IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i8p3255-d346652.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Internet Use on Income: The Case of Rural Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony Siaw

    (College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Yuansheng Jiang

    (College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Martinson Ankrah Twumasi

    (College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Wonder Agbenyo

    (College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China)

Abstract

This study analyzed the effects of internet use on farm income and household income using survey data from 478 rural farmers from two regions in Ghana. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model and probit models were employed to achieve the aims of the study. The results revealed that internet use was influenced by off-farm employment, education, access to credit, non-fixed asset (NFA), age, and perception variables. We found that internet use increased farm income and household income by 20.1% and 15.47%, respectively. Regarding heterogeneous impacts, the estimates showed that internet use reduced farm income by 18.12% for farm households that participated in off-farm activities but increased farm income by 14.66% for households that had access to NFA. The estimates also indicated that internet use increased household income by 31.77% for farm households that engaged in off-farm employment and by 15.33% for those that had access to NFA. Furthermore, internet use increased the household income for households that did not engage in off-farm activities by 24.85%. The findings of this study will contribute significantly to the existing literature on information communication technology (ICT) in developing countries by providing a new reference for improving rural development and solving the problem of poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony Siaw & Yuansheng Jiang & Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Wonder Agbenyo, 2020. "The Impact of Internet Use on Income: The Case of Rural Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3255-:d:346652
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3255/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3255/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Briggeman, Brian C. & Whitacre, Brian E., 2010. "Farming and the Internet: Reasons for Non-Use," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 571-584, October.
    2. Aparajita Goyal, 2010. "Information, Direct Access to Farmers, and Rural Market Performance in Central India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 22-45, July.
    3. Edward E Leamer & Michael Storper, 2001. "The Economic Geography of the Internet Age," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(4), pages 641-665, December.
    4. Chenxin Leng & Wanglin Ma & Jianjun Tang & Zhongkun Zhu, 2020. "ICT adoption and income diversification among rural households in China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(33), pages 3614-3628, June.
    5. Wei-Hsun Lee & Char-Shin Miou & Yeou-Fuh Kuan & Tung-Lung Hsieh & Chien-Ming Chou, 2018. "A peer-to-peer transaction authentication platform for mobile commerce with semi-offline architecture," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 413-431, June.
    6. Hübler, Michael & Hartje, Rebecca, 2016. "Are smartphones smart for economic development?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 130-133.
    7. Kirui, Oliver K. & Okello, Julius J. & Nyikal, Rose A. & Njiraini, Georgina W., 2013. "Impact of Mobile Phone-Based Money Transfer Services in Agriculture: Evidence from Kenya," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 52(2), pages 1-22, May.
    8. Davis, Benjamin & Di Giuseppe, Stefania & Zezza, Alberto, 2017. "Are African households (not) leaving agriculture? Patterns of households’ income sources in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 153-174.
    9. Renwick, A. & Ma, W. & Nie, P. & Tang, J., 2018. "The Joint Effects of Off-farm Work and Smartphone Use on Household Income in Rural China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277304, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Stenberg, Peter L., 2010. "American Policy And The Evolving Broadband Internet Network," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 25(4), pages 1-5.
    11. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    12. Dimitri, Carolyn & Oberholtzer, Lydia & Zive, Michelle & Sandolo, Cristina, 2015. "Enhancing food security of low-income consumers: An investigation of financial incentives for use at farmers markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 64-70.
    13. Susan Wyche & Charles Steinfield, 2016. "Why Don't Farmers Use Cell Phones to Access Market Prices? Technology Affordances and Barriers to Market Information Services Adoption in Rural Kenya," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 320-333, April.
    14. Marcel Fafchamps & Bart Minten, 2012. "Impact of SMS-Based Agricultural Information on Indian Farmers," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 26(3), pages 383-414.
    15. Michailidis, Anastasios & Partalidou, Maria & Nastis, Stefanos A. & Papadaki-Klavdianou, Aphrodite & Charatsari, Chrysanthi, 2011. "Who goes online? Evidence of internet use patterns from rural Greece," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 333-343, May.
    16. Michael Lokshin & Zurab Sajaia, 2004. "Maximum likelihood estimation of endogenous switching regression models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 282-289, September.
