Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4029782 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jenny C Aker (Department of Economics and Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts; Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C.), Isaac M Mbiti (Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.), Isaac Mbiti (Southern Methodist University) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 207-232 |
| Publication date | 2010-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/jep.24.3.207 |
| OpenAlex | W3122763283 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 301 |
| References cited | 39 |
Access to and use of mobile telephony in sub-Saharan Africa has increased dramatically over the past decade. Mobile telephony has brought new possibilities to the continent. Across urban-rural and rich-poor divides, mobile phones connect individuals to individuals, information, markets, and services. These effects can be particularly dramatic in rural Africa, where in many places mobile phones have represented the first modern telecommunications infrastructure of any kind. Mobile phones have greatly reduced communication costs, thereby allowing individuals and firms to send and to obtain information quickly and cheaply on a variety of economic, social, and political topics. An emerging body of research shows that the reduction in communication costs associated with mobile phones has tangible economic benefits, improving agricultural and labor market efficiency and producer and consumer welfare in specific circumstances and countries. This paper first examines the evolution of mobile phone coverage and adoption in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade. We then explore the main channels through which mobile phones can effect economic outcomes and appraise current evidence of its potential to improve economic development. We conclude with directions for future research and outline the necessary conditions for mobile phones to promote broader economic development in Africa
Business · Economic growth · Economics · Mobile computing · Mobile phone · Mobile radio · Mobile technology · Mobile telephony · Telecommunications · Computer Science · Economic Growth and Development · ICT Impact and Policies · ICT in Developing Communities
Mobile technologies, fertility preferences, and the calculus of conscious choice
Do social groups enhance the spread of smartphones? An empirical analysis of rural households in Thailand and Vietnam
Navigating hope and risk of AI for digital citizenship
Capítulo 3. Los modelos de periodismo para dispositivos móviles
The ICT-related SDG indicators
Digital economy and agricultural development
Hollowing out the middle? Remittances, poverty, and income inequality in Nigeria
Welcoming Industry 4.0 Competition With Speed Up It Digitization
Smallholder telecoupling and potential sustainability
Mapping the Web of Relations
Mobile phones in young people everyday life
She called, she Googled, she knew
The Digital Divide Objectified in the Design
Broadband's relationship to rural housing values
The Effect of Intra-household Mobile Phone Use on Household Food and Nutrition Security in Tanzania
Homing In
Digital empowerment and economic equity
Business, Brokers and Borders
Futures of work
Knowledge Management in Tourism
Information from Markets Near and Far
Learning about a New Technology
Savings by and for the Poor
Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs
The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money
Fintech, financial inclusion and income inequality
Mobile Money
Liberation Technology
Realizing the potential of digital development
What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China
Technology adoption, impact, and extension in developing countries’ agriculture
Dial “A” for agriculture
ICT adoption and household economic outcomes among women entrepreneurs in Indonesia’s agri-food system
Exporting Christianity
Leadership in Mission-Driven Organizations
Impact of digitalisation and foreign direct investment on economic growth
Achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals through financial inclusion
Information communication technology diffusion and financial inclusion
Violence and Cell Phone Communication
Can Mobile Payment Increase Household Income and Mitigate the Lower Income Condition Caused by Health Risks? Evidence from Rural China
African Entrepreneurs and International Coordination in Petty Businesses
Does Smartphone Use Improve the Dietary Diversity of Rural Residents? Evidence from Household Survey Data from 5 Provinces
Radio Redux
Use of Digital Technology among Adolescents Attending Schools in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Twinning Social Memory and Social Imaginary
The impact of digital literacy on subjective well-being
The role of mobile banking in coping with food insecurity in Burkina Faso
Trust over efficiency
Smallholder farmers' willingness to pay for the farmbetter mobile app-based agricultural extension
Digital Transformation and Informal Innovation in Africa
