IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp13219.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Welfare Effects of Mobile Broadband Internet: Evidence from Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Bahia, Kalvin

    (GSMA)

  • Castells, Pau

    (GSMA)

  • Cruz, Genaro

    (GSMA)

  • Masaki, Takaaki

    (World Bank)

  • Pedrós, Xavier

    (GSMA)

  • Pfutze, Tobias

    (Florida International University)

  • Rodriguez Castelan, Carlos

    (World Bank)

  • Winkler, Hernan

    (World Bank)

Abstract

This paper estimates the impacts of mobile broadband coverage on household consumption and poverty in Nigeria, the largest economy and mobile broadband market in Africa. The analysis exploits a unique dataset that integrates three waves of a nationally representative longitudinal household survey on living standards with information from Nigerian mobile operators on the deployment of mobile broadband (3G and 4G) coverage between 2010 and 2016. The estimates show that mobile broadband coverage had large and positive impacts on household consumption levels which increased over time, although at a decreasing rate. Mobile broadband coverage also reduces the proportion of households below the poverty line, driven by higher food and non-food consumption in rural households. These effects are mainly due to an increase in labor force participation and employment, particularly among women.

Suggested Citation

  • Bahia, Kalvin & Castells, Pau & Cruz, Genaro & Masaki, Takaaki & Pedrós, Xavier & Pfutze, Tobias & Rodriguez Castelan, Carlos & Winkler, Hernan, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Mobile Broadband Internet: Evidence from Nigeria," IZA Discussion Papers 13219, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13219
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp13219.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Andres Corral Rodas & Vasco Molini & Gbemisola Oseni, 2019. "No Condition is Permanent: Middle Class in Nigeria in the Last Decade," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 294-310, February.
    2. Natalie Chun & Heiwai Tang, 2018. "Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam," Working Papers id:12804, eSocialSciences.
    3. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    4. Joaquin Marandino & Phanindra V. Wunnava, 2017. "The Effect of Access to Information and Communication Technology on Household Labor Income: Evidence from One Laptop Per Child in Uruguay," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-10, September.
    5. Benjamin A. Olken, 2009. "Do Television and Radio Destroy Social Capital? Evidence from Indonesian Villages," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 1-33, October.
    6. Maude Hasbi & Antoine Dubus, 2019. "Determinants of Mobile Broadband Use in Developing Economies: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers hal-02264651, HAL.
    7. Fernandes, Ana M. & Mattoo, Aaditya & Nguyen, Huy & Schiffbauer, Marc, 2019. "The internet and Chinese exports in the pre-ali baba era," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 57-76.
    8. Nidhiya Menon, 2010. "Got Technology? The Impact of Computers and Cell-phones on Productivity in a Difficult Business Climate: Evidence from Firms with Female Owners in Kenya," Working Papers 21, Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School.
    9. Hasbi, Maude & Dubus, Antoine, 2019. "Determinants of Mobile Broadband Use in Developing Economies: Evidence from Nigeria," 2nd Europe – Middle East – North African Regional ITS Conference, Aswan 2019: Leveraging Technologies For Growth 201730, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    10. David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2014. "Propaganda and Conflict: Evidence from the Rwandan Genocide," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1947-1994.
    11. 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.
    12. Caroline Paunov & Valentina Rollo, 2015. "Overcoming Obstacles: The Internet's Contribution to Firm Development," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(suppl_1), pages 192-204.
    13. Olivier Bargain & Andreas Peichl, 2016. "Own-wage labor supply elasticities: variation across time and estimation methods," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, December.
    14. Diether W. Beuermann & Christopher McKelvey & Renos Vakis, 2012. "Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Rural Peru," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(11), pages 1617-1628, November.
    15. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    16. Salas Garcia, Vania B. & Fan, Qin, 2015. "Information Access and Smallholder Farmers’ Selling Decisions in Peru," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205380, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Hasbi, Maude & Dubus, Antoine, 2019. "Determinants of Mobile Broadband Use in Developing Economies: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," 30th European Regional ITS Conference, Helsinki 2019 205180, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    18. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. MARIANA Viollaz & Hernan Winkler, 2022. "Does the Internet Reduce Gender Gaps? The Case of Jordan," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(3), pages 436-453, March.
    23. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
    24. Natalie Chun & Heiwai Tang, 2018. "Do Information and Communication Technologies Empower Female Workers? Firm-Level Evidence from Viet Nam," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 545, Asian Development Bank.
    25. Jessica Goldberg, 2016. "Kwacha Gonna Do? Experimental Evidence about Labor Supply in Rural Malawi," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 129-149, January.
    26. Alberto Abadie, 2005. "Semiparametric Difference-in-Differences Estimators," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(1), pages 1-19.
    27. Heidi Kaila & Finn Tarp, 2019. "Can the Internet improve agricultural production? Evidence from Viet Nam," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 50(6), pages 675-691, November.
    28. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    29. Janine Aron, 2018. "Mobile Money and the Economy: A Review of the Evidence," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 33(2), pages 135-188.
    30. Alex Armand & Paul Atwell & Joseph F. Gomes, 2020. "The Reach of Radio: Ending Civil Conflict through Rebel Demobilization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(5), pages 1395-1429, May.
    31. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    32. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    33. World Bank, 2015. "More, and More Productive, Jobs for Nigeria," World Bank Publications - Reports 23962, The World Bank Group.
    34. Kalvin Bahia & Pau Castells & Genaro Cruz & Takaaki Masaki & Carlos Rodríguez-Castelán & Viviane Sanfelice, 2023. "Mobile Broadband, Poverty, and Labor Outcomes in Tanzania," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(2), pages 235-256.
    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. He, Yuan & Li, Ke & Wang, Yipan, 2022. "Crossing the digital divide: The impact of the digital economy on elderly individuals’ consumption upgrade in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    2. Mensah,Justice Tei, 2023. "Mobile Phones and Local Economic Development : A Global Evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10526, The World Bank.
    3. Bahia, Kalvin & Castells, Pau & Cruz, Genaro & Masaki, Takaaki & Rodriguez Castelan, Carlos & Sanfelice, Viviane, 2021. "Mobile Broadband Internet, Poverty and Labor Outcomes in Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 14720, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Masaki,Takaaki & Granguillhome Ochoa,Rogelio & Rodriguez Castelan,Carlos, 2020. "Broadband Internet and Household Welfare in Senegal," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9386, The World Bank.
    5. Caldarola, Bernardo & Grazzi, Marco & Occelli, Martina & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2023. "Mobile internet, skills and structural transformation in Rwanda," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    6. Almeida, Rita K. & Corseuil, Carlos H.L. & Poole, Jennifer P., 2025. "The impact of digital technology on worker tasks: Do labor policies matter?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    7. Kusumawardhani, Niken & Pramana, Rezanti & Saputri, Nurmala Selly & Suryadarma, Daniel, 2023. "Heterogeneous impact of internet availability on female labor market outcomes in an emerging economy: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    8. Granguillhome Ochoa, Rogelio & Lach, Samantha & Masaki, Takaaki & Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos, 2022. "Mobile internet adoption in West Africa," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. World Bank, 2024. "Equatorial Guinea Digital Economy Diagnostic [Diagnóstico de la economía digital de Guinea Ecuatorial]," World Bank Publications - Reports 41585, The World Bank Group.
    10. Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos & Araar, Abdelkrim & Malásquez, Eduardo A. & Granguillhome Ochoa, Rogelio, 2022. "Competition reform and household welfare: A microsimulation analysis of the telecommunication sector in Ethiopia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).
    11. Mensah, Justice Tei, 2024. "Jobs! Electricity shortages and unemployment in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    12. Vergara Cobos,Estefania Belen & Malasquez Carbonel,Eduardo Alonso, 2023. "Growth and Transformative Effects of ICT Adoption : A Survey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10352, The World Bank.
    13. Mensah,Justice Tei & Hirfrfot,Kibrom Tafere & Abay,Kibrom A., 2022. "Saving Lives through Technology : Mobile Phones and Infant Mortality," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9978, The World Bank.
    14. repec:ocp:rpaper:pp-0222 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:ocp:rpecon:pp_02-22 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Houngbonon,Georges Vivien & Mensah,Justice Tei & Traore,Nouhoum-000531164, 2022. "The Impact of Internet Access on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9945, The World Bank.

