Influence of socio-demographic factors on mobile phone adoption in rural Bangladesh: Policy implications

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 739-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Monirul Alam ◽  
Khorshed Alam ◽  
Shahbaz Mushtaq ◽  
Most Nilufa Khatun ◽  
MS Arifeen Khan Mamun

Access to information and communication technology (ICT) has been considered crucial to alleviate poverty and improve food security of rural households. The mobile phone is an ICT that is widely used by rural households in developing countries. This study examines the determinants of mobile phone adoption using survey data of vulnerable rural households in Bangladesh, a developing country; the study empirically assesses the income hypothesis of mobile phone adoption in particular. Four alternative specifications of the model are developed to test the stability and robustness of the estimates. The study finds rural households have heterogeneous access to ICT such as radio, TV, computer and the Internet except mobile phone. Our estimated Gini coefficient indicates high income inequality among the rural households. The model results suggest that household income positively influences mobile phone adoption. However, the impact is not statistically significant. Other factors such as respondents’ age, education and farm category are statistically significant influences on mobile phone adoption. An increasing use of mobile phones is likely to enhance the sharing of valuable information among rural households for the better management of their livelihoods and improved farming decisions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaping Zhang ◽  
Mingwang Cheng ◽  
Xinyu Wei ◽  
Xiaomei Gong

Marital happiness is an important symbol of social harmony and can help promote sustainable economic and social development. In recent years, the rapid rise of the divorce rate in China, a country where the divorce rate had previously been low, has attracted wide attention. However, few articles have focused on the popularization of information and communication technology's impact on China’s rising divorce rate in recent years. As a first attempt, the provincial panel data during the period 2001–2016 is applied to study quantitatively the relationship between mobile phone penetration and the divorce rate. In order to get more reliable estimation results, this paper uses two indicators to measure the divorce rate, and quantile regression is applied for further analysis. Additionally, one-year to five-year lag times of the mobile phone penetration are used as the core explanatory variables in order to analyse the lagging effect of mobile phone penetration on divorce rate. The result shows that the correlation between the mobile phone penetration and the divorce rate was statistically positive significant in China during the period 2001–2016. Furthermore, the paper also finds that mobile phone penetration had the greatest impact on divorce rate in central China, followed by eastern China, but it was not obvious in western China during this period. From a technological perspective, this paper provides some possible explanations for the rising divorce rate in China in recent years, and further enriches the relevant research on the impact of the development of information and communication technology on societal changes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Zaenuddin Hudi Prasojo

<p class="IIABSBARU1">Community members living in borderland areas in Indonesia tended to be clasified as under-developed society in development aspects. Study on the borderland areas is still limited both in quantity and the impact of the study. Nanga Badau located in borderland between West Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Serawak (Malaysia) is one of the under-developed borderland area. This paper revealed the dynamic issues and the existence of local tradition in the context of globalization. It was showed that the original attitude of warn, friendly, and respect visitors express their openess toward global trend but still keep on local style. They are also realized on their position among global community. The open access abroad effected in the development of the interaction, information, and communication patterns among Iban Dayak. Sophisticated devices like mobile phone and television are familiar among Iban dayak in borderland area.</p><p class="IKa-ABSTRAK">***</p>Masyarakat perbatasan yang ada di Indonesia cenderung masuk dalam kelompok masyarakat yang tertinggal dari berbagai aspek pembangunan. Kajian mengenai masyarakat lokal di wilayah-wilayah perbatasan di Indonesia belum terlalu meng­gembirakan baik dari segi jumlah maupun dari segi dampak hasil kajian yang berupa aksi kebijakan pasca kajian. Nanga Badau yang terletak di daerah per­batasan Kalimantan Barat (Indonesia) dan Serawak (Malaysia) merupakan salah satu wilayah perbatasan yang tertinggal. Tulisan ini memoret isu-isu dinamika dan eksistensi tradisi lokal dalam kerangka globalisasi. Tampak bahwa sikap ramah dan menghormati pendatang merupakan salah satu bentuk nyata bahwa mereka sangat terbuka dengan adanya arus global dan lokal. Mereka juga me­miliki kesadaran diri akan posisi mereka sebagai bagian dari penduduk dunia. Adanya ruang interaksi bagi dunia luar, seperti mudahnya akses keluar masuk ke negara lain mengakibatkan pola interaksi, informasi dan komunikasi etnis Iban menjadi berkembang. Hal tersebut dapat dilihat pada aktivitas masyarakat Iban sehari-hari yang telah memanfaatkan dan menggunakan perangkat <em>handphone</em>, televisi dan teknologi modern lainnya.


