Digital Inequality in East Asia: Evidence from Japan, South Korea, and Singapore

Asian Economic Papers, 2005, vol. 4, issue 3, pages 116-139

Abstract: This paper examines the extent and causes of digital inequality in three countries of East Asia: Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Using individual-level microdata collected in the three countries between 1997 and 2000, the study highlights differences in the socioeconomic and demographic patterns of technology adoption, usage, and skills across countries and over time. Despite the high overall diffusion rates of information communication technology (ICT) in all three countries, there remain clear divides in access and use among various demographic groups. Household income, education, and gender are the key determinants of digital inequality in all three countries, but there is sizable variation in their magnitudes. In general, inequality in ICT access, use, and skills reflects pre-existing inequality in other socioeconomic areas. Copyright (c) 2006 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/asep.2005.4.3.116 link to full text (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: DIGITAL INEQUALITY IN EAST ASIA: EVIDENCE FROM JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND SINGAPORE (2005)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/asep

Access Statistics for this article

Asian Economic Papers is edited by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Yunjong Wang and Wing Thye Woo

More articles in Asian Economic Papers from MIT Press
Series data maintained by Christopher F. Baum ().