IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v38y2010i5p756-770.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When is Cheap, Cheap Enough to Bridge the Digital Divide? Modeling Income Related Structural Challenges of Technology Diffusion in Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Hilbert, Martin

Abstract

Summary The article presents a model that shows how income structures create diffusion patterns of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The model allows the creation of scenarios for potential cuts in access prices and/or required subsidies for household spending in Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil, and Costa Rica. One analyzed scenario would require the reduction of ICT prices to as low as 4% of the current price levels (to US$ 0.75 per month), or alternatively, a subsidy as high as 6.2% of GDP (a figure comparable to public spending on education plus health). This is the income reality of the poor. Neither existing technological solutions nor existing financial mechanisms are sufficient to cope with this economic reality. The alternatives, such as a prolonged period of public access, are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Hilbert, Martin, 2010. "When is Cheap, Cheap Enough to Bridge the Digital Divide? Modeling Income Related Structural Challenges of Technology Diffusion in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 756-770, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:5:p:756-770
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(09)00217-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Razeto, Alicia & Celedón, María Angélica, 2009. "La transformación de puntos de acceso en nodos de conocimiento: análisis de diez experiencias de telecentros comunitarios en América Latina," Documentos de Proyectos 3651, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    2. 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.
    3. Cole, Sam, 1986. "The global impact of information technology," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 14(10-11), pages 1277-1292.
    4. Freeman, Chris & Louca, Francisco, 2002. "As Time Goes By: From the Industrial Revolutions to the Information Revolution," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199251056, Decembrie.
    5. Mody, Ashoka & Dahlman, Carl, 1992. "Performance and potential of information technology: An international perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(12), pages 1703-1719, December.
    6. Indjikian, Rouben & Siegel, Donald S., 2005. "The Impact of Investment in IT on Economic Performance: Implications for Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 681-700, May.
    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. Thanos Fragkandreas, 2022. "Three Decades of Research on Innovation and Inequality: Causal Scenarios, Explanatory Factors, and Suggestions," Working Papers 60, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Feb 2022.
    2. Jain Ritika, 2021. "Information and Communication Technology Adoption and the Demand for Female Labor: The Case of Indian Industry," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 695-722, April.
    3. Josef Kuo-Hsun Ma & Todd E. Vachon & Simon Cheng, 2019. "National Income, Political Freedom, and Investments in R&D and Education: A Comparative Analysis of the Second Digital Divide Among 15-Year-Old Students," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 133-166, July.
    4. Ali, Mohammad Afshar & Alam, Khorshed & Taylor, Brad & Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa, 2019. "Do income distribution and socio-economic inequality affect ICT affordability? Evidence from Australian household panel data," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 317-328.
    5. Edward J Oughton & Niccol`o Comini & Vivien Foster & Jim W Hall, 2021. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Papers 2101.07820, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2021.
    6. Zahiruddin Md. Babar, 2017. "Digital Divide: Concepts and Reality in Bangladesh," Journal of Business, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(2), pages 24-33, March.
    7. Omer Gibreel & Ahreum Hong, 2017. "A Holistic Analysis Approach to Social, Technical, and Socio-Technical Aspect of E-Government Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-12, November.
    8. Anca Elena-Bucea & Frederico Cruz-Jesus & Tiago Oliveira & Pedro Simões Coelho, 2021. "Assessing the Role of Age, Education, Gender and Income on the Digital Divide: Evidence for the European Union," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1007-1021, August.
    9. Oughton, Edward J. & Comini, Niccolò & Foster, Vivien & Hall, Jim W., 2022. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    10. Paunov, Caroline & Rollo, Valentina, 2016. "Has the Internet Fostered Inclusive Innovation in the Developing World?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 587-609.
    11. Katja Prevodnik & Vasja Vehovar, 2014. "Presenting dynamics of social phenomena: should we use absolute, relative or time differences?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 799-816, March.
    12. 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.
    13. Spada,Paolo & Mellon,Jonathan & Peixoto,Tiago Carneiro & Sjoberg,Fredrik Matias, 2015. "Effects of the internet on participation : study of a public policy referendum in Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7204, The World Bank.
    14. Katie Brown & Scott W. Campbell & Rich Ling, 2011. "Mobile Phones Bridging the Digital Divide for Teens in the US?," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-15, May.
    15. Anca Elena-Bucea & Frederico Cruz-Jesus & Tiago Oliveira & Pedro Simões Coelho, 0. "Assessing the Role of Age, Education, Gender and Income on the Digital Divide: Evidence for the European Union," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-15.