Author(s):  
Stephen Lwasa ◽  
Narathius Asingwire ◽  
Julius Juma Okello ◽  
Joseph Kiwanuka

As the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is embraced in Uganda, determinants of awareness of ICT based projects remain unknown. The intensity of use of mobile phones among smallholder farmers in the areas where such projects operate is unclear. To address this knowledge gap, 346 smallholder farmers in two ICT project sites in Mayuge and Apac districts were subjected to econometric analysis using bi-variate logistic and zero-inflated negative binomial regression models to ascertain determinants of projects’ awareness and intensity of use of mobile phones. The authors find that education, distance to input markets, and membership in a group positively influence awareness. The decision to use a mobile phone for agricultural purposes is affected by distance to electricity and land cultivated and negatively influenced by being a member of any farmer group. Lastly, intensity of mobile phone use is affected by age, farming as the major occupation, and distance to an internet facility, being a member of a project, having participated in an agricultural project before, value of assets, size of land cultivated, possession of a mobile phone, and proximity to agricultural offices. The paper discusses policy implications of these findings.


Author(s):  
Stephen Lwasa ◽  
Narathius Asingwire ◽  
Julius Juma Okello ◽  
Joseph Kiwanuka

As the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is embraced in Uganda, determinants of awareness of ICT based projects remain unknown. The intensity of use of mobile phones among smallholder farmers in the areas where such projects operate is unclear. To address this knowledge gap, 346 smallholder farmers in two ICT project sites in Mayuge and Apac districts were subjected to econometric analysis using bi-variate logistic and zero-inflated negative binomial regression models to ascertain determinants of projects’ awareness and intensity of use of mobile phones. The authors find that education, distance to input markets, and membership in a group positively influence awareness. The decision to use a mobile phone for agricultural purposes is affected by distance to electricity and land cultivated and negatively influenced by being a member of any farmer group. Lastly, intensity of mobile phone use is affected by age, farming as the major occupation, and distance to an internet facility, being a member of a project, having participated in an agricultural project before, value of assets, size of land cultivated, possession of a mobile phone, and proximity to agricultural offices. The paper discusses policy implications of these findings.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Mai

This study uses the data extracted from the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 on 2,107 rural households in Vietnam. Results from logit regressions show that: (1) natural disasters, plant or animal diseases, mean years of schooling of all labor members in the households, household size, levels of participation in associations and social organizations help to increase the ability of households to diversify when there is a risk; (2) On the contrary, the harmful impacts from pest of the previous year, mean years of schooling of household head, age, ethnicity, land area, attitude to risks exert a negative impact on the ability of income diversification. Thereby, the study offers some policy implications such as improving the educational level of the households, encouraging households to actively participate in training sessions, skills training and market access organized by the State and NGOs, disseminating knowledge on risk response measures through income diversification. The novel point of the study is the application of the microeconomic theory to measure the impact of attitude to risk on the decision to diversify income when risks occur. In addition, the study also examines the impact of each type of risk, and the severity of the risk on the choice of income diversification to cope with risks.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1023
Author(s):  
Nawab Khan ◽  
Ram L. Ray ◽  
Hazem S. Kassem ◽  
Muhammad Ihtisham ◽  
Abdullah ◽  
...  

