Mobile Phone Usage and Its Socio-Economic Impacts in Pakistan

Author(s):  
Sadia Jamil

Through examining use of mobile in Pakistan's Sindh province, the current chapter presents a unique and interesting case of the socio-economic impacts of mobile use on users' lifestyles. Although there exists an obvious divide between urban and rural areas in terms of impacts of mobile use, the case of Pakistan could serve as an alert to scholars that why mobile use remains limited in narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas against a backdrop of mobile being widely believed to be able to play a big role in narrowing the social and economic gap between urban and rural areas. The author of this chapter found that mobile use was also gender-biased in rural areas, resulting in a gap between males and females as far as social and economic impacts of mobile use on their lifestyles.

Author(s):  
Okanlade Adesokan Lawal-Adebowale

The emergence of mobile phone telecommunication in the last thirteen years in Nigeria has greatly revolutionized the dynamics of information exchange and usage by group of individuals in the country. Unlike the past years before 2001 whereby physical contacts and/or letter writing were the major means of interaction between individuals that are farther apart on geospatial dimension, spatial interaction is now the order of the day as a result of institutionalisation of the mobile telephony services in the country. By virtue of the telecom sector deregulation in 2001 and competition for dominance by the four major mobile phone network providers in the country, namely Airtel, MTN, Globacom and Etisalat, as much as 162, 719, 517 lines were actively connected in the country with a teledensity of 94.4 as at July 2014. Based on this, exploitation of the communication tools by Nigerian has effected a transformed social and economic condition of the country in terms of attraction of investors into the telecom sector, generation of income for the Nigerian Government, creation of employment opportunities, ease of business and financial transactions as economic impacts. The social impacts of the mobile phone revolution in the country include facilitation of prompt interactive linkages and exchange of information, entertainment and social networking. Other forms of impacts include its influence on educational and health services in the country. Despite the transformation impact of the mobile phone revolution in the country, exploitation of the communication tool for social vices by unscrupulous individuals was too obvious to be underplayed. The negative impacts arising from nefarious acts-mediated mobile phone usage include loss of hard earned income by unsuspecting individuals to swindlers, road accidents as a result of usage of phone while on the wheel and provision of deceptive information by one person to the other while on phone. This notwithstanding, the telecom sector has proven to be of great value to most Nigerian's as it enabled them to readily interact with one another, facilitate business and financial transactions thereby enhancing their social and economic wellbeing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-435
Author(s):  
Maylee Inga-Hancco ◽  
Adamari Indigoyen-Porras ◽  
Sergio Parra-Alarcón ◽  
Juan Cerrón-Aliaga ◽  
Wagner Vicente-Ramos

The present study describes the methodological process proposed by the Social Progress Imperative Global Organization to calculate the Social Progress Index in urban and rural areas of the province of Huancayo, Peru, in 2020. The survey was based on 229 observations regarding basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunities. The result produced an index of 56.04 for urban areas and 53.98 for rural areas; results that are in the low and low middle range respectively, identifying deficiencies in the quality of economic policies, with respect to the sanitation service, where more than 30% do not have access to drinking water, and others. It was concluded that the index showed no improvement with respect to 2019, likewise the social gaps still persist and the well-being of the aforementioned population was not increased.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 2394-2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Pérez-Ferrer ◽  
Anne McMunn ◽  
Paola Zaninotto ◽  
Eric J Brunner

AbstractObjectiveThe present study investigates whether the reversal of the social gradient in obesity, defined as a cross-over to higher obesity prevalence among groups with lower education level, has occurred among men and women in urban and rural areas of Mexico.DesignCross-sectional series of nationally representative surveys (1988, 1999, 2006, 2012 and 2016). The association between education and obesity was investigated over the period 1988–2016. Effect modification of the education–obesity association by household wealth was tested.SettingMexico.SubjectsWomen (n 54 816) and men (n 20 589) aged 20–49 years.ResultsIn both urban and rural areas, the association between education and obesity in women varied by level of household wealth in the earlier surveys (1988, 1999 and 2006; interaction P<0·001). In urban areas in 1988, one level lower education was associated (prevalence ratio; 95 % CI) with 45 % higher obesity prevalence among the richest women (1·45; 1·24, 1·69), whereas among the poorest the same education difference was protective (0·84; 0·72, 0·99). In the latest surveys (2012, 2016), higher education was protective across all wealth groups. Among men, education level was not associated with obesity in urban areas; there was a direct association in rural areas. Wealth did not modify the association between education and obesity.ConclusionThe reversal of the educational gradient in obesity among women occurred once a threshold level of household wealth was reached. Among men, there was no evidence of a reversal of the gradient. Policies must not lose sight of the populations most vulnerable to the obesogenic environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhua Zheng ◽  
Hong Chen