    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. Ronald Kumar, 2014. "Exploring the role of technology, tourism and financial development: an empirical study of Vietnam," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2881-2898, September.
    2. Ronald Kumar & Madhukar Singh, 2014. "Role of health expenditure and ICT in a small island economy: a study of Fiji," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 2295-2311, July.
    3. Ziad Rotaba & Catherine Beaudry, 2012. "How Do High, Medium, And Low Tech Firms Innovate? A System Of Innovation (Si) Approach," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(05), pages 1-23.
    4. Martin Henning & Hans Westlund & Kerstin Enflo, 2023. "Urban–rural population changes and spatial inequalities in Sweden," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 878-892, May.
    5. Vianna Franco, Marco P. & Ribeiro, Leonardo Costa & Albuquerque, Eduardo da Motta e, 2022. "Beyond Random Causes: Harmonic Analysis Of Business Cycles At The Moscow Conjuncture Institute," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 456-476, September.
    6. Grégoire Rota-Graziosi & Fayçal Sawadogo, 2020. "The tax burden on mobile network operators in Africa," Working Papers hal-03109370, HAL.
    7. Mark Knell & Simone Vannuccini, 2022. "Tools and concepts for understanding disruptive technological change after Schumpeter," Jena Economics Research Papers 2022-005, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    8. António Madureira & Nico Baken & Harry Bouwman, 2011. "Value of digital information networks: a holonic framework," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-30, April.
    9. Marco Manacorda & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 533-567, March.
    10. Granguillhome Ochoa, Rogelio & Lach, Samantha & Masaki, Takaaki & Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos, 2022. "Mobile internet adoption in West Africa," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. Hayter, Roger & Clapp, Alex, 2020. "Towards a collaborative (public-private partnership) approach to research and development in Canada’s forest sector: an innovation system perspective," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    12. Sergey Valery Samoilenko, 2013. "Investigating factors associated with the spillover effect of investments in telecoms: Do some transition economies pay too much for too little?," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 40-61, January.
    13. Marletto, Gerardo, 2011. "Structure, agency and change in the car regime. A review of the literature," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 47, pages 71-88.
    14. Joël Cariolle & Maëlan le Goff, 2023. "Spatial Internet Spillovers in Manufacturing," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(8), pages 1163-1186, August.
    15. Denise PUMAIN, 2012. "Une Théorie Géographique Pour La Loi De Zipf," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 36, pages 31-54.
    16. Bazhal, Iurii, 2014. "Industrial policy under Neo-Schumpeterian concept of structural technological dynamics: Case of Ukraine," MPRA Paper 67434, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 24 Oct 2015.
    17. Mendonça, Sandro & Damásio, Bruno & Charlita de Freitas, Luciano & Oliveira, Luís & Cichy, Marcin & Nicita, António, 2022. "The rise of 5G technologies and systems: A quantitative analysis of knowledge production," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4).
    18. Bert Van Wee & David Banister, 2016. "How to Write a Literature Review Paper?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 278-288, March.
    19. Pier Angelo Toninelli & Michelangelo Vasta, 2014. "Opening the black box of entrepreneurship: The Italian case in a historical perspective," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 161-186, March.
    20. Jimmi Normann Kristiansen & Frank Gertsen, 2015. "Is Radical Innovation Management Misunderstood? Problematising The Radical Innovation Discipline," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(06), pages 1-23, December.

    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:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:5:p:756-770. 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/worlddev .

    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.