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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Boza-Núñez, Efraín; Vargas-Montoya, Luis; Robalino, Juan |
| Abstract: | Information and communications Technologies (ICT) are crucial in people's daily activities, including the job-related ones. Previous literature has acknowledged the potential of ICT to enhance labor market outcomes. However, empirical evidence is scarce and concentrated in developed countries. By using a rich longitudinal dataset, we apply a novel Differences and Differences (DiD) method to estimate the effect of the access to computers and internet over the labor market participation, employment and earnings. We further test whether there are complementarity effects of having access to the internet and computers simultaneously on the labor market outcomes and the likely differential effect by having access to broadband instead of lower speed connections. We found that the access to computers and the internet positively affects labor market participation, employment and earning. We further found that the simultaneous access to the internet and computers enhances their effect on employment and earnings. Policy makers should be aware that, in the digital era, the access to ICT is crucial to enhance the labor market outcomes. Particularly for developing countries, which along with poorer labor markets outcomes face higher digital divides. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:278020&r=ict |
| By: | Djanibekov, Nodir; Kurbanov, Zafar; Tadjiev, Abdusame; Govind, Ajit; Akramkhanov, Akmal |
| Abstract: | The spread of information and communications technology (ICT) in Central Asia has reached a point where most farmers use smartphones with mobile internet access providing an opportunity for a low-cost and timely access to agricultural information and advisory services. When extension service is poor and does not cater to the farmers' needs, farmers seek other sources of information, such as exchanging knowledge with their peers and engaging in social media groups using instant messaging applications (apps) such as Telegram and WhatsApp. Analysis of a farm-level survey conducted in 2022 in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, suggests that farmers' participation in online groups for information exchange is influenced by the enabling environment rather than by the type of cultivated crops or farm size. The findings are relevant for developing private sector strategies and public policies to spread digital technologies among Central Asia's farmers with a holistic plan for a digital transformation. When introducing smartphone- or web-based digital technologies, policymakers are recommended to start scaling up with younger and more technologically-savvy farmers who on the one hand rely on their own knowledge but on the other hand are more open to embracing new ways of farming and interaction. Decision-making autonomy is an important factor to facilitate digital transformation in agriculture in the Central Asian context. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iamopb:46&r=ict |
| By: | Tadjiev, Abdusame; Kurbanov, Zafar; Djanibekov, Nodir; Govind, Ajit; Akramkhanov, Akmal |
| Abstract: | The spread of information and communications technology (ICT) in Central Asia has reached a point where most farmers use smartphones with mobile internet access, providing an opportunity for a cost-effective and timely access to agricultural information and extension services. When extension service provision is poor and does not reflect farmers' immediate needs, farmers often seek other sources of information, such as exchanging knowledge with their peers via social media groups in instant messaging applications (apps). Using the findings of a farm-level survey conducted in 2022 in irrigated areas of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, we study behavior and attitudes of farmers in terms of participation in smartphone-based social media groups and its impact of farm performance. We find that in the two country contexts underlying reasons for participation in social groups differ. In Kazakhstan, participation decisions are made by those who have better access to a mobile internet connection, are younger, have agriculture-related education, have a wider communication circle on phone with more than four individuals, cultivate fewer crops, have lands with low soil quality and poor irrigation water access, as well as located in remote areas. In Uzbekistan participation decisions are made by those who see the relevance of mobile internet for their farm business, have own agronomic knowledge, are open to new things, care less about the opinion of other farmers, have higher perception about freedom in crop choice, have off-farm work, as well as poor irrigation water access. These findings suggest farmers' participation in agricultural information-sharing groups (AISG) is influenced less by the type of cultivated crops or farm size, but by their institutional environment. The findings are relevant for developing private strategies and public policies to spread digital technologies among Central Asia's farmers. When introducing smartphone-based digital advisory services policymakers are recommended to start scaling up with younger and more educated farmers who rely on their own knowledge and are more open to embracing new ways of farming and interaction. Farmers' decision-making autonomy will be crucial for converting digital transformation in agriculture into farm benefits. |
| Keywords: | Extension services, self-help groups, knowledge exchange, partcipation determinants, Central Asia |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iamodp:201&r=ict |
| By: | Edquist, Harald |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between the log change in mobile broadband latency and total factor productivity (TFP) growth based on data for 130 countries. It finds that there is a strong correlation between TFP growth and one year lag of latency growth once controlling for the growth of labor and capital services in OECD countries. The interpretation of the findings is that a 10 percentage points decrease in the growth of latency in period t-1 is associated with an increase of 0.3 percentage points in TFP growth. The findings are in accordance with the framework of general purpose technologies that suggests that the impact of new technologies often appear with a lag. Moreover, no relationship is found for non-OECD countries, which suggest that it is only OECD countries that are able to take advantage of the benefits of lower latency. One possible explanation could be that OECD countries have reached a higher maturity in digitalization and automation in production processes and thus are able to take advantage of the benefits of lower latency. |
| Keywords: | ICT, Productivity, Latency, Mobile broadband networks, Economic development |
| JEL: | D24 O33 O47 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277954&r=ict |
| By: | Guiffard, Jean-Baptiste |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the value that households place on broadband internet access, explicitly focusing on the impact of eligibility for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology on property prices. Using a Spatial Discontinuity Design based on the border of fiber eligibility zones which have significantly expanded under France's Plan Très Haut-Débit, I find that FTTH eligibility is a significant determinant of property prices, with an average increase of 1.7 percent (2.4 percent for houses). I also consider heterogeneities in FTTH valuation based on socioeconomic characteristics, local factors and income levels. These findings highlight the growing importance of fast and reliable Internet access for households and have important implications for policymakers and Internet service providers. |
