GENDER AND TECHNOLOGY USE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM FIRMS IN KENYA

Nidhiya Menon

Journal of Economic Development, 2015, vol. 40, issue 3, 105-140

Abstract: Kenyan firms rely on technology to overcome obstacles associated with excessive regulations, poor infrastructure, and widespread corruption. This study shows that reliance on technologies such as email, website and the internet for communication purposes has significant positive impacts on productivity for firms with female owners. Using a representative sample of industries, the exogenous component of technology use is isolated by using information on the presence of schools from colonial Kenya as well as a geographical indicator measuring rainfall shocks. Results indicate that for firms with female owners, a 10 percent increase in technology use results in a 1.69 percentage point increase in value-added per worker. For male-owned firms, a positive effect is evident but significantly more muted.

Keywords: Communications Technology; Obstacles; Colonial Education; Female Owners; Kenya; Firms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L22 N37 O14 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.jed.or.kr/full-text/40-3/5.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jed:journl:v:40:y:2015:i:3:p:105-140

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Development is currently edited by Sung Y. Park

More articles in Journal of Economic Development from Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sung Y. Park ().