IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v135y2018i2d10.1007_s11205-016-1511-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Matthew Effect in the Italian Digital Context: The Progressive Marginalisation of the “Poor”

Author

Listed:
  • Isabella Mingo

    (Sapienza University of Rome)

  • Roberta Bracciale

    (University of Pisa)

Abstract

The Matthew effect describes a model according to which, over time, inequalities fuel ever-widening gaps among individuals and social groups on the basis of the wellknown adage: “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. In this paper, we analyse the results of the Matthew effect in Italy in relation to first and second level digital divide, in order to determine the trajectories of closure, persistence or reinforcement of inequalities within the population. The central research question of the work aims to understand whether, when compared with a higher level of dissemination of technology over time, the adoption curves trace a model of progressive inclusion for the “poor” which approach the “richest”, or whether progressive increases are recorded in gaps. Considering a time span of more than a decade, microdata from the Istat multipurpose “Aspects of daily life” survey were used to find an empirically grounded answer to this research question. In terms of methodology, indices of absolute and relative digital exclusion and marginalisation which are necessary to take into account the changing nature of the phenomenon were proposed and used. Techniques of multivariate analysis (cluster analysis and multiple factor analysis) were also applied to detect any changes in the structure of variables and trajectories of the socio-demographic characteristics in question. The main results show the existence of a relative Matthew effect in Italy: despite the general increase in the spread of technologies, we are witnessing a progressive impoverishment of the weakest sectors of the population.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabella Mingo & Roberta Bracciale, 2018. "The Matthew Effect in the Italian Digital Context: The Progressive Marginalisation of the “Poor”," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 629-659, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:135:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1511-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1511-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-016-1511-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-016-1511-2?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. Eszter Hargittai & Steven Shafer, 2006. "Differences in Actual and Perceived Online Skills: The Role of Gender," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(2), pages 432-448, June.
    2. Ira M. Wasserman & Marie Richmond‐Abbott, 2005. "Gender and the Internet: Causes of Variation in Access, Level, and Scope of Use," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(1), pages 252-270, March.
    3. Paul DiMaggio & Eszter Hargittai, 2001. "From the 'Digital Divide' to 'Digital Inequality': Studying Internet Use as Penetration Increases," Working Papers 47, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies..
    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. Nicole Zillien & Eszter Hargittai, 2009. "Digital Distinction: Status‐Specific Types of Internet Usage," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 274-291, June.
    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. Sheng Xu & Liang Liang, 2023. "Has Digital Finance Made Marine Energy Carbon Emission More Efficient in Coastal Areas of China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Guo, Xiaoxin & Zhong, Shihu, 2023. "Unintended consequences: How does digital inclusive finance affect migrants' urban settlement intentions?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Sarah Anrijs & Koen Ponnet & Lieven De Marez, 2020. "Development and psychometric properties of the Digital Difficulties Scale (DDS): An instrument to measure who is disadvantaged to fulfill basic needs by experiencing difficulties in using a smartphone," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, May.
    4. Naixia Mou & Chunying Wang & Tengfei Yang & Lingxian Zhang, 2020. "Evaluation of Development Potential of Ports in the Yangtze River Delta Using FAHP-Entropy Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-24, January.

    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. Seung-Yoon Shin & Dongwook Kim & Soon Ae Chun, 2021. "Digital Divide in Advanced Smart City Innovations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Galperin, Hernan & Arcidiacono, Malena, 2021. "Employment and the gender digital divide in Latin America: A decomposition analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7).
    3. Grishchenko, Natalia, 2020. "The gap not only closes: Resistance and reverse shifts in the digital divide in Russia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8).
    4. Alexander van Deursen & Jan van Dijk & Ellen Helsper, 2014. "Investigating outcomes of online engagement," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59994, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Lamberti, Giuseppe & Lopez-Sintas, Jordi & Sukphan, Jakkapong, 2021. "The social process of internet appropriation: Living in a digitally advanced country benefits less well-educated Europeans," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1).
    6. Doyar, Bayram Veli & Rzali, Shamsi & Dikkaya, Mehmet, 2023. "Development of the ICT sector and the determinants of Internet use in the Southern Caucasus," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).
    7. Ahlam Al-Muwil & Vishanth Weerakkody & Ramzi El-haddadeh & Yogesh Dwivedi, 2019. "Balancing Digital-By-Default with Inclusion: A Study of the Factors Influencing E-Inclusion in the UK," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 635-659, June.
    8. Laor, Tal & Lissitsa, Sabina & Galily, Yair, 2019. "Online digital Radion apps usages in Israel: Consumers, consumption and meaning," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Fatehkia, Masoomali & Kashyap, Ridhi & Weber, Ingmar, 2018. "Using Facebook Ad Data to Track the Global Digital Gender Gap," SocArXiv rkvb3, Center for Open Science.
    10. 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.
    11. Guo, Congbin & Wan, Boshen, 2022. "The digital divide in online learning in China during the COVID-19 pandemic," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Mario Grande-de-Prado & Ruth Cañón & Sheila García-Martín & Isabel Cantón, 2020. "Digital Competence and Gender: Teachers in Training. A Case Study," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, November.
    13. Maximilian Weber & Birgit Becker, 2019. "Browsing the Web for School: Social Inequality in Adolescents’ School-Related Use of the Internet," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, June.
    14. Lissitsa, Sabina & Kol, Ofrit, 2016. "Generation X vs. Generation Y – A decade of online shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 304-312.
    15. Davide Azzolini & Antonio Schizzerotto, 2017. "The second digital divide in Europe. A crossnational study on students’ digital reading and navigation skills," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2017-02, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    16. Gerli, Paolo & Whalley, Jason, 2018. "Fibre to the countryside: A comparison of public and community initiatives in the UK," 29th European Regional ITS Conference, Trento 2018 184941, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    17. Laura Pagani & Gianluca Argentin & Marco Gui & Luca Stanca, 2015. "The Impact of Digital Skills on Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Performance Tests," Working Papers 304, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2015.
    18. Volker Lang & Steffen Hillmert, 2016. "Differential trends in households’ connection to the Internet: An actor-centered explanation," Rationality and Society, , vol. 28(2), pages 141-171, May.
    19. Alp Gülfiye Özcan & Baycan Tüzin, 2023. "Assessment of Regional Digital Divide in Türkiye," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 42(4), pages 43-61, December.
    20. Javier G. Rodríguez Ruiz, 2019. "Adopción de Internet en México: Propuesta de un índice con base en Microdatos. (Internet Adoption in Mexico: Proposal of an Index based on Microdata)," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(2), pages 135-182, November.

    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:spr:soinre:v:135:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1511-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.