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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Carlo Cambini (Department of Production and Management Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy); Lorien Sabatino (Department of Production and Management Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy); Sarah Zaccagni (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the impact of ultra-fast broadband (UBB) access on student performance. These networks are based on optical fiber, allowing significantly higher speed compared to traditional copper-line connections. Our empirical analysis leverages on a unique dataset that combines information on broadband diffusion with data on student performance in 2nd, 5th, and 8th grade for the period 2012-2017. We exploit the staggered roll-out of UBB, starting from 2015. Through an event study approach, we find evidence of endogeneity between student performance and broadband diffusion. We deal with this issue through an instrumental variable approach that exploits plausibly exogenous variation in the diffusion of the essential UBB input. Our results suggest that ultra-fast connections significantly decrease students’ performance in Mathematics and Italian language in 8th grade. Instead, we do not find any significant effect in 2nd and 5th grade. Male students from low-educated parental backgrounds are those more adversely affected, especially if they attend schools with a low IT usage. |
| Keywords: | ultra-fast broadband, internet, student performance, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | C23 C26 I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2114&r= |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Rexon T. Nting (London, UK) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we assess how the mobile phone can be leveraged upon to improve the role of governance in environmental sustainability in 44 Sub-Saharan African countries. The Generalised Method of Moments is used to establish policy thresholds. A threshold is a critical mass or level of mobile phone penetration at which the net effect of governance on Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions changes from positive to negative. Mobile phone penetration thresholds associated with negative conditional effects are: 36 (per 100 people) for political stability/no violence; 130 (per 100 people) for regulation quality; 146.66 (per 100 people) for government effectiveness; 65 (per 100 people) for corruption-control and 130 (per 100 people) for the rule of law. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. The study provides thresholds of mobile phone penetration that are critical in complementing governance dynamics to reduce CO2 emissions. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions; ICT; Economic development; Africa |
| JEL: | C52 O38 O40 O55 P37 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:21/035&r= |
| By: | Marymagdaline E. Tarkang (Istanbul Gelisim University, Istanbul, Turkey); Ruth N. Yunji (Eastern Mediterranean University, Turkey); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon); Uju V. Alola (Istanbul Gelisim University, Istanbul, Turkey) |
| Abstract: | The mobile telecommunication (telecom) sector has become the basic source of information now-a-days especially in Cameroon. It is used to transfer and deliver information through voice, video, data, graphics, and more at perpetually increasing speeds. The quality of mobile services does not only impact the attraction of new customers but also to maintain the existing ones. The study uses relationship marketing theory and a quantitative and cross-sectional method with 200 respondents. Information was obtained from users of MTN and Orange mobile telecommunication networks. The analyses were done using SPSS version 20. Tangibility, reliability, and assurance dimensions of staff service quality showed a positive relationship with customer loyalty in mobile telecom companies in Cameroon. The findings also highlight the influence of service quality dimensions on customer loyalty in the mobile telecom companies of the country. This study complements to extant literature by examining the influence of the five service quality dimensions; tangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness, and empathy on consumer loyalty or retention in the mobile telecommunication companies in Cameroon. |
| Keywords: | Tangibility, Reliability, ICT, Empathy, Responsiveness, Assurance, customer loyalty |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:21/036&r= |
| By: | Yselle F. Malah Kuete (University of Yaoundé 2, SOA, P.O. Box 1365); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | Structural change is seen by development economics theorists as a driver of sustained and sustainable economic growth. African countries that have understood this prioritize structural change policies in their national development programs in order to reduce poverty and promote employment through commodity-based industrialization. How does infrastructure development contribute to this process? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question by examining empirically whether the state of infrastructure development in Africa stimulates structural change, understood as the development of the manufacturing sector. After outlining the state of infrastructure quality in the region, and discussing some theoretical channels through which this relationship might pass, we estimate fixed effects models from 52 African countries over the period 2003-2018. Results which are robust to controlling for institutional dynamics and the natural resource curse hypothesis suggest that structural change in Africa is optimized with the development of infrastructure, particularly energy and information and communication technologies. Among other policy implications arising from these findings, the establishment of partnership projects with other developed countries in terms of superstructure for enhanced industrialization is recommended. |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure development, structural change, manufacturing sector, Africa |
| JEL: | N67 N77 C23 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:21/040&r= |
| By: | Amat Adarov (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Mahdi Ghodsi (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the heterogeneous effects of technical regulations and safety standards embodied in non-tariff measures on foreign direct investment using global firm-level panel data of bilateral cross-border ownership relationships over the period 2008-2018. To this end, we develop a novel measure of time-varying bilateral ad valorem equivalents of sectoral non-tariff measures, which reveals that technical barriers to trade (TBTs) played a much greater role as a trade-inhibiting factor in comparison with import tariffs and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures over the period 1996-2018, with their relative importance increasing in the post-Great Recession period. Estimations using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood framework reveal the importance of non-tariff measures as a driver of foreign direct investment, with heterogeneous effects observed for the measures imposed by the host and the home country, as well as across sectors and types of non-tariff measures. Among other results, we find that an increase in the stringency of technical barriers to trade imposed by the host country is associated with higher investment in the foreign subsidiaries operating in this country, pointing to the regulatory barrier-jumping motive of foreign direct investment. The effect is much stronger for the multinational corporations operating in the information and communications technology sector. |
| Keywords: | FDI; non-tariff measures; ad-valorem equivalent of NTMs, TBT; SPS measures; ICT |
| JEL: | F13 F14 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:wpaper:210&r= |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Communication market structures and their effect on delivering efficient and inclusive connectivity is of key interest to policy makers and regulators. This report discusses emerging competition trends in OECD broadband markets that are shaping market structures, covering both fixed and mobile networks. The increasing complementarity of fixed and wireless networks and the convergence of previously separate markets have led to new forms of communication market competition. While convergence has been acting as a driver for market consolidation, there is also increased scrutiny in merger review. Some OECD countries are discussing options to keep mobile communication markets open to new entrants in the context of merger reviews, while others have experienced a recent wave of entry. The report explores the role of horizontal and vertical mergers in communication markets, presents examples of entry in mobile communication markets, and discusses some of effects of entry and consolidation in OECD markets. |
| Date: | 2021–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:316-en&r= |