Examining the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Female Economic Participation in Pakistan

Abstract

This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) development on the participation of women in economic activities in Pakistan. Data for the period 1991-2017 was used for this research work and regressed on female economic involvement and ICTs development and another set of control variables like GDP, FDI and trade liberalization. Data sources are the WDI, IFS, and ESP. Johansen cointegration test, VECM and Granger causality tests were used to estimate data. Estimation techniques were applied after checking the properties of time series data. Results indicate the positive and significant relationship of dependent variable female economic participation and independent variables ICTs development and macro-economic variables in the long run. The study findings indicate that female economic participation has increased with the increase in ICTs in Pakistan. However, the rate of women's economic participation was not found as increasing as in other developed countries, and it is not as rapid as technology developed in the last decade.