Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

A large fraction of the total supply of paper is produced with technologies that have serious adverse consequences on the environment and cause significant health problems, such as cancer. This paper reports on how Internet adoption affects paper consumption. The study used country-level panel data on Internet penetration and paper consumption disaggregated into various paper categories. The empirical strategy is to use fixed-effect models to study whether countries with faster Internet penetration growth have experienced faster declines in paper consumption. The analysis finds that Internet penetration significantly decreases aggregate paper consumption. Further, the estimates show that Internet growth reduces consumption for the paper categories that are more likely to be affected by the diffusion of the Internet (paper used to print newspapers and books and magazines), whereas the growth of the Internet does not have a statistically significant impact on a paper category unlikely to be affected by the Internet (such as sanitary paper).

Contamination --- Education --- Environment --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Fixed Effect Model --- Industry --- Internet Adoption --- Paper Consumption --- Pulp & Paper Industry --- Sanitation and Sewerage --- Technology Industry --- Water Supply and Sanitation

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Developing countries are implementing policies expanding the adoption and productive use of digital technologies to advance economic development and inclusion. Yet, systematic analyses of the welfare and distributional effects of digital technologies on households and individuals-especially broadband mobile internet-remain limited. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper proposes a simple analytical framework to offer insights on how more equitable access to digital technologies affects household welfare, which can be organized into four areas: (1) determinants of adoption of digital technologies; (2) distributional effects of increasing competition in the information and communication technology industry; (3) welfare and poverty effects of coverage and access to digital technologies; and (4) local economic effects of access to digital technologies. To illustrate the relevance and replicability of this framework across developing countries, the analysis is carried out for Senegal, a country that has recently experienced a rapid expansion in digital infrastructure.

Access to Technology --- Digital Divide --- Digital Economy --- Digital Technology --- Household Welfare --- Inclusive Growth --- Inequality --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Information And Communication Technology --- Information Technology --- Internet Adoption --- Mobile Broadband --- Poverty --- Poverty Reduction --- Technology Adoption