Measuring the Impact of ICTs on Women Empowerment: A Case of South Asian Countries

Abstract

The study empirically analyses the impact of ICT on socio-economic empowerment of women in South Asian Countries, here women empowerment is measured by secondary school enrollments and economic participation. Independent variable ICT is an index made of four variables mobile phones, landline phones, internet users and fixed broadband subscribers respectively. For this purpose panel data set is taken from WDI for the period over 2000-2013. By applying least square dummy variable model, fixed and random effects models, incorporating efficiency test, Hausman and Breuch Pagan tests, results reveal that ICT has positive and strong significant effect on the female economic participation with the coefficient value of 0.69 in first model. For the second model to measure social aspect, secondary school enrollment is taken as dependent variable and ICT as independent variable, results of this model also shows that education is highly dependent on ICT with the coefficient value of 1.138. Therefore, in both aspects ICT has positive coefficients values. As a result we can conclude that overall ICT has positive and significant role for social and economic betterment of females in South Asian region.