IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v106y2025ics0272775725000330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Well-being and technology: The effect of individual laptops in high school

Author

Listed:
  • Husøy, Sigrid Johanne
  • Mignon, Doriane

Abstract

Proficiency in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a basic skill, along with reading, writing and mathematics, and education systems aim at ensuring satisfactory skill level in this aspect. Since 2004, high schools in Norway have increasingly provided personal laptops to students. In line with a growing concern regarding the negative effects of ICTs on well-being, particularly among young people, we evaluate the effect of this distribution on different aspects of students’ well-being (bullying, happiness at school) by leveraging the staggered implementation of the program across schools. We collected data on the year of adoption and matched it with data from a national student survey that occurred every year from 2006 to 2011. The overall results point towards no effect of the program implementation on our well-being outcomes. We find a diminution in the propensity to declare oneself bullied at school, which can be interpreted as a substitution to cyberbullying or crowd-out to other activities. The results suggest the effect is driven by schools where students’ satisfaction with their teachers is above the median.

Suggested Citation

  • Husøy, Sigrid Johanne & Mignon, Doriane, 2025. "Well-being and technology: The effect of individual laptops in high school," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:106:y:2025:i:c:s0272775725000330
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2025.102653
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775725000330
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2025.102653?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bauernschuster, Stefan & Falck, Oliver & Woessmann, Ludger, 2014. "Surfing alone? The internet and social capital: Evidence from an unforeseeable technological mistake," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 73-89.
    2. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl, 2008. "Bullying, education and earnings: Evidence from the National Child Development Study," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 387-401, August.
    3. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    4. Fairlie, Robert W. & Kalil, Ariel, 2017. "The effects of computers on children's social development and school participation: Evidence from a randomized control experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 10-19.
    5. Luca Braghieri & Ro'ee Levy & Alexey Makarin, 2022. "Social Media and Mental Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(11), pages 3660-3693, November.
    6. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    7. Steffen Lohmann, 2015. "Information technologies and subjective well-being: does the Internet raise material aspirations?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(3), pages 740-759.
    8. McDool, Emily & Powell, Philip & Roberts, Jennifer & Taylor, Karl, 2020. "The internet and children’s psychological wellbeing," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    9. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    10. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    11. Hall, Caroline & Lundin, Martin & Sibbmark, Kristina, 2021. "A laptop for every child? The impact of technology on human capital formation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    12. Emma Gorman & Colm Harmon & Silvia Mendolia & Anita Staneva & Ian Walker, 2021. "Adolescent School Bullying Victimization and Later Life Outcomes," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(4), pages 1048-1076, August.
    13. Marta Golin, 2022. "The effect of broadband Internet on the gender gap in mental health: Evidence from Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(S2), pages 6-21, October.
    14. Miguel Sarzosa & Sergio Urzúa, 2015. "Bullying among Adolescents: The Role of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills," NBER Working Papers 21631, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Castellacci, Fulvio & Tveito, Vegard, 2018. "Internet use and well-being: A survey and a theoretical framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 308-325.
    16. Tine Louise Mundbjerg Eriksen & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Marianne Simonsen, 2014. "Bullying in Elementary School," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(4), pages 839-871.
    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. McDool, Emily & Powell, Philip & Roberts, Jennifer & Taylor, Karl, 2020. "The internet and children’s psychological wellbeing," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Katharina Bettig & Valentin Lindlacher, 2025. "Involuntary Changes in Commuting Distances: Effects on Subjective Well-Being in the Era of Mobile Internet," CESifo Working Paper Series 11784, CESifo.
    3. Karina Colombo & Elisa Failache & Martina Querejeta, 2025. "High-speed internet and socioemotional wellbeing in adolescence and youth," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-29, March.
    4. Ding, Xiangyuan & Yuan, Luoqi & Zhou, Yi, 2023. "Internet access and older adults' health: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Pham, Thi Trang & Wong, Pui Hang, 2025. "Internet Access and Youth’s Mental Health and Well-being," MERIT Working Papers 2025-007, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    6. Sabatini, Fabio, 2023. "The Behavioral, Economic, and Political Impact of the Internet and Social Media: Empirical Challenges and Approaches," IZA Discussion Papers 16703, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Li, Daiyue & Jin, Yanhong & Cheng, Mingwang, 2024. "Unleashing the power of industrial robotics on firm productivity: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 500-520.
    8. Fulvio Castellacci & Henrik Schwabe, 2020. "Internet, unmet aspirations and the U-shape of life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, June.
    9. Bracco, Emanuele & De Paola, Maria & Green, Colin & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2022. "The spillover of anti-immigration politics to the schoolyard," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Antoci, Angelo & Bonelli, Laura & Paglieri, Fabio & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2019. "Civility and trust in social media," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 83-99.
    11. Dickerson, Andy & Ratcliffe, Anita & Rohenkohl, Bertha & Van de Sijpe, Nicolas, 2024. "Anticipated labour market discrimination and educational achievement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 375-393.
    12. Joop Age Harm Adema & Cevat Giray Aksoy & Panu Poutvaara, 2021. "Mobile Internet Access and the Desire to Emigrate," ifo Working Paper Series 365, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    13. Geraci, Andrea & Nardotto, Mattia & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Broadband Internet and social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    14. Gorman, Emma & Harmon, Colm & Mendolia, Silvia & Staneva, Anita & Walker, Ian, 2019. "The Causal Effects of Adolescent School Bullying Victimisation on Later Life Outcomes," Working Papers 2019-05, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    15. Yamagishi, Atsushi, 2020. "School bullying is positively associated with support for redistribution in adulthood," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Wang, Kunlun & Yao, Hongjiang, 2024. "How environmental information is capitalized into the housing market? Evidence from China's National Ambient Air Quality Standards," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    17. Baulia, Susmita, 2024. "Is household shock a boon or bane to the utilisation of preventive healthcare for children? Evidence from Uganda," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    18. Andersson, Jonatan & Molinder, Jakob, 2025. "Did cities increase skills during industrialization? Evidence from rural-urban migration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    19. Schultheiss, Tobias & Pfister, Curdin & Gnehm, Ann-Sophie & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2023. "Education expansion and high-skill job opportunities for workers: Does a rising tide lift all boats?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Irena Grosfeld & Etienne Madinier & Seyhun Orcan Sakalli & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2024. "Independent Media, Propaganda, and Religiosity: Evidence from Poland," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 361-403, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:ecoedu:v:106:y:2025:i:c:s0272775725000330. 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/econedurev .

    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.