IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/thkase/338432.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Internet on Economic Growth in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Rangkakulnuwat, Poomthan
  • Dunyo, Samuel Kwesi

Abstract

The objective of this study is to estimate the effect of internet on economic growth in Africa as this region has recently been a rapidly growing number of internet usersas well as high economic growth. Using the constructed panel data set of 19 African countries from 2003 to 2014 and employing the Fixed Effect-Iterated Generalized Least Square (FE-IGLS) estimation to correct for autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity, the results show no spurious regression problem. It indicated that internet hasan impact on economic growth when it is complementary with physical capital and technology. Our main finding suggests that African governments should support their children toenter in education higher than secondary level and encourage labor using internet to boost up their knowledge.

Suggested Citation

  • Rangkakulnuwat, Poomthan & Dunyo, Samuel Kwesi, 2018. "The Impact of Internet on Economic Growth in Africa," Asian Journal of Applied Economics, Kasetsart University, Center for Applied Economics Research, vol. 25(2), December.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:thkase:338432
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.338432
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/338432/files/10.Vol25Issue2_p19-33.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.338432?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David E. Altig & Peter Rupert, 1999. "Growth and the internet: surfing to prosperity?," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Sep.
    2. Nicholas Oulton, 2002. "ICT and Productivity Growth in the United Kingdom," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 363-379.
    3. Barro, Robert J, 2000. "Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 5-32, March.
    4. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    5. Alan B. Krueger, 1993. "How Computers Have Changed the Wage Structure: Evidence from Microdata, 1984–1989," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(1), pages 33-60.
    6. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    7. Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2009. "The economic impact of broadband on growth: A simultaneous approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 471-485, October.
    8. Jonathan Levin, 2011. "The Economics of Internet Markets," Discussion Papers 10-018, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    9. Niebel, Thomas, 2018. "ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 197-211.
    10. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    11. Charles Kenny, 2003. "The Internet and Economic Growth in Less-developed Countries: A Case of Managing Expectations? 1," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 99-113.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mora-Rivera, Jorge & García-Mora, Fernando, 2021. "Internet access and poverty reduction: Evidence from rural and urban Mexico," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    2. Candelaria, José Alberto, 2015. "A panel data analysis of temporary and permanent effects of fixed broadband penetration over economic growth," 2015 Regional ITS Conference, Los Angeles 2015 146312, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Ahmed S. Alimi & Idris A. Adediran, 2020. "ICT diffusion and the finance–growth nexus: a panel analysis on ECOWAS countries," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Xu, Lu & Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning, 2021. "Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    5. Falck, Oliver & Heimisch-Roecker, Alexandra & Wiederhold, Simon, 2021. "Returns to ICT skills," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    6. M. Ishaq NADIRI & Banani NANDI, 2015. "Modern Communication Technology and its Economic Impact: A Survey of Research Findings," Communications & Strategies, IDATE, Com&Strat dept., vol. 1(100), pages 125-144, 4th quart.
    7. Jacques Simon Song & Georges Ngnouwal Eloundou & Fabrice Bitoto Ewolo & Blaise Ondoua Beyene, 2024. "Does Social Media Contribute to Economic Growth?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 8349-8389, June.
    8. Kumar, Ronald Ravinesh & Kumar, Radika Devi & Patel, Arvind, 2015. "Accounting for telecommunications contribution to economic growth: A study of Small Pacific Island States," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 284-295.
    9. Roberto Gallardo & Brian Whitacre & Indraneel Kumar & Sreedhar Upendram, 2021. "Broadband metrics and job productivity: a look at county-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(1), pages 161-184, February.
    10. Jerbashian, Vahagn, 2015. "The telecommunications industry and economic growth: How the market structure matters," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 515-523.
    11. Jung, Juan & López-Bazo, Enrique, 2020. "On the regional impact of broadband on productivity: The case of Brazil," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    12. Amponsah, Mary & Agbola, Frank W. & Mahmood, Amir, 2021. "The impact of informality on inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does financial inclusion matter?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1259-1286.
    13. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Neanidis, Kyriakos C., 2015. "Innovation, public capital, and growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 252-275.
    14. Jung, Juan, 2014. "Regional inequalities in the impact of broadband on productivity: Evidence from Brazil," MPRA Paper 56177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Voxi Heinrich Amavilah & Antonio Rodríguez Andrés, 2024. "Knowledge Economy and the Economic Performance of African Countries: A Seemingly Unrelated and Recursive Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 110-143, March.
    16. Hussain, Ammar & Batool, Irem & Akbar, Minhas & Nazir, Marina, 2021. "Is ICT an enduring driver of economic growth? Evidence from South Asian economies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).
    17. Vincent Van Roy & Daniel Nepelski, 2016. "Assessment of Framework Conditions for the Creation and Growth of Firms in Europe," JRC Research Reports JRC103350, Joint Research Centre.
    18. Nadiri, M. Ishaq & Nandi, Banani & Akoz, Kemal Kivanc, 2018. "Impact of modern communication infrastructure on productivity, production structure and factor demands of US industries: Impact revisited," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 433-451.
    19. Rodriguez-Oreggia, Eduardo & Rodriguez-Pose, Andres, 2004. "The Regional Returns of Public Investment Policies in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1545-1562, September.
    20. Donou-Adonsou, Ficawoyi, 2019. "Technology, education, and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 353-360.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Development;

    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:ags:thkase:338432. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/darkuth.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.