(UNICEF, 2021). Women in the region may be left behind as they are marginalized in the technology-based economy. In all countries of the region, male internet users are higher than female users. In countries such as the Arab Republic of Egypt, Tunisia, and the Republic of Yemen, more than 60% of men use the internet but less than 50% of women do (International Telecommunication Union, 2019; Arab Barometer, Wave V, 2018-2019). This gender digital divide hinders women’s access to information, services, and economic opportunities (Elnaggar, 2007; Ben Moussa and Seraphim, 2017).

Drivers of the gender digital divide may include the cost of ICT, women’s lack of the skills necessary to use it, irrelevance to the tasks and roles society expects them to complete, lack of access, social norms and stereotypes, and safety and security concerns. Therefore, access to the internet is a necessary but not sufficient condition to ensure that women will benefit from internet availability, especially in developing countries. This paper is an attempt to investigate whether bridging the digital divide through an inclusive internet environment might reduce the gender gap in labor force participation in MENA countries. An inclusive internet environment considers the availability and affordability of internet and technology, relevance of internet content, trust and privacy in the internet, and inclusive policies (World Bank, 2016; Singh, 2017; The Mobile Gender Gap Report, 2018, the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2021).

The paper contributes to the extensive literature tackling the gender economic gap in the MENA region in two ways. First, unlike the existing literature, the paper considers the potential role of an inclusive internet environment, measured by the Inclusive Internet Index, in reducing the gender gap in the labor market. The advantage of this index is that it controls for the inclusiveness of the internet environment and not only access to the internet. As found by Valberg (2020), ICT, measured by internet users and mobile subscriptions, is not the “ _leapfrogging_ ” strategy for a more gender-equal labor market. Low education, technology literacy, control over the use of technology and sociocultural norms play a role in access to and use of the internet (World Development Report, 2016; OECD, 2018, The Mobile Gender Gap Report, 2018). To benefit from internet access, women must have the required skills to use ICTs and have confidence in the relevance, security, and privacy of internet content. This paper’s second contribution lies in controlling for formal and informal institutions that shape gender roles in societies and affect women’s family-work responsibilities along with economic factors. These social norms, laws, and regulations are key determinants of women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in developing countries as well as in the MENA region (Assaad et al, 2014; Nazier and Ramadan, 2017).

The paper is organized as follows: Section 1 reviews the literature on female labor force participation and access to technology. Section 2 presents the digital gender gap and the economic gender gap in the MENA region. Section 3 discusses the methodology and the data used. The estimated results are presented in section 4. Finally, section 5 draws conclusions and provides policy implications.

# **1. Literature Review**

Extensive research has addressed determinants of female labor force participation and the gender gap in the labor market. At the micro level, women’s age, education, and marital status 3