IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iepoli/v56y2021ics0167624521000020.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of internet access on research output - a cross-country study

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Xu
  • Reed, Markum

Abstract

There are large variations in research output among nations despite the rapid globalization progress. This article provides a new angle to help explain such variations. In this article, we study the impact of internet penetration on the research output of an economy. Using a country-level panel dataset, we find that higher internet penetration increases the volume of research output in an economy. The results are robust to a number of specifications, including an instrumental variable approach that addresses the endogeneity of internet penetration. We also find some evidence showing that the impact of internet penetration on research output quantity decreases as the size of fixed broadband users increase in an economy. The effects of internet access on research quality is less conclusive. Results suggest that broadening the access of internet is important for research output boosting or innovation in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Xu & Reed, Markum, 2021. "The impact of internet access on research output - a cross-country study," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:56:y:2021:i:c:s0167624521000020
    DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2021.100914
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167624521000020
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2021.100914?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ling-Chu Lee & Pin-Hua Lin & Yun-Wen Chuang & Yi-Yang Lee, 2011. "Research output and economic productivity: a Granger causality test," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(2), pages 465-478, November.
    2. Kavetsos, Georgios & Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2011. "Technological affluence and subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 742-753.
    3. Abdulnasser Hatemi-J & Ahdi N. Ajmi & Ghassen El Montasser & Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Rangan Gupta, 2016. "Research output and economic growth in G7 countries: new evidence from asymmetric panel causality testing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(24), pages 2301-2308, May.
    4. Elham Erfanian & Amir B. Ferreira Neto, 2017. "Scientific output: labor or capital intensive? An analysis for selected countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 112(1), pages 461-482, July.
    5. Kolko, Jed, 2012. "Broadband and local growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 100-113.
    6. Christoph Emanuel Mueller, 2016. "Accurate forecast of countries’ research output by macro-level indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(2), pages 1307-1328, November.
    7. Cowan, Robin & Jonard, Nicolas, 2004. "Network structure and the diffusion of knowledge," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 1557-1575, June.
    8. Elizabeth Mack & Alessandra Faggian, 2013. "Productivity and Broadband," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 36(3), pages 392-423, July.
    9. Marc F. Bellemare & Casey J. Wichman, 2020. "Elasticities and the Inverse Hyperbolic Sine Transformation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(1), pages 50-61, February.
    10. Adi Pierewan & Gindo Tampubolon, 2014. "Internet Use and Well-Being Before and During the Crisis in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 647-662, November.
    11. Steinmueller, W Edward, 2000. "Will New Information and Communication Technologies Improve the 'Codification' of Knowledge?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(2), pages 361-376, June.
    12. Martha Jim鮥z & Jaime Arturo Matus & Miguel Angel Mart󹑺, 2014. "Economic growth as a function of human capital, internet and work," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(26), pages 3202-3210, September.
    13. Clarice Gameiro Fonseca Pachi & Jorge Futoshi Yamamoto & Anna Paula Amadeu Costa & Luis Fernandez Lopez, 2012. "Relationship between connectivity and academic productivity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 93(2), pages 265-278, November.
    14. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    15. Najarzadeh, Reza & Rahimzadeh, Farzad & Reed, Michael, 2014. "Does the Internet increase labor productivity? Evidence from a cross-country dynamic panel," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 986-993.
    16. B. Mak Arvin & Rudra P. Pradhan, 2014. "Broadband penetration and economic growth nexus: evidence from cross-country panel data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(35), pages 4360-4369, December.
    17. Howard, Philip N. & Mazaheri, Nimah, 2009. "Telecommunications Reform, Internet Use and Mobile Phone Adoption in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1159-1169, July.
    18. Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2009. "The economic impact of broadband on growth: A simultaneous approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 471-485, October.
    19. John P. Walsh & Stephanie Kucker & Nancy G. Maloney & Shaul Gabbay, 2000. "Connecting minds: Computer‐mediated communication and scientific work," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 51(14), pages 1295-1305.
    20. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    21. Vu, Khuong M., 2019. "The internet-growth link: An examination of studies with conflicting results and new evidence on the network effect," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 474-483.
