The effect of ownership on telephone penetration

It is well known that telephone penetration (the number of telephones per 100 population) is strongly related to national income. This report examines whether telephone penetration is significantly influenced by type of ownership (ie whether the telephone system is owned and operated by a private company or a government organization) and by postal responsibility (ie whether the telephone system is run by the same organization which runs the postal system). Economic theory and evidence from other industries suggest that private ownership increases output, and one might guess that postal responsibility would tend to restrict telephone penetration - but are these hypotheses correct and are the effects significant? The author concludes that telephone penetration is significantly more responsive to per capita GDP and to population density in private systems than in government-owned systems. Joint responsibility for postal systems has no significant effect on telephone penetration.     

Satellite data networks for national development

This article assesses the telecommunications needs of developing countries and the possibility of using satellite communications to meet those needs. Three primary technological factors provide a guide to this application: small inexpensive satellite earth stations can provide a solution to the problem of limited ground facilities; satellites can operate in a broadcast and multiple acess mode as well as in a conventional point- to-point mode; and, the capacity required to support a single interactive digital terminal is about 1000 times less than that required to support a voice telephone and abput 1 000 000 times less than that required for video transmission. These factors lead to consideration of new forms of national networks based on satellites, microprocessors and small earth stations which do not follow the North American model. These new advanced forms of networks can co-exist with conventional voice networks, and can provide a realistic alternative for consideration by national telecommunications authorities.     

The Pacific Islands. Policy options for telecommunications investment

The Independent Commission for World-Wide Telecommunications Development (Maitland Commission) reported that telecommunication networks, including public telephone systems, are an infrastructure which aids economic development throughout the world. The Commissions objective is to bring the majority of the world's population within easy access of a telephone and, in time, other communications services. Development in the Pacific Islands region is slowed by a lack of efficient communications. The islands are spread over 29 million square kilometers of ocean and extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. Pacific Island Nations (PINs) have problems of foreign exchange, skill shortages, and poor credit terms. Telecommunications infrastructure audits showed the overall regional teledensity of 3 telephones per 100 population. The individual countries vary form 8.3 in Fiji to 1.5 in Papua New Guinea and 25.2 in New Zealand. The population of the developing island countries is in mostly rural areas where there is a chronic shortage of telephones. The constraints on radio systems can be overcome with satellite technology. The new technologies are coming on the market faster than these countries can afford to handle them. By using satellite technology and sharing facilities PINs can greatly reduce the cost of telecommunications systems. Fiber optic cables will be used to carry large volumes of traffic over major routes while satellites can be used for a array of services for the smallest PIN nation to the largest route rim country. Work is being done to standardize the equipment specifications and to develop policies for the coordination of regional telecommunications training. To further facilitate communications development in this area, changes need to be made in international funding priorities for development, and recommendations by the Maitland Commission must be taken seriously.     

Financing and other issues in telecommunications development

Implementation of telecommunications infrastructure throughout developing countries is a prerequisite to national development. The fundamental question, argues Dr Parker, is how can developing countries pay for the capital investment in the necessary telecommunications equipment. The need is to encourage an institutional structure that can stimulate innovative, lower-cost appropriate rural telecommunications technologies without imposing excessive risks on the national telecommunications monopoly. With sucessful models to follow, it will be easier to achieve consensus between developing country borrowers, international lenders and telecommunications manufacturers.     

生产性服务业对经济增长贡献分析——以江苏为例

生产性服务业已经成为西方发达国家经济结构中增长最快的部门。生产性服务的发展不但改变了以往服务业的生产和经营方式,带动了传统服务业的升级改造,而且时国民经济的增长产生越来越大的影响,对经济增长的贡献也越来越大。文章从定性和定量两个角度分析江苏生产性服务业对GDP的影响,发现江苏生产性服务业有良好的发展趋势,其对GDP的拉动作用越来越明显,对产业结构的合理化发展有很大助推作用。因此,江苏生产性服务业在国民经济中的地位越来越重要,对江苏经济增长的贡献也是越来越大。     

