The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality

Simplice Asongu

International Journal of Social Economics, 2015, vol. 42, issue 8, 706-716

Abstract: Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to complement theoretical and qualitative literature with empirical evidence on the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration in 52 African countries. Design/methodology/approach - – Robust ordinary least squares and two stage least squares empirical strategies are employed. Findings - – The findings suggest that mobile penetration is pro-poor, as it has a positive income equality effect. Social implications - – “Mobile phone”-oriented poverty reduction channels are discussed. Originality/value - – It deviates from mainstream country-specific and microeconomic survey-based approaches in the literature and provides the first macroeconomic assessment of the “mobile phone”-inequality nexus.

Keywords: Africa; Inequality; Poverty; Mobile phones; Shadow economy; E00; G20; I30; L96; O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (161)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality (2013)
Working Paper: The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijsepp:v:42:y:2015:i:8:p:706-716

DOI: 10.1108/IJSE-11-2012-0228

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