Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
当技术遇上不平等：远程教育对中国农村性别差距的持续影响
When Technology Meets Inequality: The Persistent Effects of Distance Education on Gender Gaps in Rural China
摘要
This study examines the persistent effects of China's Modern Distance Education Program (MDEP), a large‐scale educational technology initiative that provided access to high‐quality instruction for over 100 million rural primary and junior high school students. Utilising two nationally representative surveys and employing a cohort‐based triple‐difference (DDD) identification strategy, we demonstrate that MDEP significantly narrowed the gender gap in educational attainment. The programme's effects exhibit a cumulative pattern, intensifying with greater exposure duration and investment intensity. We further find that MDEP facilitated gender‐equitable access to public educational resources and weakened son‐preference distortions in household educational investment, thereby improving educational outcomes for rural girls. These educational gains also translated into persistent reductions in gender disparities in labour market outcomes, with MDEP‐exposed rural women experiencing greater improvements in formal employment, digitally intensive occupations and wages than comparable men.
中文摘要
本研究考察了中国现代远程教育工程（MDEP）的持续效应，该工程是一项大规模教育技术举措，为超过1亿农村中小学学生提供了接受优质教学的机会。利用两项全国代表性调查，并采用基于队列的三重差分（DDD）识别策略，我们证明MDEP显著缩小了教育获得中的性别差距。该工程的效应呈现累积模式，随着接触时间和投入强度的增加而增强。我们进一步发现，MDEP促进了公共教育资源的性别平等获取，并削弱了家庭教育投资中的重男轻女扭曲，从而改善了农村女孩的教育结果。这些教育收益还转化为劳动力市场结果中性别差距的持续缩小，与可比男性相比，接触过MDEP的农村女性在正规就业、数字密集型职业和工资方面获得了更大改善。