| Keywords: | Telecommunication, Broadband Internet, FTTH, Impact Evaluation, Regression Discontinuity Design, Hedonic Price, House market |
| JEL: | L96 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277968&r=ict |
| By: | Frias, Zoraida; Lehr, William; Stocker, Volker; Mendo, Luis |
| Abstract: | Mobile broadband networks constitute essential infrastructure to enable a wide range of innovative services and use cases anticipated for our digital economy future. Measuring performance is essential in many ways. First, to allow service providers to manage and develop their networks. Second, for the efficient operation of markets, and third, for evidence-based policymaking. In the rapidly evolving digital economy, capabilities for collecting more fine-grained measurements and analytics that deliver insights to enable real-time network management and localized control are expanding. As the fundamental methods used to collect measurement data are changing, the ecosystem of stakeholders with strategic interests in mobile measurement is growing and becoming more complex, posing challenges and opportunities for policymakers. Against the background of this growing complexity, this paper aims to discuss some basic features of a capable and reliable measurement ecosystem for mobile broadband. We document how the mobile broadband measurement ecosystem has changed and discuss its implications on a number of important broadband policy issues. |
| Keywords: | Mobile Broadband, Measurement, Performance, Evidence-based policymaking, Internet Policy, Telecommunications Policy |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277959&r=ict |
| By: | Jamison, Mark A.; Wang, Peter |
| Abstract: | We examine broadband's impacts on entrepreneurship, income, and employment in general and separately by gender and for whites versus minorities in the U.S. for 2000 - 2019. Using Current Population Surveys and matching, we find that broadband access significantly impacted the decision to be self-employed until at least 2012. Broadband access also reduced unemployment and increased earnings. It generally benefitted women and minorities more than men and whites, but not always. Broadband was particularly effective for minority males and females during the years up to and immediately following the Great Recession. These findings are consistent with the idea that broadband may dampen gender and racial bias. The effects of broadband generally diminish as adoption increases, consistent with the belief that late adopters benefit less than early adopters. |
| Keywords: | broadband, entrepreneurship, discrimination, income, unemployment |
| JEL: | L86 L26 J71 L53 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277974&r=ict |
| By: | Ashok, Pratiksha |
| Abstract: | India- the land where tradition meets modernization, where local meets global, a land that has changed its image from an agrarian world to an equal competitor in the digital sector, a society where digitalization has not ripped traditional roots but uplifted small businesses and budding entrepreneurs. In 2016, 16.5% (214.5 million) of the Indian population had access to mobile internet. In 2017, 18.2% of Indians (236 million) had access to mobile internet, an increase of approximately 22 million people having access to mobile internet in a year. The Indian Telecom Sector has emerged as one of the critical components of economic growth required for overall socio-economic development of the country as there is a positive correlation between the penetration of mobile services and internet on the growth of GDP of a country. So, what are changed in 2016, contributing to the acceleration of mobile internet usage in India? The various factors that contributed and the impact on the consumers are the focus of this research. The factors include the rise of mobile service providers, digitalization, government policies and COVID-19, resulting in increased healthy competition, access to infrastructure and subsidies, a secure financial system and resilience in the face of a global health crisis. (...) |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277944&r=ict |
| By: | El Hadi Caoui; Andrew Steck |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the role that content providers play upstream in the global internet supply chain. Using novel data, we establish three stylized facts: (1) Content providers have become the largest buyers of bandwidth capacity, their share of global used bandwidth has grown dramatically (from 5% to 69%) over the period 2005-2021, with important heterogeneity across regions. (2) Content providers (in particular, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft) are vertically integrating into the provision and operation of internet infrastructure, accounting for an increasingly important share of investment in internet cable infrastructure. (3) The growth in content providers' demand is in part associated with the roll-out of their data centers globally and corresponding increase in inter-data center traffic; their investment in private cables is in part driven by data center siting, which are in locations that may lack connectivity to public internet cables. We discuss implications of these trends for innovation, internet traffic transparency, technology standard adoption, and network resilience. |
| Keywords: | internet backbone, content providers, bandwidth market, vertical integration |
| JEL: | L13 L96 L86 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2307&r=ict |
| By: | Nuguer, Victoria; Finkelstein-Shapiro, Alan |
| Abstract: | We study how policies that facilitate firm digital adoption shape the labor market and economic recovery from COVID-19 in a search and matching framework with firm entry and exit where salaried firms can adopt digital technologies and the labor market and firm structure embodies key features of Latin American economies. Using Mexico as a case study, we first show that the model quantitatively replicates the dynamics of the labor market and output at the onset of the COVID recession and in its aftermath, including the sharp decline in labor force participation and informal employment that is unique to the COVID recession. We then show that a policy-induced permanent reduction in the barriers to adopting digital technologies introduced at the trough of the recession bolsters the recovery of GDP, total employment, and labor income, and leads to a larger expansion in the share of formal employment compared to the no-policy scenario. In the long run, the economy exhibits a long-run reduction in total employment and labor force participation, but higher levels of GDP and labor income, greater average firm productivity, a larger formal employment share, and a marginally lower unemployment rate. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles and labor search frictions;Self-employmentand informality;Unemployment;Labor force participation;Information and communications technologies (ICT);Latin America |
| JEL: | E24 J23 J24 J64 O14 |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12232&r=ict |