TY - BOOK ID - 64880347 TI - Digital Connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Perspective AU - Alper, Emre. AU - Miktus, Michal. PY - 2019 SN - 1513515934 1513514601 PB - Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, DB - UniCat KW - Digital communications. KW - Communications, Digital KW - Digital transmission KW - Pulse communication KW - Digital electronics KW - Pulse techniques (Electronics) KW - Telecommunication KW - Digital media KW - Signal processing KW - Digital techniques KW - Infrastructure KW - Macroeconomics KW - Public Finance KW - Intelligence (AI) & Semantics KW - Demography KW - Index Numbers and Aggregation KW - leading indicators KW - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences KW - Diffusion Processes KW - Comparative Studies of Countries KW - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General KW - Investment KW - Capital KW - Intangible Capital KW - Capacity KW - Demographic Economics: General KW - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution KW - Public finance & taxation KW - Population & demography KW - Machine learning KW - Information technology in revenue administration KW - Population and demographics KW - Income KW - Revenue administration KW - National accounts KW - Technology KW - Revenue KW - Saving and investment KW - Population KW - Cabo Verde UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:64880347 AB - Higher digital connectivity is expected to bring opportunities to leapfrog development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Experience within the region demonstrates that if there is an adequate digital infrastructure and a supportive business environment, new forms of business spring up and create jobs for the educated as well as the less educated. The paper first confirms the global digital divide through the unsupervised machine learning clustering K-means algorithm. Next, it derives a composite digital connectivity index, in the spirit of De Muro-Mazziotta-Pareto, for about 190 economies. Descriptive analysis shows that majority of SSA countries lag in digital connectivity, specifically in infrastructure, internet usage, and knowledge. Finally, using fractional logit regressions we document that better business enabling and regulatory environment, financial access, and urbanization are associated with higher digital connectivity. ER -