Access to electricity and digital inclusion
Enhancing access to market information for multidimensional poverty reduction among smallholder tomato farmers in Nigeria
Mobile Phones and Attitudes toward Women’s Participation in Politics
The dynamics of mobile phone usage among small-scale oil palm processors
Intertemporal dynamic and determinants of welfare inequality among enset producing and non-producing households in Central Ethiopia
Beyond affordability
Effect of Homegrown Mobile Applications on Africa’s Development
Geospatial Clustering of Mobile Phone Use and Tuberculosis Health Outcomes Among African Health Systems
The Impact of Digital Economy on the Economic Growth and the Development Strategies in the post-Covid-19 Era
Advancing epidemic intelligence
Determinants of Mobile Customer Relationship Management Adoption and Its Impact on Firm Performance in Kenya
Theorizing the Communication of Digital Religion as Popular Culture in Africa
Digital competence and subjective well-being in rural China
A vital technology
Does mobile banking matter for the adoption of modern agricultural technology? Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire
The New Progressivism and its implications for institutional theories of development
Confronting the scarcity of digital skills among the poor in developing countries
Digital intensity, trade costs and exports' quality upgrading
Digital connectedness and exports upgrading
Same pollution but different health impact
ICT, governance and inequality in Africa
The tax burden on mobile network operators in Africa
Digital technologies and sexual behavior outcomes
Does the mobile phone affect social development? Evidence from Indonesian villages
Digitalization and economic growth
Mobile phones, mobile Internet, and employment in Uganda
ICTs quality and technical efficiency
ICT for sustainable development
Impact of information and communication technologies on agricultural households’ welfare in Benin
Determinants of mobile broadband use in developing economies
Digital infrastructure and employment in services
Does mobile money promote financial inclusion in Eswatini
Mobile money and the social contract
ICT-enabled agricultural extension
Social skills for accessing agricultural information among smallholder farmers in southwest Nigeria
The evolution of the Fintech entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa
Exploring blockchain-based innovations for economic and sustainable development in the global south
Sustainable economic development in India
Farmer-to-farmer digital network as a strategy to strengthen agricultural performance in Kenya
Telecom Expansion and Internal Migrants in Indian Cities
Worldlikeness
AI-Powered Social Media for Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Small and Even Smaller Circles
Noisy polymedia in urban Ghana
Does internet usage drive antibiotic reduction in China's livestock industry? Evidence from Chinese duck farmers
The role of digital connectivity in reshaping financial inclusion in East Africa
Mobile phones, leadership and gender in rural business groups
Determinants of use of digital innovation and its impact on land acquisition and food security among farming households in Nigeria
The burdens and the benefits
The Development of an Infrastructure Quality Index for Nigerian Metropolitan Areas Using Multivariate Geo-Statistical Data Fusion
Information from Markets Near and Far
Learning about a New Technology
The role of the telephone in economic development
Telecommunications Infrastructure and Economic Development
Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment
Do Television and Radio Destroy Social Capital? Evidence from Indonesian Villages
Dial “A” for agriculture
Identification of Endogenous Social Effects
Exporting Christianity
International Migration, Human Capital, and Entrepreneurship
The Digital Provide
The Power of TV
Mobile Phones and Economic Development
Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World
Determinants of a Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Impact of Mobile Phone Coverage Expansion on Market Participation
Telecommunications Reform, Internet Use and Mobile Phone Adoption in the Developing World
Household consumption smoothing through ethnic ties
Risk-sharing networks and insurance against illness
Crowdsourcing Crop Improvement in Sub-Saharan Africa
Search and Market Equilibrium
Does the Internet Make Markets More Competitive? Evidence from the Life Insurance Industry
Learning by Doing and Learning from Others
The Economics of Information
A Simple Model of Equilibrium Price Dispersion
International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment
Social Networks and Technology Adoption in Northern Mozambique
Wealth, Weather Risk and the Composition and Profitability of Agricultural Investments
Mobile Phones
Networks, distance, and trust
Wiring the Labor Market
Exploring the usage and impact of "transformational" mobile financial services
| Unique citing works | 301 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 18,81 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 283 |