Driving information communication technology for tax revenue mobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study explores whether increasing Information and Technology Communication (ICT) boosts government revenue mobilization for sustainable development in 48 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2004 to 2020. While total tax revenue non-resource as a percentage of GDP and tax revenue as a percentage of GDP are used to proxy for tax revenue mobilization, three ICT measures are used, namely; the telephone penetration rate, the mobile phone penetration rate and internet penetration rate. To perform the analysis, we adopt the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The empirical findings are as follows. First, while the calculated net impacts are substantially positive, the corresponding marginal ICT effects utilized for calculating net effects are extremely negative. Second, an extensive study is carried out to determine complementing policy thresholds. These thresholds include: 21.959 (per 100 people) telephone penetration for total income from tax revenue; 16.333 (per 100 people) internet penetration for total income from tax; 21.125 internet penetration (per 100 people) for the income from the tax on non-resource income. This study has policy relevance, and implications as the penetration of the ICT rate can be influenced by policies to mobilize government revenue effectively.     

Information communications technology and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A panel data approach

This research empirically analyzed the impact of mobile phone and the Internet on per capita income of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period of 2006–2015 using a panel data of 40 countries. We have employed the robust two-step system GMM. Results showed that growth in mobile phone penetration has contributed significantly to the GDP per capita of the region after controlling for a number of other variables. A 10% increase in mobile phone penetration results in a 1.2% change in GDP per capita. Therefore, improving access to mobile phones will play a critical role in reducing the poverty level of the region through raising the per capita income of the population.However, the Internet has not contributed to the per capita GDP during the study period. The insignificant impact of the Internet could be due to low penetration of the technology, low ICT skill of Internet users, lack of or insufficient local content on the global network, and the relatively immature state of the technology in the region. Therefore, governments and other stakeholders should design policies that encourage expansion of the Internet. In addition to improving Internet access, policies which focus on ICT skill development and local content creation should also be designed and implemented.     

Assessment of information and communications technology maturity level

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) turned out to be a key factor in the process of the wider development of a country. It is therefore very useful to estimate ICT evolution by the means of an appropriate metric. Based on statistical data from 159 countries, the ICT maturity level index (IMLI) is proposed and estimated by using structural equation modelling (SEM). This index is a metric measuring the information society in a country and consists of three sub-indices which are access, use and skills. It is an improvement of the ICT development index, proposed by the ITU in 2009. The analysis divides the countries into two groups, the developed and the developing, due to major disparities in their statistical data. The criterion used to define the groups was the income, as expressed by the Gross National Income per capita. The impact of a number of influential parameters on the ICT maturity level is evaluated and it becomes obvious that there is a substantial difference in their impact between developed and developing countries. Finally, a procedure that allows the ranking of the countries, based on IMLI, is presented.     

精神经济时代的到来与政府对策

在精神经济迅速发展的今天，对精神产品的构成及其对国内生产总值的作用做尝试性的分类和分析是时代的必然。从政府支出与国民消费特色的转变及国民收入分配的新动向中对精神产业后发作用作前瞻性的理论阐述是本文的宗旨，而政府如何发挥精神产业来推动整个国民经济的发展正是发展中国家投身全球经济化大潮的重要课题。     

Different paths to universal access: The impact of policy and regulation on broadband diffusion in the developed and developing worlds

The authors examine the broadband digital divide by analyzing the impact of policy and regulation on broadband Internet diffusion. Their multiple regression analysis shows factors that determine broadband diffusion in technologically developed countries do not necessarily have the same impact in less developed countries. They show that in technologically developed countries, there is greater broadband diffusion in countries that make a higher financial investment in information and communication technologies (ICTs), have effective governing practices at the national level, have higher levels of education, and are more urban. In technologically developing nations, a competitive telecommunications sector and higher investment in ICTs lead to greater broadband diffusion, with investment having an even larger impact in the developing world than in the developed world. In addition, stronger democratic political institutions, higher levels of national income and lower levels of income inequality increase diffusion, but the presence of a national telecommunications regulatory authority has a negative impact. These results suggest that the path to widespread availability and use of broadband requires different strategies depending on a nation's level of technological development.     

