From Gutenberg to Google: The Internet Is Adopted Earlier if Ancestors Had Advanced Information Technology in 1500 AD

Martin Ljunge

No 1312, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: Individuals with ancestry from countries with advanced information technology in 1500 AD, such as movable type and paper, adopt the internet faster than those with less advanced ancestry. The analysis illustrates persistence over five centuries in information technology adoption in European and U.S. populations. The results hold when excluding the most and least advanced ancestries, and when accounting for additional deep roots of development. Historical information technology is a better predictor of internet adoption than current development. A machine learning procedure supports the findings. Human capital is a plausible channel as 1500 AD information technology predicts early 20th century school enrollment, which predicts 21st century internet adoption. A three-stage model including human capital around 1990, yields similar results.

Keywords: Internet; Technology diffusion; Information technology; Intergenerational transmission; Printing press (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 D83 J24 N70 O33 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2019-12-18
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-cmp, nep-gro, nep-his, nep-ict, nep-lma, nep-ore and nep-pay
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1312

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