Remittances, ICT and Pension Income Coverage: The International Evidence

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 173, December 2021, 121148.

30 Pages Posted: 21 Sep 2020 Last revised: 31 Aug 2021

See all articles by David Adeabah

David Adeabah

Curtin University; University of Ghana - University of Ghana Business School (UGBS)

Simplice Asongu

African Governance and Development Institute

Charles Andoh

University of Ghana - Department of Finance

Date Written: August 7, 2020

Abstract

This study examines the impact of remittances and information and communication technology (ICT) on pension at the country level. Our empirical evidence, based on data from 96 countries, indicate a significant non-linearity between remittances, ICT and pension income coverage. First, we find a convex relation between remittances and pension income coverage, indicating that increases in remittance, initially decreases pension income coverage, but as remittance increases beyond a certain point, so too does pension income coverage. This inflection point, where the effect of remittances turns from negative to positive, is estimated to be around 3.09% of GDP. Second, we document a concave relationship between ICT (i.e. mobile subscription and internet penetration) and pension income coverage. An increase in ICT results in increased pension income coverage. However, when ICT reaches a certain point, any further increase is associated with lower pension income coverage. The estimated optimal point is found to be around 140.14 subscriptions (per 100 people) for mobile phone and 27.93 (per 100 people) for internet penetration, respectively. Other implications are discussed.

Keywords: Pension income coverage; Remittances; Mobile subscription; Internet penetration; ICT

Suggested Citation

Adeabah, David and Asongu, Simplice and Andoh, Charles, Remittances, ICT and Pension Income Coverage: The International Evidence (August 7, 2020). Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 173, December 2021, 121148., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3668982 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3668982

David Adeabah

Curtin University ( email )

Kent Street
Bentley
Perth, WA WA 6102
Australia

University of Ghana - University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) ( email )

Volta Rd
Accra
Ghana

Simplice Asongu (Contact Author)

African Governance and Development Institute ( email )

P.O. Box 8413
Yaoundé, 8413
Cameroon

Charles Andoh

University of Ghana - Department of Finance ( email )

Volta Rd
Accra
Ghana

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