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The Impact of Mobile Phones on Change in Employment Status in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Lukasz Grzybowski

    (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences)

  • Zubair Maghmood Patel

    (University of Cape Town)

Abstract

In this paper we analyse whether having a mobile phone impacts chances of getting employed. We use five waves of panel data from the National Income Dynamic Survey (NIDS), which was conducted in South Africa between years 2008 and 2017. In the estimation we include a vector of observable individual and household characteristics and account for unobserved heterogeneity amongst individuals. The estimation results suggest that mobile phone ownership has a positive impact on the change in employment status from unemployed to employed. On the other hand, ownership of a computer by a household and computer literacy do not increase the likelihood of getting employed. The average probability of becoming employed increases from 54.2% when no one among unemployed adults has a mobile phone to 57.4% when all of them have a mobile phone, which is an increase of 5.9%.

Suggested Citation

  • Lukasz Grzybowski & Zubair Maghmood Patel, 2024. "The Impact of Mobile Phones on Change in Employment Status in South Africa," Working Papers 2024-21, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    • Handle: RePEc:war:wpaper:2024-21
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    File URL: https://www.wne.uw.edu.pl/download_file/5014/0
    File Function: First version, 2024
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    Keywords

    Mobile phones; Employment; NIDS; South Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L50 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - General
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications

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