DIGITAL DIVIDE IN PAKISTAN: BARRIERS TO ICT ADOPTION

Waqas Shair, Muhammad Tayyab, Sumaira Nawaz and Kanza Amjad
Additional contact information
Waqas Shair: Lecturer, Minhaj University Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Tayyab: HOD, School of Economics & Finance, Minhaj University Lahore, Pakistan
Sumaira Nawaz: Independent Researcher, Pakistan
Kanza Amjad: Independent Researcher, Pakistan

Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 243-252

Abstract: This study aims to analyse the impact of various socioeconomic, regional, and demographic factors on the digital divide in Pakistan. The digital divide refers to the disparity in individual’s access to mobile devices and internet-enabled mobile technology. The study uses the Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement (PSLM) survey collected in 2019-20. The estimates of the Multinomial Logit model suggest that a lack of gender parity is a potential source of the digital divide. Higher education is associated with greater access to internet-enabled mobile devices. Moreover, being employed increases the likelihood of digital inclusion. It is worth noting that the urban-rural gap and provincial disparity also contribute to the digital divide. Higher household income and wages of individual is also increase the likelihood of digital inclusion. On the other hand, age plays a significant role in determining the digital divide among individuals. Younger individuals are more likely to be digitally included than older individuals, primarily due to differences in self-efficacy. The study also explores various employment statuses as potential contributors to the digital divide among individuals. The study identified marginalised users and proposed measures that need to be undertaken to digitally include these individuals.

Keywords: digital divide; demographic factors; regional; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://bbejournal.com/BBE/article/view/481/34 (application/pdf)
https://bbejournal.com/BBE/article/view/481 (text/html)

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:rfh:bbejor:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:243-252

Access Statistics for this article

Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE) is currently edited by Dr. Muhammad Irfan Chani

More articles in Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE) from Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Muhammad Irfan Chani ().