The Welfare Effects of Mobile Broadband Internet : Evidence from Nigeria

Bahia, Kalvin ; Castells, Pau ; Cruz, Genaro ; Masaki, Takaaki ; Pedros, Xavier ; Pfutze, Tobias ; Rodriguez-Castelan, Carlos ; Winkler, Hernan

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: POVERTY;    HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION;    MOBILE BROADBAND;    WELFARE IMPACT;    POVERTY LINE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-9230
RP-ID  :  WPS9230

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper estimates the impacts ofmobile broadband coverage on household consumption andpoverty in Nigeria, the largest economy and mobile broadbandmarket in Africa. The analysis exploits a unique datasetthat integrates three waves of a nationally representativelongitudinal household survey on living standards withinformation from Nigerian mobile operators on the deploymentof mobile broadband (3G and 4G) coverage between 2010 and2016. The estimates show that mobile broadband coverage hadlarge and positive impacts on household consumption levelswhich increased over time, although at a decreasing rate.Mobile broadband coverage also reduces the proportion ofhouseholds below the poverty line, driven by higher food andnon-food consumption in rural households. These effects aremainly due to an increase in labor force participation andemployment, particularly among women.