IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/han/dpaper/dp-559.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Smart Phones Support Smart Labor

Author

Listed:
  • Hübler, Michael
  • Hartje, Rebecca

Abstract

Besides enabling communication, mobile phones and smartphones support information flows and financial transactions, especially in developing countries, where the coverage of landline networks is limited. Drawing upon new data from rural households in Southeast Asia, this paper shows that mobile phone or smartphone ownership supports local employment and commuting while it reduces incentives for migration of workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Hübler, Michael & Hartje, Rebecca, 2015. "Smart Phones Support Smart Labor," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-559, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    • Handle: RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-559
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://diskussionspapiere.wiwi.uni-hannover.de/pdf_bib/dp-559.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Puhani, 2000. "The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 53-68, February.
    2. Dammert, Ana C. & Galdo, Jose & Galdo, Virgilio, 2013. "Digital labor-market intermediation and job expectations: Evidence from a field experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 112-116.
    3. Tadesse, Getaw & Bahiigwa, Godfrey, 2015. "Mobile Phones and Farmers’ Marketing Decisions in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 296-307.
    4. 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.
    5. Kent Eliasson & Urban Lindgren & Olle Westerlund, 2003. "Geographical Labour Mobility: Migration or Commuting?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(8), pages 827-837.
    6. Jenny C. Aker, 2010. "Information from Markets Near and Far: Mobile Phones and Agricultural Markets in Niger," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 46-59, July.
    7. Nguyen, Loc Duc & Raabe, Katharina & Grote, Ulrike, 2015. "Rural–Urban Migration, Household Vulnerability, and Welfare in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 79-93.
    8. Heckman, James J, 1978. "Dummy Endogenous Variables in a Simultaneous Equation System," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 931-959, July.
    9. Robert Jensen, 2007. "The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 879-924.
    10. Jenny C. Aker & Isaac M. Mbiti, 2010. "Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 207-232, Summer.
    11. A. Colin Cameron & Pravin K. Trivedi, 2010. "Microeconometrics Using Stata, Revised Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number musr, March.
    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. Shi, Zheng, 2023. "The impact of regional ICT development on job quality of the employee in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    2. Ma, W. & Grafton, Q. & Renwick, A., 2018. "Gender and Income Effects of Smartphone Use: The Case of Rural China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277310, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Ma, Wanglin & Qiu, Huanguang & Fan, Yubing & Zhou, Xiaoshi, 2020. "The joint effects of ICT adoption and access to credit on household income in China," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304431, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Wanglin Ma & Andy McKay & Dil B. Rahut & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2023. "An introduction to rural and agricultural development in the digital age," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1273-1286, August.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Sarel, Roee & Demirtas, Melanie, 2021. "Delegation in a multi-tier court system: Are remands in the U.S. federal courts driven by moral hazard?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    8. 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.
    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. Wanglin Ma & Huanguang Qiu & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2023. "Rural development in the digital age: Does information and communication technology adoption contribute to credit access and income growth in rural China?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1421-1444, August.
    11. Liang, Wanqi & Li, Wenying, 2023. "Impact of internet usage on the subjective well-being of urban and rural households: Evidence from Vietnam," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    12. 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).
    13. Puneet Vatsa & Junpeng Li & Phong Quoc Luu & Julio Cesar Botero‐R, 2023. "Internet use and consumption diversity: Evidence from rural China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1287-1308, August.
    14. Peng, Jingsi & Min, Shi, 2021. "Does Internet Use Improve Rural Residents' Behavior of Food Safety?," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315238, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Wanglin Ma & Puneet Vatsa & Hongyun Zheng & Emmanuel Donkor & Victor Owusu, 2023. "Does Adoption of Information and Communication Technology Reduce Objective and Subjective Well-Being Inequality? Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 55-77, September.
    16. Roland-Holst, David & Karymshakov, Kamalbek & Sulaimanova, Burulcha & Sultakeev, Kadyrbek, 2022. "ICT, Online Search Behavior, and Remittances: Evidence from the Kyrgyz Republic," ADBI Working Papers 1348, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    17. Jikun Huang & Lanlan Su & Qiwang Huang & Xinyu Liu, 2022. "Facilitating inclusive ICT application and e‐Commerce development in rural China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(6), pages 938-952, November.

    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. Hübler, Michael, 2016. "Does Migration Support Technology Diffusion in Developing Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 148-162.
    2. Ackermann, Klaus & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Mobile phone coverage and violent conflict," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 269-287.
    3. 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).
    4. Ana Dammert & Jose Galdo & Virgilio Galdo, 2015. "Integrating mobile phone technologies into labor-market intermediation: a multi-treatment experimental design," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    5. Hübler, Michael & Hartje, Rebecca, 2016. "Are smartphones smart for economic development?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 130-133.
    6. Ma, W. & Grafton, Q. & Renwick, A., 2018. "Gender and Income Effects of Smartphone Use: The Case of Rural China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277310, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2016. "Mobile Money, Agricultural Marketing, and Off-Farm Income in Uganda," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 234998, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    8. Gershom Endelani Mwalupaso & Shangao Wang & Sanzidur Rahman & Essiagnon John-Philippe Alavo & Xu Tian, 2019. "Agricultural Informatization and Technical Efficiency in Maize Production in Zambia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Abate, Gashaw T. & Abay, Kibrom A. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Kassim, Yumna & Spielman, David J. & Paul Jr Tabe-Ojong, Martin, 2023. "Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    10. Gershom Endelani Mwalupaso & Shangao Wang & Zhangxing Xu & Xu Tian, 2019. "Towards Auspicious Agricultural Informatization—Implication of Farmers’ Behavioral Intention Apropos of Mobile Phone Use in Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-21, November.
    11. Lin Xie & Biliang Luo & Wenjing Zhong, 2021. "How Are Smallholder Farmers Involved in Digital Agriculture in Developing Countries: A Case Study from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
    12. Marco Manacorda & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 533-567, March.
    13. repec:ags:mididp:152396 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can mobile phones improve gender equality and nutrition? Panel data evidence from farm households in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-103.
    15. Wouter Zant, 2017. "Impact of Mobile Phones on Staple Food Markets in Mozambique: Improved Arbitrage or Increased Rent Extraction?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-021/V, Tinbergen Institute, revised 26 Jan 2018.
    16. Hermann Ndoya & Simplice A. Asongu, 2022. "Digital divide, globalization and income inequality in sub-Saharan African countries: analysing cross-country heterogeneity," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, October.
    17. Hodler, Roland & Raschky, Paul A., 2017. "Ethnic politics and the diffusion of mobile technology in Africa," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 78-81.
    18. Kyeong Ho Lee & Marc F. Bellemare, 2013. "Look Who's Talking: The Impacts of the Intrahousehold Allocation of Mobile Phones on Agricultural Prices," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 624-640, May.
    19. Hawthorne, Ryan & Grzybowski, Lukasz, 2021. "Distribution of the benefits of regulation vs. competition: The case of mobile telephony in South Africa," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. 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.
    21. Apoorv Gupta & Jacopo Ponticelli & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Language Barriers, Technology Adoption and Productivity: Evidence from Agriculture in India," NBER Working Papers 27192, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    smartphones; mobile phones; labor markets; labor mobility; economic development; Southeast Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:han:dpaper:dp-559. 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: Heidrich, Christian (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwhande.html .

    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.