Concentration of Access to Information and Communication Technologies in the Municipalities of the Brazilian Legal Amazon

Abstract

This study fills demand for data on access and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Brazilian legal Amazon, a region of localities with identical economic, political, and social problems. We use the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census to compile data on urban and rural households (i) with computers and Internet access, (ii) with mobile phones, and (iii) with fixed phones. To compare the concentration of access to ICT in the municipalities of the Brazilian Amazon with other regions of Brazil, we use a concentration index to quantify the concentration of households in the following classes: with computers and Internet access, with mobile phones, with fixed phones, and no access. These data are analyzed along with municipal indicators on income, education, electricity, and population size. The results show that for urban households, the average concentration in the municipalities of the Amazon for computers and Internet access and for fixed phones is lower than in other regions of the country; meanwhile, that for no access and mobile phones is higher than in any other region. For rural households, the average concentration in the municipalities of the Amazon for computers and Internet access, mobile phones, and fixed phones is lower than in any other region of the country; meanwhile, that for no access is higher than in any other region. In addition, the study shows that education and income are determinants of inequality in accessing ICT in Brazilian municipalities and that the existence of electricity in rural households is directly associated with the ownership of ICT resources.

Measuring the concentration of information and communication technology infrastructure in Australia: Do affordability and remoteness matter?

“…Another important finding is that the degree of ICT infrastructure concentration varies with the level of income, educational qualification and employment status. This finding is in accordance with those of existing empirical studies [2,12,[15][16][17]. Consistent with the literature, the current research finds that the digital divide broadens across rural-urban and regional-capital city households [6,8,20].…”

“…Firstly, to yield meaningful results, the construction and reporting of a concentration measure should be conducted at the most disaggregated geographical level. Many studies are conducted to measure the concentration of ICT up to a considerable level of disaggregated geographical units in the context of USA, Brazil and China [12,16,42]. For the current study, the construction of the ICT CI at the SA4 geographical levels is impossible due to the terms and conditions of using the HILDA Restricted Release database.…”

“…Other studies find a similar positive association between digital inclusion and personal income level [7,9,[15][16][17]. Another strand of empirical work investigated the association between digital inclusion and education level [7][8][9]12,[15][16][17]. These studies report that the level of an individual's digital inclusion varies with the education level attained by such an individual [16].…”

“…According to the authors, the likelihood of having access to the Internet is positively associated with the ownership of material and the presence of intangible resources. Other studies find a similar positive association between digital inclusion and personal income level [7,9,[15][16][17]. Another strand of empirical work investigated the association between digital inclusion and education level [7][8][9]12,[15][16][17].…”

“…Another strand of empirical work investigated the association between digital inclusion and education level [7][8][9]12,[15][16][17]. These studies report that the level of an individual's digital inclusion varies with the education level attained by such an individual [16]. carried out the most detailed study on measuring ICT access concentration to date.…”