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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Filipe R. Campante (Harvard University); Ruben Durante (Département d'économie); Francesco Sobbrio (Catholic University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the causal impact of broadband Internet on political participation using data from Italy. We show that this impact varies across different forms of political engagement and over time. Initially, broadband had a negative effect on turnout in national elections, driven by increased abstention of ideologically extreme voters. Meanwhile, however, broadband fostered other forms of online and offline participation. Over time, the negative effect was reverted due to the emergence of new political entrepreneurs who used the Internet to convert the initial “exit” back into “voice”. Overall, these nuanced effects underscore the general equilibrium dynamic induced by the Internet. |
| JEL: | D72 L82 L86 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5badiqjn5b8cc8g60jv8lvnanf&r=ict |
| By: | Chakrabarty, Aritra |
| Abstract: | Several factors and dimensions are taken into consideration which influences the definition and scope of e-governance. Here ‘e’ implies technology driven governance. By application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the delivery of government services, exchange of information and services becomes efficient. Here exchange and flow of information takes place at three levels- 1) Government to consumer (G2C) 2) Government to business (G2B), and 3) Government to government (G2G) The perspective of e-governance is the “use of technologies that both help governing and have to be governed”. In order to understand debate and analyze the concept of e-governance and how its contours have changed, we first need to recognize e-democracy. It is a process and structures that encompass all forms of electronic interaction between the elected government and the citizenry. E-democracy as a concept and practice precedes participatory democracy which has been defined (Kramer, 1972) as that process that emphasizes broader participation in governance operation. Thus e-governance is conditioned on the fact that there exists a democratic political system and it involves a participatory framework of governance. This paper will look at the changing paradigm of e-governance through three broad questions- 1) Has ICT enabled civic engagement and initiated public opinion in this developing economy 2) Has it succeeded in reversing apparent defects in the electoral system 3) Has ICT lead to the spread of information from the state to the society |
| Keywords: | Democracy, Governance, Technology, Citizens, Government, Policy, Participatory democracy, Politics |
| JEL: | H1 H44 O38 P35 |
| Date: | 2015–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65231&r=ict |
| By: | Fabrizio Borselli; Silvia Fedeli; Luisa Giuriato |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the first Value Added Tax (VAT) fraud on Voice over Internet Protocol, the Phuncards-Broker operation, which took place in Italy in 2005-2007. The scheme consists of a chain of frauds on e-services that represents an important evolution of the "classic" models of carousel fraud, showing the increasing vulnerabilities of the VAT systems. The authors explore the policy implications for tax authorities, looking at how changes in their strategies may tackle the incentives to participate in the fraud. We argue that, in the short term, information technology (IT) solutions might offer some of the best answers when effectively combined with reverse-charge, while, in the longer-term, an extension of the One-Stop-Shop system may represent a new hypothesis of VAT reform in an anti-fraud perspective. |
| Keywords: | EU Value added tax, VAT fraud, reverse-charge, One-Stop-Shop system |
| JEL: | H20 H21 H22 H26 K34 K42 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp170&r=ict |
| By: | Jong Uk Kim (Sungkyunkwan University) |
| Abstract: | Along with the recent advances of mobile internet technology, use of social network service(SNS) is very common among adolescents or college students in their daily lives. Although there have been a lot of studies on Internet addiction or mobile phone addiction, however, there were little research on SNS addiction so far. Scholars investigated somewhat broader and obscure phenomenon of Internet addiction. In this regard, the current study tried to examine factors which influence SNS addiction behavior. Unlike Internet addiction, there are positive influencing factors such socialization, enjoyment as well as problematic ones like loneliness. Data were collected from college students in Korea to examine how those factors influence addiction behavior and hypotheses were tested using the partial least square method. All three factors, socialization, enjoyment, and loneliness, were found significantly influenced SNS addiction and socialization was positively associated with enjoyment. |
| Keywords: | SNS addiction, enjoyment, socialization, loneliness, Internet |
| JEL: | M15 L82 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:ibmpro:2304518&r=ict |
| By: | Shivani Arora (SBS College, Delhi University); Daniel Okunbor (Fayetteville State University,) |
