IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2017-156.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

New technologies create opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Sally Murray

Abstract

This paper argues that new technologies—for communication, such as mobile phones and the internet, but also for manufacturing, agriculture, energy, and transport—have the potential to bridge many of the productivity gaps between sub-Saharan Africa and more advanced developing and developed countries. Technology can help to overcome distances between producers and consumers, knowledge and skills gaps, and energy shortfalls, and can bring down the costs of living to make wages competitive.

Suggested Citation

  • Sally Murray, 2017. "New technologies create opportunities," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-156, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
  • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-156
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2017-156.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Shawn Cole & Esther Duflo & Leigh Linden, 2007. "Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1235-1264.
    2. Fang Lai & Linxiu Zhang & Xiao Hu & Qinghe Qu & Yaojiang Shi & Yajie Qiao & Matthew Boswell & Scott Rozelle, 2013. "Computer assisted learning as extracurricular tutor? Evidence from a randomised experiment in rural boarding schools in Shaanxi," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 208-231, June.
    3. Bet, German & Cristia, Julián P. & Ibarrarán, Pablo, 2014. "The Effects of Shared School Technology Access on Students Digital Skills in Peru," IZA Discussion Papers 7954, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Dani Rodrik, 2016. "Premature deindustrialization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-33, March.
    5. Cláudio R. Frischtak, 2017. "Industries without smokestacks: Telecommunication and ICT-based services trade," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-6, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Bet, German & Cristia, Julián P. & Ibarrarán, Pablo, 2014. "The Effects of Shared School Technology Access on Students Digital Skills in Peru," IZA Discussion Papers 7954, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    7. Andreas Lendle & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2015. "Internet Technology and the Extensive Margin of Trade: Evidence from eBay in Emerging Economies," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 375-386, May.
    8. Jenny C. Aker, Christopher Ksoll, and Travis J. Lybbert, 2010. "ABC, 123: The Impact of a Mobile Phone Literacy Program on Educational Outcomes," Working Papers 223, Center for Global Development.
    9. Glenn Davis Stone & Dominic Glover, 2017. "Disembedding grain: Golden Rice, the Green Revolution, and heirloom seeds in the Philippines," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 87-102, March.
    10. Paul Carrillo & Mercedes Onofa & Juan Ponce, 2010. "Information Technology and Student Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Ecuador," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 37758, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Cláudio R. Frischtak, 2017. "Industries without smokestacks: Telecommunication and ICT-based services trade," WIDER Working Paper Series 006, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Mo, Di & Swinnen, Johan & Zhang, Linxiu & Yi, Hongmei & Qu, Qinghe & Boswell, Matthew & Rozelle, Scott, 2013. "Can One-to-One Computing Narrow the Digital Divide and the Educational Gap in China? The Case of Beijing Migrant Schools," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 14-29.
    13. Perez, Nicostrato D. & Rosegrant, Mark W., 2015. "The impact of investment in agricultural research and development and agricultural productivity:," IFPRI discussion papers 1447, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Altenburg, Tilman, 2017. "Arbeitsplatzoffensive für Afrika," IDOS Discussion Papers 23/2017, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

    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. Sally Murray, 2017. "New technologies create opportunities," WIDER Working Paper Series 156, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Eric Bettinger & Robert Fairlie & Anastasia Kapuza & Elena Kardanova & Prashant Loyalka & Andrey Zakharov, 2023. "Diminishing Marginal Returns to Computer‐Assisted Learning," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 552-570, March.
    3. George Bulman & Robert W. Fairlie, 2015. "Technology and Education: Computers, Software, and the Internet," CESifo Working Paper Series 5570, CESifo.
    4. Karthik Muralidharan & Abhijeet Singh & Alejandro J. Ganimian, 2019. "Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(4), pages 1426-1460, April.
    5. Sabrin Beg & Waqas Halim & Adrienne M. Lucas & Umar Saif, 2022. "Engaging Teachers with Technology Increased Achievement, Bypassing Teachers Did Not," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 61-90, May.
    6. Deshpande, Ashwini & Desrochers, Alain & Ksoll, Christopher & Shonchoy, Abu S., 2017. "The Impact of a Computer-based Adult Literacy Program on Literacy and Numeracy: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 451-473.
    7. Cardim, Joana & Molina-Millán, Teresa & Vicente, Pedro C., 2023. "Can technology improve the classroom experience in primary education? An African experiment on a worldwide program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    8. Malamud, Ofer & Cueto, Santiago & Cristia, Julian & Beuermann, Diether W., 2019. "Do children benefit from internet access? Experimental evidence from Peru," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 41-56.
    9. de Melo Gioia & Machado Alina & Miranda Alfonso, 2014. "The Impact of a One Laptop per Child Program on Learning: Evidence from Uruguay," Working Papers 2014-22, Banco de México.
    10. Yue Ma & Robert W. Fairlie & Prashant Loyalka & Scott Rozelle, 2020. "Isolating the “Tech” from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China," NBER Working Papers 26953, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Bin Tang & Te-Tien Ting & Chyi-In Wu & Yue Ma & Di Mo & Wei-Ting Hung & Scott Rozelle, 2020. "The Impact of Online Computer Assisted Learning at Home for Disadvantaged Children in Taiwan: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-16, December.
    12. Hisaki Kono & Yasuyuki Sawada & Abu S. Shonchoy, 2016. "DVD-based Distance-learning Program for University Entrance Exams: Experimental Evidence from Rural Bangladesh," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1027, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    13. Julian Cristia & Pablo Ibarrarán & Santiago Cueto & Ana Santiago & Eugenio Severín, 2017. "Technology and Child Development: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 295-320, July.
    14. Asim,Salman & Chase,Robert S. & Dar,Amit & Schmillen,Achim Daniel, 2015. "Improving education outcomes in South Asia : findings from a decade of impact evaluations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7362, The World Bank.
    15. Mundle, Sudipto, 2018. "Development of Education and Health Services in Asia and the Role of the State," Working Papers 18/239, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    16. Bet, German & Cristia, Julián P. & Ibarrarán, Pablo, 2014. "The Effects of Shared School Technology Access on Students Digital Skills in Peru," IZA Discussion Papers 7954, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Robert W. Fairlie & Jonathan Robinson, 2013. "Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Home Computers on Academic Achievement among Schoolchildren," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 211-240, July.
    18. Naik, Gopal & Chitre, Chetan & Bhalla, Manaswini & Rajan, Jothsna, 2020. "Impact of use of technology on student learning outcomes: Evidence from a large-scale experiment in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    19. Kono, Hisaki & Sawada, Yasuyuki & Shonchoy, Abu S., 2016. "DVD-based distance-learning program for university entrance exams -- RCT experiments in rural Bangladesh," IDE Discussion Papers 580, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    20. Diether W. Beuermann & Emma Naslund-Hadley & Inder J. Ruprah & Jennelle Thompson, 2013. "The Pedagogy of Science and Environment: Experimental Evidence from Peru," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 719-736, May.

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-156. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.