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Internet Use and Ethnic Heterogeneity in a Cross‐Section of Countries
Author(s) -
Awaworyi Churchill Sefa,
Okai Davidson,
Posso Alberto
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/1759-3441.12125
Subject(s) - digital divide , ethnic group , the internet , internet access , literacy , urbanization , association (psychology) , demographic economics , inequality , geography , economic growth , political science , economics , psychology , computer science , world wide web , mathematical analysis , mathematics , law , psychotherapist
This paper investigates the association between ethnic heterogeneity and information technology related outcomes such as Internet access and Internet use. We argue that the global digital divide, as measured by cross‐country differences in Internet access and use, could be explained by cross‐country differences in ethnic heterogeneity. We use indices of ethnic and linguistic fractionalisation as measures of ethnic heterogeneity. Using data on a cross‐section of eighty‐five countries, we find evidence of a negative association between ethnic heterogeneity and the use and access of Internet. Thus, cross‐country differences in the global digital divide can be explained by the levels of ethnic fractionalisation. Other determinants of the digital divide include income, infrastructure, literacy level, level of urbanisation and inequality.