    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. Bahia,Kalvin & Castells,Pau & Masaki,Takaaki & Cruz,Genaro & Rodriguez Castelan,Carlos & Sanfelice,Viviane, 2021. "Mobile Broadband Internet, Poverty and Labor Outcomes in Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9749, The World Bank.
    2. Jung, Suhyun & Rogers, Martha, 2024. "Mobile phone adoption, deforestation, and agricultural land use in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    4. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    5. repec:osf:socarx:3s784_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Joel Cariolle, 2018. "Telecommunication Submarine-C able Deployment and the Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa [fondation pour les études et recherches sur le développement international Telecommunication Submarine- C," Post-Print hal-01938451, HAL.
    7. Coulibaly, Yacouba, 2024. "Resource-backed loans and ecological efficiency of human development: Evidence from African countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    8. Rezki, Jahen F., 2023. "Does the mobile phone affect social development? Evidence from Indonesian villages," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    9. 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.
    10. Jenny Aker & Joel Cariolle, 2022. "The Use of Digital for Public Service Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa," Post-Print hal-03003899, HAL.
    11. Cariolle, Joël, 2021. "International connectivity and the digital divide in Sub-Saharan Africa," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    12. Baker, Andrew C. & Larcker, David F. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2022. "How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 370-395.
    13. Rezki, Jahen Fachrul, 2018. "Call Your Leader: Does the Mobile Phone Affect Policymaking?," SocArXiv 3s784, Center for Open Science.
    14. Joël Cariolle & David A Carroll, 2020. "Digital Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers hal-03004583, HAL.
    15. Julien Bergeot & Florence Jusot, 2024. "How did unmet care needs during the pandemic affect health outcomes of older European individuals?," Post-Print hal-04564156, HAL.
    16. Bergeot, Julien & Jusot, Florence, 2024. "How did unmet care needs during the pandemic affect health outcomes of older European individuals?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    17. Hampton, Matt & McNamara, Scott, 2022. "The impact of educational rewards on the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    18. Marco Manacorda & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 533-567, March.
    19. Donati, Dante, 2023. "Mobile Internet access and political outcomes: Evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    20. Francesco Vona & Giovanni Marin & Davide Consoli, 2019. "Measures, drivers and effects of green employment: evidence from US local labor markets, 2006–2014," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 1021-1048.
    21. Kusumawardhani, Niken & Pramana, Rezanti & Saputri, Nurmala Selly & Suryadarma, Daniel, 2023. "Heterogeneous impact of internet availability on female labor market outcomes in an emerging economy: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty; household consumption; mobile broadband; Africa; Nigeria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • F63 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Economic Development
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    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:iza:izadps:dp13219. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.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.