    17. May, Daniel & Arancibia, Sara & Behrendt, Karl & Adams, John, 2019. "Preventing young farmers from leaving the farm: Investigating the effectiveness of the young farmer payment using a behavioural approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 317-327.
    18. Arega Alene & V. Manyong, 2007. "The effects of education on agricultural productivity under traditional and improved technology in northern Nigeria: an endogenous switching regression analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 141-159, April.
    19. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2018. "The impacts of postharvest storage innovations on food security and welfare in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 52-67.
    20. Qin Fan & Vania B. Salas Garcia, 2018. "Information Access and Smallholder Farmers’ Market Participation in Peru," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 476-494, June.
    21. Jenny C. Aker, 2011. "Dial “A” for agriculture: a review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(6), pages 631-647, November.
    22. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does Internet use help reduce rural cropland abandonment? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    23. Ma, Wanglin & Renwick, Alan & Nie, Peng & Tang, Jianjun & Cai, Rong, 2018. "Off-farm work, smartphone use and household income: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 80-94.
    24. Mijeong Park & Hana Yoo & Jeongeun Kim & Jisan Lee, 2018. "Why do young people use fitness apps? Cognitive characteristics and app quality," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 755-761, December.
    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. Haoyun Meng & Peidong Deng & Jinbo Zhang, 2022. "Nonlinear Impact of Circulation-Industry Intelligentization on the Urban–Rural Income Gap: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-26, August.
    2. Huidan Xu & Kun Song & Yichao Li & Martinson Ankrah Twumasi, 2023. "The Relationship between Financial Literacy and Income Structure of Rural Farm Households: Evidence from Jiangsu, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Yashuo Xue & Mei Kong & Ruiying Chen & Qingmin Wang & Yangyang Shen & Jiakun Zhuang, 2023. "How Does Internet Use Promote Returned Migrant Workers’ Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Nawab Khan & Ram L. Ray & Hazem S. Kassem & Farhat Ullah Khan & Muhammad Ihtisham & Shemei Zhang, 2022. "Does the Adoption of Mobile Internet Technology Promote Wheat Productivity? Evidence from Rural Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Guimin Zhang & Xiangling Wu & Ke Wang, 2022. "Research on the Impact and Mechanism of Internet Use on the Poverty Vulnerability of Farmers in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, April.
    6. He, Jia & Qing, Chen & Guo, Shili & Zhou, Wenfeng & Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde, 2022. "Promoting rural households' energy use for cooking: Using Internet," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Dennis Asante & Jesse Nuamah Brako & Zhao Ding & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "The Relationship between Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases of Fish Farm Household Members and Production Efficiency: The Case of Ghana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Yuansheng Jiang & Evans B. Ntiamoah & Selorm Akaba & Kwabena N. Darfor & Linda K. Boateng, 2022. "Access to credit and farmland abandonment nexus: The case of rural Ghana," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 3-20, February.
    9. Xinyan Wei & Ying Liu & Yang Liu, 2023. "Study on the Impact of Internet Usage, Aging on Farm Household Income," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, September.
    10. Do, Quan Duc & Nguyen, The Kien & Tran, Tung Thanh & Truong, Thanh Bao & Do, Nga Thi & Hoang, Lam Khanh, 2023. "Determinants of smartphone adoption and its benefits to the financial performance of agricultural households: Evidence from Hoa Binh province, Vietnam," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS), vol. 13(01), January.
    11. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Hongyun Zheng & Love Offeibea Asiedu-Ayeh & Anthony Siaw & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "Access to Financial Services and Its Impact on Household Income: Evidence from Rural Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 869-890, August.
    12. Mhlanga David & Beneke John, 2021. "The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Exploring the Determinants of Internet Access in Emerging Economies," Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Oeconomica, Sciendo, vol. 66(3), pages 77-92, December.
    13. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Yuansheng Jiang & Bismark Addai & Zhao Ding & Abbas Ali Chandio & Prince Fosu & Dennis Asante & Anthony Siaw & Frank Osei Danquah & Bright Asiamah Korankye & Gideon Ntim-Amo, 2021. "The Impact of Cooperative Membership on Fish Farm Households’ Income: The Case of Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, January.
