IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v91y2015icp1-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital divides in the world and its regions: A spatial and multivariate analysis of technological utilization

Author

Listed:
  • Pick, James B.
  • Nishida, Tetsushi

Abstract

The research purpose is to identify the correlates of technology utilization for the world and major world regions, while screening for spatial bias. Conceptual theory is induced which posits that levels of technological utilization are based on social, economic, government, and societal openness factors, while recognizing that geographic proximity can be influential for this utilization; the model's endogenous factors are posited to account for proximity. Regression findings worldwide for broadband internet subscribers indicate that the important correlates are tertiary education and innovation capacity. The disaggregated findings provide a more refined view. For Europe, significant determinants are judicial independence and innovation capacity, while for Asia they are tertiary education, foreign direct investment, and innovation capacity. For combined Africa–Latin America, higher education, press freedom, and foreign direct investment are most significant. The empirical findings lead to a more complex theoretical model that distinguishes determinants for developed and developing nations. The study suggests that a nation's governmental policies be tailored to the distinctive factors that apply for that nation's developed or developing region and/or its continental region. For planners and policy makers, the study suggests that use of spatial analysis can contribute to greater understanding and more accurate investigation of digital divides.

Suggested Citation

  • Pick, James B. & Nishida, Tetsushi, 2015. "Digital divides in the world and its regions: A spatial and multivariate analysis of technological utilization," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:91:y:2015:i:c:p:1-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2013.12.026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162514000079
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.12.026?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. Billon, Margarita & Marco, Rocio & Lera-Lopez, Fernando, 0. "Disparities in ICT adoption: A multidimensional approach to study the cross-country digital divide," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10-11), pages 596-610, November.
    2. James, Jeffrey, 1980. "The employment effects of an income redistribution : A test for aggregation bias in the Indian sugar processing industry," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 175-189, April.
    3. James, Jeffrey, 2012. "The ICT Development Index and the digital divide: How are they related?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 587-594.
    4. Vicente, María Rosalía & López, Ana Jesús, 2011. "Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 220-237, April.
    5. Steven John Simon, 2004. "Critical Success Factors for Electronic Services: Challenges for Developing Countries," Journal of Global Information Technology Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 31-53, April.
    6. Kiiski, Sampsa & Pohjola, Matti, 2002. "Cross-country diffusion of the Internet," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 297-310, June.
    7. Susmita Dasgupta & Somik Lall & David Wheeler, 2005. "Policy Reform, Economic Growth and the Digital Divide," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 229-243.
    8. Barney Warf, 2001. "Segueways into Cyberspace: Multiple Geographies of the Digital Divide," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 28(1), pages 3-19, February.
    9. McCaffery, Edward J. & Baron, Jonathan, 2003. "The Humpty Dumpty blues: Disaggregation bias in the evaluation of tax systems," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 230-242, July.
    10. Buys, Piet & Dasgupta, Susmita & Thomas, Timothy S. & Wheeler, David, 2009. "Determinants of a Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Spatial Econometric Analysis of Cell Phone Coverage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1494-1505, September.
    11. Jeffrey James & Mila Versteeg, 2007. "Mobile phones in Africa: how much do we really know?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 117-126, October.
    12. James, M.J. & Versteeg, M., 2007. "Mobile phones in Africa : How much do we really know?," Other publications TiSEM 71c384dd-b246-4fa0-a046-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. James, M.J. & Romijn, H.A., 1997. "The determinants of technological capability : a cross-country analysis," Other publications TiSEM 26bd52b0-8e74-4556-bff7-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Jeffrey James & Henny Romijn, 1997. "The determinants of technological capability: A cross-country analysis," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 189-207.
    15. James, M.J., 2007. "From origins to implications : Key aspects in the debate over the digital divide," Other publications TiSEM 268eb10c-e0af-4818-8ef9-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. World Bank, 2010. "World Development Indicators 2010," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4373, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bera, Subhasis, 2019. "Club convergence and drivers of digitalization across Indian states," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1-1.
    2. Pick, James B. & Sarkar, Avijit & Johnson, Jeremy, 2015. "United States digital divide: State level analysis of spatial clustering and multivariate determinants of ICT utilization," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 16-32.
    3. Mona Badran, 2014. "Young people and the digital divide in Egypt: an empirical study," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 4(2), pages 223-250, December.
    4. Margarita Billon & Fernando Lera-Lopez & Rocio Marco, 2016. "ICT use by households and firms in the EU: links and determinants from a multivariate perspective," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(4), pages 629-654, November.
    5. Frederico Cruz-Jesus & Tiago Oliveira & Fernando Bacao & Zahir Irani, 2017. "Assessing the pattern between economic and digital development of countries," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 835-854, August.
    6. Frederico Cruz-Jesus & Tiago Oliveira & Fernando Bacao & Zahir Irani, 0. "Assessing the pattern between economic and digital development of countries," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    7. Neokosmidis, Ioannis & Avaritsiotis, Nikolaos & Ventoura, Zoe & Varoutas, Dimitris, 2015. "Assessment of the gap and (non-)Internet users evolution based on population biology dynamics," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 14-37.
    8. Ahmad Hassan Ahmad & Christopher Green & Fei Jiang, 2020. "Mobile Money, Financial Inclusion And Development: A Review With Reference To African Experience," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 753-792, September.
    9. Hübler, Michael, 2015. "Labor mobility and technology diffusion: A new concept and its application to rural Southeast Asia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 137-151.
    10. Myovella, Godwin & Karacuka, Mehmet & Haucap, Justus, 2021. "Determinants of digitalization and digital divide in Sub-Saharan African economies: A spatial Durbin analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10).
    11. Szeles, Monica Răileanu, 2018. "New insights from a multilevel approach to the regional digital divide in the European Union," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 452-463.
    12. Julien Hanoteau & Jean‐Jacques Rosa, 2019. "Information technologies and entrepreneurship," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 200-212, March.
    13. Margarita Billon & Fernando Lera-Lopez & Rocío Marco, 2010. "Differences in digitalization levels: a multivariate analysis studying the global digital divide," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(1), pages 39-73, April.
    14. She-I Chang & David C. Yen & I-Cheng Chang & Jung-Chu Chou, 2012. "Study of the digital divide evaluation model for government agencies–a Taiwanese local government’s perspective," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, July.
    15. Teklemariam, Mekuria Haile & Kwon, Youngsun, 2020. "Differentiating mobile broadband policies across diffusion stages: A panel data analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8).
    16. Ventura, Eva & Satorra, Albert, 2015. "A multiple indicator model for panel data: an application to ICT area-level variation," 26th European Regional ITS Conference, Madrid 2015 127191, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    17. Mughal, Mazhar & Diawara, Barassou, 2011. "Human capital and the adoption of information and communications technologies: Evidence from investment climate survey of Pakistan," Economics Discussion Papers 2011-21, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Rouse, Marybeth & Verhoef, y Grietjie, 2017. "Mobile banking in Sub-Saharan Africa: setting the way towards financial development," MPRA Paper 78006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Zhang, Xiaoqun, 2013. "Income disparity and digital divide: The Internet Consumption Model and cross-country empirical research," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 515-529.
    20. Grishchenko, Natalia, 2020. "The gap not only closes: Resistance and reverse shifts in the digital divide in Russia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8).

    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:tefoso:v:91:y:2015:i:c:p:1-17. 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.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.