IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/irs/cepswp/2013-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Internet adoption and usage patterns in Africa: Evidence from Cameroon

Author

Listed:
  • PENARD Thierry
  • POUSSING Nicolas
  • MUKOKO Blaise
  • TAMOKWE Georges Bertrand

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to understand what factors stimulate or hinder the adoption and usage of the Internet in Africa. We adopt a micro-econometric approach and use household survey data from Cameroon. Our results show that Internet users in Cameroon tend to be young, educated and in employment. The probability of using the Internet is also higher for male, as well as for English-speaking and computer savvy individuals. Moreover, Internet users are more likely to have family abroad. We also find that Internet usage patterns differ across gender, age and education. For instance, young generations (below 21) tend to favor leisure usage (games) while older generations are more likely to use the Internet to search (local and international) information. Highly educated and computer savvy users are also more likely to use the Internet for professional purpose (information search) and less likely to have entertainment usage. These results provide evidence of digital divide in the Internet access, but also in the usage patterns on the African continent.

Suggested Citation

  • PENARD Thierry & POUSSING Nicolas & MUKOKO Blaise & TAMOKWE Georges Bertrand, 2013. "Internet adoption and usage patterns in Africa: Evidence from Cameroon," LISER Working Paper Series 2013-22, LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:irs:cepswp:2013-22
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.liser.lu/publi_viewer.cfm?tmp=2542
    Download Restriction: no

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Menzie D. Chinn & Robert W. Fairlie, 2007. "The determinants of the global digital divide: a cross-country analysis of computer and internet penetration," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 16-44, January.
    2. Cuberes, David, 2008. "The Diffusion of Internet: A Cross-Country Analysis," MPRA Paper 8433, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Madden, Gary & Coble-Neal, Grant & Dalzell, Brian, 2004. "A dynamic model of mobile telephony subscription incorporating a network effect," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 133-144, March.
    4. Thierry Pénard & Nicolas Poussing, 2010. "Internet Use and Social Capital: The Strength of Virtual Ties," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 569-595.
    5. Thierry PENARD & Nicolas POUSSING & Gabriel ZOMO YEBE & Philémon NSI ELLA, 2012. "Comparing the Determinants of Internet and Cell Phone Use in Africa: Evidence from Gabon," Communications & Strategies, IDATE, Com&Strat dept., vol. 1(86), pages 65-83, 2nd quart.
    6. Meng-chun Liu & Gee San, 2006. "Social Learning and Digital Divides: A Case Study of Internet Technology Diffusion," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 307-321, May.
    7. Kiiski, Sampsa & Pohjola, Matti, 2002. "Cross-country diffusion of the Internet," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 297-310, June.
    8. David Cuberes & Luis Andrés & Tomás Serebrisky & Mame Astou Diouf, 2010. "The diffusion of Internet: a cross-country analysis," Working Papers. Serie AD 2010-07, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    9. Axel Franzen, 2003. "Social Capital and the Internet: Evidence from Swiss Panel Data," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 341-360, August.
    10. Goldfarb, Avi, 2006. "The (teaching) role of universities in the diffusion of the Internet," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 203-225, March.
    11. Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Banji & Lal, Kaushalesh, 2005. "Internet diffusion in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-country analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 507-527, August.
    12. Goolsbee, Austan & Zittrain, Jonathan, 1999. "Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(3), pages 413-428, September.
    13. Goolsbee, Austan & Zittrain, Jonathan, 1999. "Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Taxing Internet Commerce," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 3), pages 413-28, September.
    14. Mocnik, Dijana & Sirec, Karin, 2010. "The determinants of Internet use controlling for income level: Cross-country empirical evidence," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 243-256, July.
    15. Goldfarb, Avi & Prince, Jeff, 2008. "Internet adoption and usage patterns are different: Implications for the digital divide," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 2-15, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internet adoption; Internet usage; Digital divide; Africa; Survey data; Empirical analysis;

    JEL classification:

    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

    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:irs:cepswp:2013-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Library and Documentation). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/cepsslu.html .

    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 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.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.