    14. Dela Maria Ardianti & Djoni Hartono & Putu Angga Widyastaman, 2023. "Offline and hungry: the effect of internet use on the food insecurity of Indonesian agricultural households," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Frank Kyei-Arthur, 2024. "Prevalence and predictors of internet use among Ghanaian older adults: evidence from the Ghana 2021 Population and Housing Census," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    16. Khan, Nawab & Ray, Ram L. & Zhang, Shemei & Osabuohien, Evans & Ihtisham, Muhammad, 2022. "Influence of mobile phone and internet technology on income of rural farmers: Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Lingpeng Meng & Xiang Yu & Chuanfeng Han & Pihui Liu, 2022. "Does Internet Use Aggravate Public Distrust of Doctors? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Ankrah Twumasi, Martinson & Jiang, Yuansheng & Asante, Dennis & Addai, Bismark & Akuamoah-Boateng, Samuel & Fosu, Prince, 2021. "Internet use and farm households food and nutrition security nexus: The case of rural Ghana," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does Internet use help reduce rural cropland abandonment? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Wanglin Ma & R. Quentin Grafton & Alan Renwick, 2020. "Smartphone use and income growth in rural China: empirical results and policy implications," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 713-736, December.
    3. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Yuansheng Jiang & Bismark Addai & Zhao Ding & Abbas Ali Chandio & Prince Fosu & Dennis Asante & Anthony Siaw & Frank Osei Danquah & Bright Asiamah Korankye & Gideon Ntim-Amo, 2021. "The Impact of Cooperative Membership on Fish Farm Households’ Income: The Case of Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Kahsay, Goytom Abraha & Garcia, Nerea Turreira & Bosselmann, Aske Skovmand, 2023. "Mobile Internet Use and Climate Adaptation: Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Coffee Farmers," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 48(3), September.
    5. Min, Shi & Liu, Min & Huang, Jikun, 2020. "Does the application of ICTs facilitate rural economic transformation in China? Empirical evidence from the use of smartphones among farmers," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma, 2023. "Smartphone-based information acquisition and wheat farm performance: insights from a doubly robust IPWRA estimator," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 633-658, June.
    7. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Yuansheng Jiang & Evans B. Ntiamoah & Selorm Akaba & Kwabena N. Darfor & Linda K. Boateng, 2022. "Access to credit and farmland abandonment nexus: The case of rural Ghana," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 3-20, February.
    8. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Bright Senyo Dogbe & Ernest Kwarko Ankrah & Zhao Ding & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "Assessing Financial Literacy and Farmland Abandonment Relationship in Ghana," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, February.
    9. Nawab Khan & Ram L. Ray & Hazem S. Kassem & Farhat Ullah Khan & Muhammad Ihtisham & Shemei Zhang, 2022. "Does the Adoption of Mobile Internet Technology Promote Wheat Productivity? Evidence from Rural Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Qianqian Chen & Chao Zhang & Ruifa Hu & Shengyang Sun, 2022. "Can Information from the Internet Improve Grain Technical Efficiency? New Evidence from Rice Production in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Yi Cai & Wene Qi & Famin Yi, 2023. "Smartphone use and willingness to adopt digital pest and disease management: Evidence from litchi growers in rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 131-147, January.
    12. Huma Neupane & Krishna P. Paudel & Qinying He, 2023. "Impact of cooperative membership on market performance of Nepali goat farmers," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 805-830, September.
    13. Ni Zhuo & Baozhi Li & Qibiao Zhu & Chen Ji, 2023. "Smartphone‐based agricultural extension services and farm incomes: Evidence from Zhejiang Province in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1383-1402, August.
    14. Muuz Hadush, 2021. "Does it pay to switch from free grazing to stall feeding? Impact of stall feeding practice on household welfare in Tigrai Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-29, December.
    15. Kamiche Zegarra, J. & Bravo-Ureta, B., 2018. "Are users of market information efficient? A stochastic production frontier model corrected by sample selection," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275870, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Sreejith Aravindakshan & Frederick Rossi & T. S. Amjath-Babu & Prakashan Chellattan Veettil & Timothy J. Krupnik, 2018. "Application of a bias-corrected meta-frontier approach and an endogenous switching regression to analyze the technical efficiency of conservation tillage for wheat in South Asia," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 153-171, June.
    17. Bello, Lateef Olalekan & Baiyegunhi, Lloyd & Mignouna, Djana & Adeoti, Razack & Donstop-Nguezet, Paul Matin & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Manyong, Victor & Bamba, Zoumana & Awotide, Bola Amoke, 2021. "Impact of Youth-in-Agribusiness Program on Employment Creation in Nigeria," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315135, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Cai, Yi & Sun, Yucheng & Qi, Wene & Yi, Famin, 2022. "Impact of smartphone use on production outsourcing: evidence from litchi farming in southern China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(4), September.
    19. Yong Liu & Jorge Ruiz-Menjivar & Junbiao Zhang, 2023. "Do soil nutrient management practices improve climate resilience? Empirical evidence from rice farmers in central China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 10029-10054, September.
    20. Long Yang & Haiyang Lu & Sangui Wang & Meng Li, 2021. "Mobile Internet Use and Multidimensional Poverty: Evidence from A Household Survey in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 1065-1086, 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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3255-:d:346652. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.