFacultyofEconomicsandPoliticalScience–CairoUniversity.DirectoroftheNationalOfficeoftheAgenceUniversitairedelaFrancophonie(AUF)inEgypt.Email:Racha.ramadan@feps.edu.eg.GoogleScholarpage:RachaRamadan Introduction TheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica(MENA)regionhasthesecondlargestgendereconomicgap,afterSouthAsia,withanaveragepopulation-weightedscoreof63.4%.TheregionalaveragescoreontheEconomicParticipationandOpportunitysub-indexis46%inspiteofaneducationalattainmentscoreof99.5%(GlobalGenderGapReport,2022).Femalelaborforceparticipation(FLFP)isthelowestworldwidewitharateof19.6%in2021(WorldDevelopmentIndicators,2022). Thegendereconomicgapisdrivenbyseveralfactors,includingindividualandhouseholdsocioeconomiccharacteristics,thestructureofeconomicgrowth,educationalattainment,tradeopenness,andpopulationgrowth(Assaadetal,2014;RodgersandZveglich,2012;Elborgh-Woyteketal,2013;NazierandRamadan,2017;Bursztynetal,2018;Efobietal,2018;Assaadetal,2018;Osundina,2019;KooliandAlMuftah,2020).Informalinstitutionssuchassocialnorms,traditionalgenderroles,motherhood,andwork–familyresponsibilitiesmayexplainthegendergapinlabormarketoutcomes,especiallyinconservativesocietiessuchastheMENAregion(Klevenetal,2019;NazierandRamadan,2020;PatriciaandCortés,2020).Additionally,formalinstitutionspromotingmoreequalgenderrolesandredistributingchildresponsibilitiesequallybetweenfathersandmothersaresignificantdeterminantsofFLFP(PatriciaandCortés,2020). AnotherkeydriverofFLFPisdigitalinclusionthatensuresequalaccessto,use,andbenefitofinformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT).AstheWorldBank(2021)hashighlighted,universaladoptionofdigitaltechnologieswoulddoubleFLFPby20percentagepointsovera30-yearperiod.Digitaltechnologieswouldprovidewomeninformationandknowledge,economicopportunities,andflexiblearrangements.Sucharrangementsmaybemorec