Abstract Background Although social network is a known determinant of the elderly’s well-being, it is not clear, in urban-rural and age-comparison, what its structural characteristics are and how it works for well-being. The research aims to discuss the features of the elderly’s social network and the social network efficacies on the well-being of older adults in China’s urban and rural areas as well as revealing the urban-rural disparities among the elderly of different age groups. Methods In this study, descriptive statistical analysis and structural equation Modeling (SEM) were used to make a group comparison between the urban and rural elderly of different age groups. All data are quoted from 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). The survey adopted the multi-stage probability sampling method, targeting Chinese senior citizens aged 60 and above, the ultimate samples totaled 11,511. Results The social network of the elderly in China feature a “reverse structure” in age sequences: with ageing, family network of the elderly expand while their friend network shrink; also, the expansion scale of the rural elderly’s family network is significantly larger than that of the city’s while the shrinkage scale of their friend network is smaller compared with its urban counterpart. The effect of family network on the rural elderly’s well-being shows a remarkable increase with age. However, there is no noticeable change in urban elderly groups of different ages. Conclusion The social network characteristics of the Chinese elderly are different between different age stages. Namely, the family network and the friend network have the “reverse structure “ in age sequences. Meanwhile, the family network and the friend network have different efficacies on the well-being of the elderly in China, and the differences between urban and rural areas are even more obvious. For rural elderly, family network has very important effects on their well-being. Moreover, With the increase of age, family network’s efficacies increase gradually. For urban elderly, comparatively, family network is just as important as friend network.


Author(s):  
Siana Ahmeti ◽  
Albana Demi ◽  
Marios Katsioloudes

This article briefly describes the development of the tourism sector in Albania, summarizing consumer behavior theory at a micro prospective, and providing a few general ideas on how the Albanian market can stimulate a change in European consumers' behavior and attract a larger and constant stream of tourists. This article is elaborated from three perspectives of the environment: the economic, the socio–cultural, and the technological. Starting with the economic environment perspective, the authors explore ways to ensure the efficient development of the economy through resource management, with the purpose of creating space for future generations. Following the social-cultural environment perspective, they analyze the way social and cultural sustainability ensures and enhances people's life skills, strengthens community identity and improves food safety practices through educational campaigns in the hospitality sector. Closing with the technological environment perspective, the authors explore ways to strengthen Albania's online position and improve telecommunication channels between urban and rural areas.


2019 ◽  
pp. 89-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
José M Ocampo Chaparro ◽  
Carlos A Reyes Ortiz ◽  
Ximena Castro Flórez ◽  
Fernando Gómez

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of frailty and evaluate the relationship with the social determinants of health in elderly residents in urban and rural areas of Colombia. Methods: The SABE (Health, Wellbeing, and Aging) Colombia project is a cross-sectional study, carried out in 2014-2015, involving 24,553 men and women aged 60 years and older who live in the community in Colombia. For this analysis, we used data from 4,474 participants included as a subsample with grip strength measurements. The frailty syndrome was diagnosed according to the Fried criteria (weakness, low speed, low physical activity, exhaustion, and weight loss). The independent variables were grouped as (a) biological and genetic flow, (b) lifestyle (adverse conditions in childhood) (c) social networks and community, and (d) socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were used to assess the prognostic value of frailty for the outcomes of interest. Results: The prevalence of frailty was 17.9%. The factors significantly associated with frailty were older age, being women, living in rural areas, having low education, a greater number of medical conditions, insufficient current income, childhood health problems and a poor economic situation in childhood. Conclusions: Our results support the need to include frailty prevention programs, to improve the socioeconomic health conditions of infants to avoid future development of frailty.


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