| Abstract: | Social Networking is the mainstay that aided the survival of internet during the turbulent times of E-commerce. Internet users stayed glued to social networking websites especially Facebook, which started advertising to them and hence they started buying. The extent of its growth makes it an interesting and unexplored area of research. The advantages it provides are immense and hence it has penetrated into our daily lives, but theres a flip side to it – excessive usage per day; inferiority complex creeping in, when the happening lives of friends and family are portrayed on Facebook, feeling lonely has been cited as a reason leading to the increased use of SN websites, causing more loneliness as the end product; addiction arising out of pleasure, etc. This paper aims to study the Facebook usage pattern of a sample of students from United States and India, and gauge the pattern and relate the same as symptoms of addiction. |
| Keywords: | Facebook, FAD, Social Media ,Social Network/Social Networking, Addiction, Usage, Facebook |
| JEL: | M30 I00 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:ibmpro:2303420&r=ict |
| By: | Matteucci, Nicola |
| Abstract: | Undoubtedly a fast and sustainable migration to the most innovative eServices requires the preliminary availability of a pervasive, reliable and updated digital network infrastructure. Unfortunately, in Italy nor the Market neither the State promptly worked to solve the enduring infrastructural digital divide affecting many less populated areas of the country. Although the awareness of this divide in the public opinion has recently grown, the accumulated retard persists, and reduces the competitiveness of the national economy, now adversely impacted by the structural crisis and the industrial decline. In this work we critically discuss the conventional empirical evidences available on the Marche Region, and we present new and more accurate ones. Contrary to the received wisdom, it emerges that Marche and more generally the NEC area remain among the most disadvantaged regions of the country, also due to the polycentric and diffused characters of their model of socio-economic and urban development. Looking into the near future, we envisage that the passage to the next generation of broadband (NGAN) will accentuate the existing coverage and quality problems of the digital infrastructure while, considering the employable public funds, to date there isn’t any trace of a prospective landmark change in policy-making. |
| Keywords: | Broadband and ultra-broadband, coverage, statistics, infrastructural investments, Marche Region. |
| JEL: | H54 L52 L96 O38 R53 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65268&r=ict |
| By: | Fatma Zeynep Özata (Anadolu University) |
| Abstract: | A mobile app is a computer (software) program designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices (Wikipedia). The increased use of mobile devices and mobile Internet has led to an explosion of the development and download of mobile applications. Businesses started competing to have a mobile application to gain competitive advantage or stay competitive. But despite the success of some, the majority of mobile applications fails outright or is not as successful as expected. So this study aims to define the factors that affect user satisfaction as a success measure of mobile applications. I/S Success Model is used as a basis for this study, and the model is expanded with the constructs related to flow. The research framework includes seven antecedents (system reliability and design, perceived ease of use, content usefulness, content quality, focused attention, perceived enjoyment, and flow) of user satisfaction that were derived from existing information systems, m-commerce and applications literature. The structural equation modeling (SEM) method was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships among the constructs in the theoretical model developed. The results of the study showed that system quality and information quality are important determinants of user satisfaction, but flow does not have a direct influence on user satisfaction. The most striking finding of this study is that perceived enjoyment is a significant determinant of satisfaction with mobile applications. Based on the findings, companies involved in m-commerce should focus on not only to improve the usefulness or quality of the system but also the design features of the applications that enhance enjoyment and the experience must also be considered carefully. |
| Keywords: | M-commerce, Mobile applications, User satisfaction, System quality, Content quality, Flow experience, Perceived enjoyment, Hedonism |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:ibmpro:2304356&r=ict |
