The Welfare Effects of Mobile Broadband Internet: Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Broadband Internet and Household Welfare in Senegal

“…3G coverage does not have a significant impact on overall employment. These findings are consistent with other studies (e.g., Bahia et al 2020;Hjort and Poulsen 2019) showing similar results: that access to the Internet translates into increased employment in wage or higher-skilled jobs. Our finding draws attention to the potential role that digital technologies can play in improving labor outcomes -and particularly, employment in "better" jobs.…”

“…2 Recent evidence thus suggests that an expansion of fixed broadband Internet would enable more rapid job creation, more economic activity in Africa, and greater productivity and export growth among firms (Hjort and Poulsen 2019). New research also shows that the rollout of mobile broadband Internet has increased household consumption and reduced moderate and extreme poverty in Nigeria (Bahia et al 2020).…”

“…2G, 3G, and 4G mobile coverage maps have been obtained from three major telephone communication providers-Orange (or the local subsidiary Sonatel), Senegal Expresso, and Tigo-and Mobile Coverage Maps (database), Collins Bartholomew, HarperCollins Publishers, Glasgow, https://www.collinsbartholomew.com/mobile-coverage-maps/. 4 Bahia et al (2020) are a notable exception. They explicitly test the impact of 3G and 4G technologies on consumption and poverty using data on Nigeria.…”

“…According to our unweighted regressions, 3G coverage is associated with a 18 percent increase in total consumption and a 7 percent decrease in extreme poverty rate (seeTable A.3 and A.4 in the appendix). To put this in context, similar work for Nigeria-integrating household panel data and historical coverage maps-finds an 11.1 percent increase in total consumption and a 7.9 percentage point decline in extreme poverty after three years of coverage(Bahia et al 2020). Using data from 14 rural and geographically isolated areas in the Philippines between 2016 and 2018,Blumenstock et al (2020) also find that the introduction of a new phone tower led to an increase in household income of 17 percent, and increased household expenditures by 10 percent.18 Data on 2G coverage are also provided in the Mobile Coverage Maps database and by the mobile operators.19 The self-reported ownership of cellphone or Internet access is measured by a positive expenditure on cellphone or Internet subscriptions.…”

Competition Reform and Household Welfare: A Microsimulation Analysis of the Telecommunication Sector in Ethiopia

“…Broad access to information and communication technology (ICT) has great potential for poverty reduction and inclusive growth in developing countries, where ICT adoption is growing rapidly (World Bank 2016). Recent studies have shown that the expansion of broadband through fiber optics and mobile internet produces substantial benefits in household income and consumption, employment and productivity, and helps lift people out of poverty (see Bahia et al 2020 on Nigeria, which accounts for the largest ICT market in Africa; Masaki, Granguillhome Ochoa, and Rodríguez-Castelán 2020 for Senegal; and Hjort and Poulsen 2019 on Africa). However, that ICT markets in most countries in Africa rank among the most concentrated in the world has limited the potential for equity and efficiency gains in digital technology adoption among households and firms across the region.…”