Population density,migration, and the returns to human capital and land: Insights from Indonesia

Rapid population growth in many developing countries has raised concerns regarding food security and household welfare. To understand the consequences of population growth in a general equilibrium setting, we examine the dynamics of population density and its impacts on household outcomes using panel data from Indonesia, combined with district-level demographic data. Historically, Indonesia has adapted to land constraints through a mix of agricultural intensification, expansion of the land frontier, and non-farm diversification, with public policies playing a role in catalyzing all of these responses. In contemporary Indonesia we find that human capital determines the effect of increased population density on per capita household consumption expenditure. The effect of population density is positive if the average educational attainment is high (above junior high school), while it is negative otherwise. On the other hand, farmers with larger holdings maintain their advantage in farming regardless of population density. The paper concludes with some potential lessons for African countries from Indonesia’s more successful rural development experiences.     

Global value chains,large-scale farming,and poverty: Long-term effects in Senegal

This paper presents panel data evidence on the impact of expansion of global value chains and large-scale export-oriented farms in developing countries over almost a decade. We estimate the income effects of wage employment on large-scale farms in the horticultural export sector in Senegal, using data from two survey rounds covering a seven-years period of rapid expansion of the sector. We estimate average income effects as well as heterogeneous income effects, using fixed effects and quantile fixed effects regressions. We find that poverty and inequality reduced much faster in the research area than elsewhere in Senegal. Employment in the horticultural export sector is associated with higher household income and the income effect is strongest for the poorest households. Expansion of the horticultural export sector in Senegal has been particularly pro-poor through creating employment that is accessible and creates substantial income gains for the poorest half of the rural population. These pro-poor employment effects contrast with insights in the literature on increased inequality from rural wage employment.     

Do poverty and poor health and nutrition increase the risk of armed conflict onset?

We analyze the effects of improving the economic, food security and health status on the risk of armed cotntectflict onset, focusing on the factors related to the millennium development goals. We employ the discrete-time hazard model that allows us to examine the time-varying effects of socioeconomic factors controlling for the reverse effect of conflict. Our results show that income poverty and poor health and nutritional status are more significantly associated with armed conflict onset than GDP per capita, annual GDP growth, and the ratio of primary commodity exports over GDP. In particular, poor health and nutritional status seems to play a key role in inducing armed conflicts in poor countries. These results indicate that, when a majority of the poor and the malnourished resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture directly or indirectly, investments in public goods for agriculture and rural areas can be effective tools to achieve the multiple goals of reduced poverty, food security and armed conflict, including riots in early 2008 triggered by high food prices. Food policy can be an effective element of efforts to maintain stability.     

Mobile payment and rural household consumption: Evidence from China

Exploring effective measures to promote rural household consumption is a challenge for developing countries, where rural areas often face severe financial exclusion and undeveloped commercial services. In this research, the influence of mobile payment, a popular payment method emerging in recent years, on rural household consumption is assessed by adopting China Household Finance Survey of 2017. Estimation results under the instrumental variable method suggest that mobile payment has a statistically significant and facilitating effect on rural household consumption in China. This positive effect is attributed to the benefits of mobile payment in improving financial inclusion and the convenience of consumption activities for rural areas, which is verified by performing several disaggregated analyses in our study. This work provides new evidence for the increasing literature on the economic impact of financial technology and several enlightenments for developing countries to improve the quality of public life through information intervention policies.     

Telecommunications and investment decisions in the Philippines

This article is a rejoinder to the article written by R.J. Saunders published in the December 1983 issue of Telecommunications Policy on investment decisions in telecommunications. The author, in this brief paper, attemps to discuss the decision-making process in telecommunications investments described by Saunders and as it relates to the practical experience of the Philippines and other developing countries in a similar situation. Attention is given to how the national telephone programme in the Philippines is being developed. Efforts have been exerted to identify the similarities and basic differences of the Philippines to other developing countries.     

