The Welfare Effects of Mobile Broadband Internet: Evidence from Nigeria

How Do Digital Technologies Affect Household Welfare in Developing Countries? Evidence from Senegal

“…The study finds that 3G coverage is positively correlated with wage or salary employment, formal employment, and earnings per month. 30 These findings are consistent with the conclusions of other authors, such as Bahia et al (2020) and Hjort and Poulsen (2019), who show that access to the internet may translate into increased employment in wage or higher-skilled jobs. This draws attention to the potential role of DTs in improving labor outcomes, particularly, employment in higher quality jobs.…”

“…According to the unweighted regressions, 3G coverage is associated with an 18 percent rise in total consumption and a 7 percent reduction in the extreme poverty rate. The results are consistent with the findings of similar research in Nigeria that integrates household panel data and historical coverage maps and in the Philippines(Bahia et al 2020;Blumenstock et al 2020).…”

“…Two recent exceptions help put this component of the analysis in context. Bahia et al (2020) show that the rollout of mobile broadband internet in Nigeria has boosted household consumption by 6.0 percent and reduced extreme poverty by 4.3 percentage points after one year of coverage and that the corresponding figures were 9.0 percent and 6.8 percentage points, respectively, after three years of coverage. Using data from 14 rural and geographically isolated areas in the Philippines between 2016 and 2018, Blumenstock et al (2020) find that the introduction of a new phone tower led to a 17 percent rise in household income and a 10 percent expansion in household expenditures.…”

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

“…A better understanding of the effects of mobile broadband on households could have important implications for policy. A notable recent exception to the lack of analysis uses data on Nigeria to test explicitly the impact of 3G/4G technologies on households (Bahia et al 2020). The findings show that the rollout of mobile broadband internet boosted household consumption and contributed to a reduction in moderate and extreme poverty in that country.…”