Empowering the elderly: the role of information access in promoting rights awareness in Vietnam

The rapid expansion of digital technologies has transformed how individuals access information and interact with institutions, yet older adults often remain excluded from these opportunities. This study examines the role of information access in fostering rights awareness among older adults in Vietnam, a country undergoing both demographic ageing and rapid digital transformation. Using data from the 2011 Vietnam National Ageing Survey, we construct a composite index of information access incorporating television, radio, newspapers, internet, community loudspeakers, and computer ownership. Rights awareness is measured across four domains: health, social protection, legal and policy, and civic participation. To address potential endogeneity, we employ a coefficient stability bounds approach, complemented by propensity score matching, inverse probability weighting, entropy balancing, coarsened exact matching, and double/debiased machine learning. Across all specifications, information access is consistently associated with greater rights awareness, even under conservative assumptions regarding omitted variable bias. Mediation analysis further reveals that information access promotes awareness both directly and indirectly, through enhanced civic participation and stronger intergenerational support. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effects are stronger and more robust in the Northern and Southern regions, among more educated individuals, within the Kinh majority group, and among women.