Economic impacts of mobile versus fixed broadband

Broadband telecommunication service is growing rapidly and its economic impact is likely to vary considerably around the globe. Considerable interest is being shown in wireless broadband, especially in low income and rural areas. This study focuses on the direct effect (broadband penetration as an input), and separately, the productive efficiency effect of broadband (as an information network externality), using a model developed in Thompson and Garbacz (2007). Aggregate fixed and mobile broadband usage and their effect are analyzed and compared first on a sample of forty-three countries with sufficient data. The same models are used on samples of high income and low income countries. It is hypothesized that the rapid growth of broadband could have a stronger effect for low income countries and their initial levels of network development. Key variables are adjusted to a per household basis, using information on household size. Due to the endogeneity of key variables, instrumental variables are employed to estimate separate equations for mobile broadband and fixed broadband. Predicted values for these variables are used in the final equations in order to adjust for endogeneity and omitted variable bias. The results of the model estimated for the full sample indicate that mobile broadband has an important direct effect on GDP, but fixed broadband has an effect no different than zero. In the models with high and low income samples it is apparent that low income countries derive significantly more benefit from mobile broadband. Estimates from the Stochastic Frontier Model find mobile broadband to be a significant driver of growth via a reduction of inefficiency.     

Analyzing the relationships between information technology, inputs substitution and national characteristics based on CES stochastic frontier production models

This research examines four interrelated issues at the country level: the value of information technology (IT), inputs substitution and complement, the complementarity phenomenon created by IT and national characteristics, and the productivity paradox, jointly and critically from a global perspective, using the so-called productive efficiency as the performance measure. To that end, we develop the three-factor constant elasticity of substitution (CES) stochastic production frontier model and apply it to a set of panel data from 15 countries over the period 1993–2003, along with the traditional two-factor CES models, within the one- and two-equation frameworks. In the two-equation setting, six national characteristics are selected as the contributing factors of the productive efficiency. The findings include: (i) the value of IT as measured by the productive efficiency is duly recognized: (ii) the productivity paradox is found to be absent from the production process in a majority of developed and developing countries considered, rejecting the existing argument that the paradox exists only in developing economies but does not exist in developed countries; however, the developed countries have used IT capital in their production systems more productively efficiently than the developing nations; (iii) traditional capital (non-IT capital), traditional labor, and IT capital are not pairwise substitutable, contrary to the notion that they are pairwise substitutable at the firm level; (iv) constant returns to scale, as commonly assumed, are not supported by the data; (v) different national characteristics affect a country's output (represented by gross domestic product or GDP) and its productive efficiency differently; and (vi) the complementarity phenomenon is observed in most of the countries (developed and developing) under study.     

Rural telephone in Indonesia and Thailand: Social and economic benefits

This article considers the need for telecommunications in the rural areas of Indonesia and Thailand. Using the findings from questionnaire surveys in the two countries, the authors examine how the telephone is used when limited facilities are available, the effects of telephone service in terms of improved communication and work efficiency, and the consequences of not having access to a telephone     

Communication satellites for rural development

The author points out that telecommunications in rural areas are an essential infrastructure for development, and that appropriately designed satellites could form an important part of rural communications technology. He argues that hybrid systems involving clusters of communities, served by a single ground station and rural radio telephone interconnection, are likely to be lower cost than all-satellite or terrestrial-only systems.     

How does population density influence agricultural intensification and productivity? Evidence from Malawi

This article uses nationally representative household-level panel data from Malawi to estimate how rural population density impacts agricultural intensification and household well-being. We find that areas of higher population density are associated with smaller farm sizes, lower real agricultural wage rates, and higher real maize prices. Any input intensification that occurs seems to be going to increasing maize yields, as we find no evidence that increases in population density enable farmers to increase gross value of crop output per hectare. We also find evidence that households in more densely populated areas increasingly rely on off-farm income to earn a living, but there appears to be a rural population density threshold beyond which households can no longer increase off-farm income per capita.