The Impact of Mobile Phone Penetration on African Inequality

International Journal of Social Economics. 42(8), pp. 706 - 716 (July, 2015)

18 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2014 Last revised: 7 Jul 2015

See all articles by Simplice Asongu

Simplice Asongu

African Governance and Development Institute

Date Written: May 8, 2013

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to complement theoretical and qualitative literature with empirical evidence on the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration in 52 African countries.

Design/methodology/approach – Robust Ordinary Least Squares and Two Stage Least Squares empirical strategies are employed.

Findings – The findings suggest that mobile penetration is pro-poor, as it has a positive income equality effect.

Social implications – ‘Mobile phone’-oriented poverty reduction channels are discussed.

Originality/value – It deviates from mainstream country-specific and microeconomic survey-based approaches in the literature and provides the first macroeconomic assessment of the ‘mobile phone’-inequality nexus.

Keywords: Mobile Phones; Shadow Economy; Poverty; Inequality; Africa

JEL Classification: E00; G20; I30; L96; O33

Suggested Citation

Asongu, Simplice, The Impact of Mobile Phone Penetration on African Inequality (May 8, 2013). International Journal of Social Economics. 42(8), pp. 706 - 716 (July, 2015), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2493363 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2493363

Simplice Asongu (Contact Author)

African Governance and Development Institute ( email )

P.O. Box 8413
Yaoundé, 8413
Cameroon

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