The effect of ICTs access in households on learning achievements: a comparison pre-pandemic and post-pandemic in Argentina

María Verónica Alderete () and María Marta Formichella ()
Additional contact information
María Verónica Alderete: Universidad Siglo XXI
María Marta Formichella: IIESS, UNS-CONICET

Lecturas de Economía, 2025, issue 104, 51-82

Abstract: This article examines the association between primary students' academic performance and household access to computers with internet connectivity in Argentina, extending the empirical literature in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate whether information and communication technologies (ICTs) affect educational outcomes and whether their impact differs before and after the pandemic. We estimate propensity score matching models using Aprender 2021 data for students in the final year of primary school, disaggregated by geographical regions. The results indicate that household access to computers with internet connectivity is associated with higher language arts and mathematics test scores. The estimated effect varies across regions. In addition, the performance gap between students with and without ICT access is, on average, 2.33% larger than the estimated pre-pandemic gap, suggesting that ICT access became more salient during school closures. Overall, this study contributes to the evidence on ICT-related educational inequalities at the primary level during the pandemic.

Keywords: ICTs in households; Access to ICTs; School performance; Propensity Score Matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 D83 I21 I28 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/lecturasdeeconomia/article/view/357572 Abstract (text/html)
https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/lecturasdee ... load/357572/20820874 Main text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lde:journl:y:2025:i:104:p:51-82

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Lecturas de Economía, Departamento de Economía, Calle 67, 53-108, Medellin 050010, Colombia.

DOI: 10.17533/udea.le.n104a357572

Access Statistics for this article

Lecturas de Economía is currently edited by Carlos Andrés Vasco Correa

More articles in Lecturas de Economía from Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Carlos Andrés Vasco Correa ().