Does Internet Usage Reduce the Gender Wage Gap? Empirical Analysis based on CFPS Data

Abstract

Since entering the 21st century, the rapid development of network technology has gradually changed the way people live and work, and has an important impact on the labor market, especially the female employment. According to the 39th CNNIC report, the number of internet users in China reached 731 million, the internet penetration rate was 53.2%, and the proportion of female users was 47.6% up to December, 2016. With the gradual convergence of the gender structure in the net users and in the population, how does the internet impact on gender wages? Can the effect reduce the gender wage gap? This is the question to be answered in this paper. Although foreign studies have explored the relationship between the internet and the gender wage gap, few studies use Chinese data to analyze the impact of the internet on the gender wage gap. In addition, due to the diversity of network applications, the impact of different internet applications on gender wages may also be different. Therefore, it is of practical significance to explore the influence of internet preferences on gender wages. The main contents of this paper are as follows: First, by using the data of Chinese family tracking survey （CFPS） in 2010, this paper analyzes the impacts of internet usage on gender wages, and discusses the heterogeneity of the impacts. Second, based on the benchmark model, this paper analyzes the effects of different internet time, internet locations and internet usage preferences on gender wages, and uses IV to test the endogeneity. Thirdly, this paper analyzes the influence of internet usage on gender wages and the gender wage gap on different quantiles by RIF regression. The result shows that: First, internet usage can promote wage growth in different genders, and the effect varies with employment for different marital status, age and education. Second, the relationship between the internet usage time and hourly wages presents the inverted U” shape curve, and using the internet at home or in the workplace has a greater impact on male wages, while using the internet in the workplace has a greater impact on female wages. Third, using the internet to send and receive messages, access to information can improve male wages, but the entertainment game will reduce male wages, and professional learning can improve female wages. Fourth, internet usage can reduce the gender wage gap between low income and middle-high income earners, but increase the gender wage gap among high-income earners. This paper suggests that to reduce the gender wage gap, should not only strengthen the network infrastructure and expand education and training to increase female internet usage rates and usage skills, but also develop new economics and new employment formats, and upgrade the industrial structure and reduce occupational gender segregation.