ABSTRACT

Using household survey data from off-grid regions of rural Bangladesh, this study attempts to assess the impacts of mobile phone use on household welfare and women’s empowerment. Using two propensity score-based weighted regressions (IPW and AIPW), this study finds that mobile phone use increases household income (3–10 percent) from different sources, such as small businesses and remittances; improves women’s empowerment; and facilitates consumption smoothing during periods of shocks. Thus, favorable policies on investment in mobile telephone technologies, tariffs on talk time and internet usage, and mobile innovations, such as mobile financial services could reduce communication bottlenecks and digital divide in rural lagging regions that will help achieve a balanced regional development. Simultaneously, policies to avoid adverse impact of mobile phone usage should also be in place.

摘要

本研究使用来自孟加拉国农村偏网地区的家庭调查数据，试图评估手机使用对家庭福利和增强妇女权能的影响。通过使用基于倾向得分的两个加权回归（IPW和AIPW），研究发现，使用移动电话可以增加来自不同来源（如小型企业和汇款）的家庭收入（3-10％）。增强妇女的权能；并有助于在冲击期间使消费趋于平稳。因此，有关移动电话技术投资，通话时间和互联网使用费以及移动创新（例如移动金融服务）的优惠政策可以减少农村落后地区的通信瓶颈和数字鸿沟，这将有助于实现区域均衡发展。同时地，