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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Khan, Nawab; Ray, Ram; Kassem, Hazem; Ihtisham, Muhammad; Abdullah, .; Asongu, Simplice; Ansah, Stephen; Zhang, Shemei |
| Abstract: | Increasing agricultural production and optimizing inorganic fertilizer (IF) use are imperative for agricultural and environmental sustainability. Mobile phone usage (MPU) has the potential to reduce IF application while ensuring environmental and agricultural sustainability goals. The main objectives of this study were to assess MPU, mobile phone promotion policy, and whether the mediation role of human capital can help reduce IF use. This study used baseline regression analysis and propensity score matching, difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) to assess the impact of MPU on IF usage. However, the two-stage instrumental variables method (IVM) was used to study the effects of mobile phone promotion policy on IF usage. This study used a national dataset from 7,987 rural households in Afghanistan to investigate the impacts of MPU and associated promotion policies on IF application. The baseline regression outcomes showed that the MPU significantly reduced IF usage. The evaluation mechanism revealed that mobile phones help reduce IF application by improving the human capital of farmers. Besides, evidence from the DID technique showed that mobile phone promotion policies lowered IF application. These results remained robust after applying the PSM-DID method and two-stage IVM to control endogenous decisions of rural households. This study results imply that enhancing the accessibility of wideband in remote areas, promoting MPU, and increasing investment in information communication technologies (ICTs) infrastructure can help decrease the IF application in agriculture. Thus, the government should invest in remote areas to facilitate access to ICTs, such as having a telephone and access to a cellular and internet network to provide an environment and facility to apply IF effectively. Further, particular policy support must focus on how vulnerable populations access the internet and mobile phone technologies. |
| Keywords: | mobile phone usage; propensity score matching; difference-in-difference; inorganic fertilizer usage; human capital; sustainable development; Afghanistan |
| JEL: | O1 Q1 Q50 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:110849&r= |
| By: | Bonacini, Luca; Murat, Marina |
| Abstract: | By using PISA 2018 data, we investigate the associations between digital divides and educational inequalities in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. We find strong and significant cognitive losses of students lacking the resources needed to learn remotely; everything else given, they range from 25 to 70 percent of a school year. In Germany, Italy and France, where tracking between schools starts earlier, digital gaps are strongly associated with school types. They are also wider in urban areas, where the use of ICT resources is more widespread. Grades repetition in Spain is associated with the digital divide, while family characteristics matter in the United Kingdom. In the longer run, students who cannot learn remotely are more likely to repeat grades and end their education early, especially where grades repetition is more common: Spain, Germany, and Italy. Education policies should be designed accordingly. |
| Keywords: | Digital divide,education inequalities,educational systems,remote learning,PI |
| JEL: | I21 I24 H52 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:679r&r= |
| By: | M\'ed\'eric Motte (LPSM); Huy\^en Pham (LPSM) |
| Abstract: | With the emergence of new online channels and information technology, digital advertising tends to substitute more and more to traditional advertising by offering the opportunity to companies to target the consumers/users that are really interested by their products or services. We introduce a novel framework for the study of optimal bidding strategies associated to different types of advertising, namely, commercial advertising for triggering purchases or subscriptions, and social marketing for alerting population about unhealthy behaviours (anti-drug, vaccination, road-safety campaigns). Our continuoustime models are based on a common framework encoding users online behaviours via their web-browsing at random times, and the targeted advertising auction mechanism widely used on Internet, the objective being to efficiently diffuse advertising information by means of digital channels. Our main results are to provide semi-explicit formulas for the optimal value and bidding policy for each of these problems. We show some sensitivity properties of the solution with respect to model parameters, and analyse how the different sources of digital information accessible to users including the social interactions affect the optimal bid for advertising auctions. We also study how to efficiently combine targeted advertising and non-targeted advertising mechanisms. Finally, some classes of examples with fully explicit formulas are derived. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.08311&r= |
| By: | Mr. Ali J Al-Sadiq |
| Abstract: | The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has helped accelerate the digitization of public services. The lockdown initiated by most governments to curb the spread of the coronavirus forced most public agencies to switch to online platforms to continue providing information and services to the public. It is widely recognized that information diffusion and communication technology play a large role in improving the quality of public services in terms of time, cost, and interface with the public, business, and other agencies. Potentially, e-government could enhance a country’s locational advantages and attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows. This hypothesis is tested empirically using an unbalanced panel data analysis for 178 host countries over the period 2003-2018. The results suggest that e-government stimulates the inflow of FDI. |
| Keywords: | E-government;Developing Countries;WP;FDI inflow;E-government service;e-government variable;FDI equation;development index |
| Date: | 2021–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/008&r= |
| By: | Carlo Cambini; Elena Grinza; Lorien Sabatino |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of ultra-fast broadband (UFB) infrastructures on the total factor productivity (TFP) and labor productivity of firms. We use unique balanced panel data for the 2013-2019 period on incorporated firms in Italy. Using the geographical location of the firms, we match firm data with municipality-level information on the diffusion of UFB, which started in 2015 in Italy. We derive consistent firm-level TFP estimates by adopting a version of the Ackerberg et al.’s (2015) method, which also accounts for firm fixed effects. We then assess the impact of UFB on productivity and deal with the endogeneity of UFB by exploiting the physical distance between each municipality and the closest backbone node. Our results show an overall positive impact of UFB on productivity. Services companies benefit the most from advanced broadband technologies, as do firms located in the North-West and South of Italy. We further decompose the impact of full-fiber networks (FTTH) from mixed copper-fiber connections (FTTC) and find that FTTH networks significantly contribute to enhancing firm productivity. Finally, by exploiting Labor Force Survey data, we provide suggestive evidence that productivity increases from UFB might be related to structural changes at the workforce level. |
| Keywords: | Ultra-fast broadband (UFB); fiber-based networks; fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) |
| JEL: | L96 D24 D22 |
| Date: | 2021–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/334687&r= |
| By: | Hanna Halaburda; Zhiguo He; Jiasun Li |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the designs of many new blockchain applications have been inspired by the Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) problem. While traditional BFT protocols assume that most system nodes are honest (in that they follow the protocol), we recognize that blockchains are deployed in environments where nodes are subject to strategic incentives. This paper develops an economic framework for analyzing such cases. Specifically, we assume that 1) non-Byzantine nodes are rational, so we explicitly study their incentives when participating in a BFT consensus process; 2) non-Byzantine nodes are ambiguity averse, and specifically, Knightian uncertain about Byzantine actions; and 3) decisions/inferences are all based on local information. The consensus game then resembles one with preplay “cheap talk” communications. We characterize all equilibria, some of which feature rational leaders withholding messages from some nodes in order to achieve consensus. These findings enrich those from traditional BFT algorithms, where an honest leader always sends messages to all nodes. We also study how the progress of communication technology (i.e., potential message losses) affects the equilibrium consensus outcome. |
| JEL: | D02 D82 D85 G14 G29 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29515&r= |