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Digitalization is linked to lower youth unemployment in Kazakhstan

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Young professionals working at laptops in a modern office or coworking space, with one man in a light blue shirt in focus using a keyboard while a woman in the foreground blurs, and industrial-style ceiling visible in the background.
Research area:Labour economicsEconomics and EconometricsUnemployment

What the study found

The study found a statistically significant short-run relationship between digitalization and youth unemployment in Kazakhstan. In the abstract, digitalization is measured by Internet usage rates, and higher Internet penetration is associated with a lower youth unemployment rate.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors conclude that digitalization may help reduce youth unemployment in Kazakhstan mainly by improving short-term labor market efficiency. They also say that sustaining these effects would require digital skills, education reform, and balanced regional development to support inclusive employment outcomes.

What the researchers tested

The researchers examined Kazakhstan from 2010 to 2023 using annual national-level data from the Bureau of National Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan and related official sources. They used an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework, with Internet usage as the proxy for digitalization and education expenditure, urbanization, and gross regional product as control variables.

What worked and what didn't

A 1% increase in Internet penetration was associated with an average 0.27% reduction in the youth unemployment rate, holding other factors constant. This result was robust across alternative specifications, heteroskedasticity-consistent estimators, and structural break adjustments for the 2015 oil price shock and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Education expenditure and economic growth showed weak or delayed effects, and evidence of long-run cointegration was borderline.

What to keep in mind

The available summary does not describe detailed limitations beyond noting that long-run cointegration was borderline. The findings are based on annual national-level data for Kazakhstan from 2010 to 2023, so the scope is limited to that context.

Key points

  • Internet usage was used as the study's measure of digitalization.
  • Higher Internet penetration was linked to lower youth unemployment in the short run.
  • A 1% rise in Internet penetration was associated with about a 0.27% drop in youth unemployment.
  • The relationship remained robust after alternative specifications and structural break adjustments.
  • Education expenditure and economic growth had weak or delayed effects.
  • Long-run cointegration was described as borderline.

Disclosure

Research title:
Digitalization is linked to lower youth unemployment in Kazakhstan
Authors:
A. A. Barzhaksyyeva, Yerzhan Amirbekuly, Gulzhikhan Smagulova, Fatih Yücel
Institutions:
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, National Research University Higher School of Economics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir Üniversitesi, Pavlodar State Pedagogical University
Publication date:
2026-03-30
DOI:
10.21511/ppm.24(1).2026.46
OpenAlex record:
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AI provenance: This post was generated by gpt-5.4-mini (OpenAI). The original authors did not write or review this post.