    22. Franz Barjak, 2006. "Research productivity in the internet era," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 68(3), pages 343-360, September.
    23. R. Inglesi-Lotz & A. Pouris, 2013. "The influence of scientific research output of academics on economic growth in South Africa: an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) application," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(1), pages 129-139, April.
    24. Sakiru Adebola Solarin & Yuen Yee Yen, 2016. "A global analysis of the impact of research output on economic growth," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 855-874, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Malcolm Koo, 2021. "Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research: A Bibliometric Analysis over a 50-Year Period," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Li, Shiyuan & Li, Yumin, 2021. "The Impact of Mobile Phone Adoption on Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 110969, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mehmet Pinar, 2023. "Do research performances of universities and disciplines in England converge or diverge? An assessment of the progress between research excellence frameworks in 2014 and 2021," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(10), pages 5731-5766, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Shiyuan & Li, Yumin, 2021. "The Impact of Mobile Phone Adoption on Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 110969, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Bertschek, Irene & Briglauer, Wolfgang & Hüschelrath, Kai & Kauf, Benedikt & Niebel, Thomas, 2016. "The economic impacts of telecommunications networks and broadband internet: A survey," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-056, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Dürr, Niklas S. & Falck, Oliver & Hüschelrath, Kai, 2019. "Does state aid for broadband deployment in rural areas close the digital and economic divide?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 68-85.
    4. Yifeng Philip Chen & Edward J. Oughton & Jakub Zagdanski & Maggie Mo Jia & Peter Tyler, 2023. "Crowdsourced data indicates broadband has a positive impact on local business creation," Papers 2308.14734, arXiv.org.
    5. Philip Chen & Edward J Oughton & Pete Tyler & Mo Jia & Jakub Zagdanski, 2020. "Evaluating the impact of next generation broadband on local business creation," Papers 2010.14113, arXiv.org.
    6. Katz, Raúl & Jung, Juan & Callorda, Fernando, 2020. "Can digitization mitigate the economic damage of a pandemic? Evidence from SARS," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10).
    7. Bahia, Kalvin & Castells, Pau & Pedrós, Xavier, 2019. "The impact of mobile technology on economic growth: global insights from 2000-2017 developments," 30th European Regional ITS Conference, Helsinki 2019 205164, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    8. Let, Halimahton Sa’diah & Hamzah, Hanny Zurina & Yusop, Zulkornain & Mazlan, Nur Syazwani, 2018. "ICT Adoption Drives Productivity in Developed and Developing Countries," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 52(3), pages 205-217.
    9. Roberto Gallardo & Brian Whitacre & Indraneel Kumar & Sreedhar Upendram, 2021. "Broadband metrics and job productivity: a look at county-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(1), pages 161-184, February.
    10. Isley, Catherine & Low, Sarah A., 2022. "Broadband adoption and availability: Impacts on rural employment during COVID-19," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).
    11. Lehtonen, Olli, 2020. "Population grid-based assessment of the impact of broadband expansion on population development in rural areas," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10).
    12. Calvin Jones & Dylan Henderson, 2019. "Broadband and uneven spatial development: The case of Cardiff City-Region," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 34(3), pages 228-247, May.
    13. Jung, Juan & López-Bazo, Enrique, 2020. "On the regional impact of broadband on productivity: The case of Brazil," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    14. Yu, Binbin, 2022. "The Impact of the Internet on Industrial Green Productivity: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    15. Henry Laverde-Rojas & Juan C. Correa, 2019. "Can scientific productivity impact the economic complexity of countries?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(1), pages 267-282, July.
    16. Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2019. "The economic impact of broadband: Evidence from OECD countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    17. Tânia Pinto & Aurora A. C. Teixeira, 2020. "The impact of research output on economic growth by fields of science: a dynamic panel data analysis, 1980–2016," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 945-978, May.
    18. Luo, Yusen & Lu, Zhengnan & Wu, Chao, 2023. "Can internet development accelerate the green innovation efficiency convergence: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    19. Tânia Pinto & Aurora Teixeira, 2023. "Does scientific research output matter for Portugal’s economic growth?," GEE Papers 0174, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jul 2023.
    20. Abdulqadir, Idris A. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-61.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Research output; Research quality; Publication; Academic productivity; Internet access; Internet penetration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:56:y:2021:i:c:s0167624521000020. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505549 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.