Increasing agricultural production and optimizing inorganic fertilizer (IF) use are imperative for agricultural and environmental sustainability. Mobile phone usage (MPU) has the potential to reduce IF application while ensuring environmental and agricultural sustainability goals. The main objectives of this study were to assess MPU, mobile phone promotion policy, and whether the mediation role of human capital can help reduce IF use. This study used baseline regression analysis and propensity score matching, difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) to assess the impact of MPU on IF usage. However, the two-stage instrumental variables method (IVM) was used to study the effects of mobile phone promotion policy on IF usage. This study used a national dataset from 7,987 rural households in Afghanistan to investigate the impacts of MPU and associated promotion policies on IF application. The baseline regression outcomes showed that the MPU significantly reduced IF usage. The evaluation mechanism revealed that mobile phones help reduce IF application by improving the human capital of farmers. Besides, evidence from the DID technique showed that mobile phone promotion policies lowered IF application. These results remained robust after applying the PSM-DID method and two-stage IVM to control endogenous decisions of rural households. This study results imply that enhancing the accessibility of wideband in remote areas, promoting MPU, and increasing investment in information communication technologies (ICTs) infrastructure can help decrease the IF application in agriculture. Thus, the government should invest in remote areas to facilitate access to ICTs, such as having a telephone and access to a cellular and internet network to provide an environment and facility to apply IF effectively. Further, particular policy support must focus on how vulnerable populations access the internet and mobile phone technologies.


Author(s):  
Diane Nelson Bryen ◽  
Enid Moolman

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been ratified by more than 137 countries. Among its 55 articles, access to information and communication technologies is highlighted. However, people with intellectual and communication disabilities continue to have limited access to mobile phone technologies. This article describes the potential of mobile phones for this population and what is known about its use by children and adults with intellectual disabilities as well as those with significant communication disabilities. Policy implications to reduce this digital divide will be proposed as well as needed research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 164-169
Author(s):  
L. Kozhevnikova ◽  
I. Starovoytova ◽  
O. Yatsenko

The article has been devoted to the study of the impact of new information and communication technologies in the educational environment on the transformation of the values of student youth. It has been shown, how in the process of the evolution of values, a gap occurs between the declared values and life orientations, determining the behavior of young people. The conclusion has been made, that the worldview of modern student youth is of a synthetic nature: it contains, on the one hand, conservative values, focusing on the stability and connection of generations, on the other hand, “modernist” attitudes reflecting modern social realities. It has been shown, that potential opportunities for the inclusion of young people in the innovative development of the country’s economy are determined by the dynamic balance of traditional ethical values and the modern requirements of sociocultural dynamics.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahen Fachrul Rezki

This paper analyses the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on policymaking on an Indonesian Village level. In this study, I use data from different waves of the Indonesian Village Potential Statistics (Potensi Desa) to determine whether mobile phone signal strength affects village policies and civic engagement activities. The results indicate that villages with a strong signal are statistically more likely to possess the proper infrastructure and economic programs. Furthermore, mobile phones increase civic engagement, which is consistent with previous studies related to collective action or mass mobilisation. Using the plausibly exogenous variation of lightning strike intensity as the instrumental variable, this study suggests that higher mobile phone signal strength is positively associated with the policies implemented by the village head. This study also demonstrates that ICT has a stronger effect in rural areas. One possible explanation is that mobile phones improve the relative ability for rural people to interact with their leaders. Another potential answer is the fact that there are significant differences between rural village and urban village governments, which could also affect policymaking.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
HAZWAN HAINI

This study examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and innovation on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) export likelihood using a two-stage instrumental variable logistic estimator in 6,844 ASEAN SMEs. Adopting ICT technologies allows SMEs to overcome the constraints faced when exporting, while innovation allows SMEs to gain a competitive advantage. Meanwhile, the ASEAN economies are committed toward regional integration and have implemented policies to develop the SME and ICT sector. Results indicate that both ICT technologies and innovation contribute positively to export likelihood, albeit the magnitude of ICT technologies on export likelihood is greater. Furthermore, the results show that ICT technologies can overcome the constraints faced by marginalized businesses in terms of exporting, and can also enhance export likelihood in the manufacturing industry. Policy implications are discussed.


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