| By: | Yasuyuki Todo (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University); Petr Matous (Complex Systems Research Group, School of Engineering, University of Sydney); Dagne Mojo (Holetta Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta, Ethiopia) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of social network structure on the diffusion of agricultural technologies using household-level panel data from Ethiopia. We correct for possible biases due to the endogeneity of social networks using a social experiment in which we provide mobile phones to randomly selected households. We find that the effect of social networks varies depending on the network structure and characteristics of the technologies considered. The diffusion of information on a simple technology is determined by whether farmers know an agricultural extension agent. However, the diffusion of information on a more complex technology is not promoted by simply knowing an extension agent but by knowing an agent that a particular household can rely on and by clustered networks in which most friends of the household are friends of each other. This finding suggests that knowing and understanding more complex technologies require strong external ties and flows of the same information from multiple sources. |
| Keywords: | knowledge diffusion, technology adoption, agriculture, social network, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | O13 O33 Q16 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wap:wpaper:1505&r=ict |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Having the highest levels of skills in problem solving using ICT (information and communication technologies) increases chances of participating in the labour force by six percentage points compared with adults who have the lowest levels of these skills, even after accounting for various other factors, such as age, gender, level of education, literacy and numeracy proficiency, and use of e-mail at home. Adults without ICT experience are less likely to participate in the labour force; if they are employed, they earn less than adults with ICT experience, after accounting for various other factors. Experience in using ICT has a particularly large impact on participation in the labour force and earnings in Australia, England/Northern Ireland (UK) and the United States. Workers who use ICT frequently have substantially higher wages than those who do not use ICT often.<P>Les compétences numériques : un investissement vraiment rentable ?<BR>Le fait d’atteindre les niveaux les plus élevés de compétences en résolution de problèmes à l’aide des TIC (technologies de l’information et de la communication) augmente la probabilité d’être actif, pour un adulte, de 6 points de pourcentage par rapport aux individus se situant aux niveaux les plus faibles dans ce domaine, même après contrôle de différents autres facteurs, tels que l’âge, le sexe, le niveau de formation, le niveau de compétences en littératie et en numératie, et l’utilisation de la messagerie électronique dans le cadre privé. Les adultes sans expérience dans les TIC sont moins susceptibles d’être actifs, et lorsqu’ils occupent un emploi, sont moins bien rémunérés que les adultes expérimentés dans les TIC, après contrôle de différents autres facteurs. En Angleterre/Irlande du Nord (RU), en Australie, et aux États-Unis, l’expérience dans l’utilisation des TIC a une incidence particulièrement marquée sur le taux d’activité et la rémunération. Les actifs occupés faisant une utilisation fréquente des TIC ont une rémunération sensiblement plus élevée que celle des actifs occupés ne les utilisant pas souvent. |
| Date: | 2015–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduabb:1-en&r=ict |
| By: | Lukasz Grzybowski |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the role of network effects and consumer heterogeneity in the adoption of mobile phones. We estimate the decision to adopt a mobile phone using panel survey data of South African households between the years 2008 and 2012, which includes interviews with all adult household members. We construct variables which approximate network effects on the household level and find that the greater the number of mobile phones in the household, the greater the likelihood that the other household members will also adopt a mobile phone. Moreover, network effects depend on who in the household adopts a mobile phone. Without within-household network effects the penetration of mobile phones of 76.4% in 2012 would be lower by about 9.9 percentage points. The decision to adopt a mobile phone is also explained by observed and unobserved consumer heterogeneity. |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones, Network effects, Consumer heterogeneity |
| JEL: | L13 L96 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:522&r=ict |
| By: | Caitlin Brown (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | Cyber attacks have increased sharply in recent years. This paper investigates the decision a profit-motivated hacker makes between working as a malicious hacker, called a black hat, and in cybersecurity as a white hat hacker. A key component of the model is the contest between white and black hats for some part of firm output that is vulnerable to attack. White and black hat earnings are increasing, nonlinear functions of the proportion of black hats. Multiple equilibria exist. Increasing the role of law enforcement in both apprehending black hats and the provision of computer security are shown to decrease the proportion of black hats in equilibrium. |
| Keywords: | Computer hacking, cybercrime, information security, crime, multiple equilibria |
| JEL: | K42 L86 O33 |
| Date: | 2015–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~15-15-04&r=ict |