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Connection leapfrog: The impact of 2G roll-out on employment outcomes for first-time connected regions

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  • Bernardi, Marta
  • Lindlacher, Valentin

Abstract

For the developing world, instant connectivity was first established through the expansion of second-generation (2G) mobile networks. Leveraging exogenous variation in network disruptions induced by lightning strikes as an instrumental variable, we analyze panel data from 2,040 regions across 13 developing countries between 1990 and 2015. Our findings reveal economically meaningful increases in employment (approximately 32-43%), driven primarily by a shift from self-employment toward formal wage employment, notably within agriculture, coupled with substantial rises in unpaid labor among women.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernardi, Marta & Lindlacher, Valentin, 2025. "Connection leapfrog: The impact of 2G roll-out on employment outcomes for first-time connected regions," CEPIE Working Papers 01/25, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:tudcep:324641
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

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