Factors affecting the digital divide in Iran's provinces

Document Type : Scientific paper

Author

Master of Economics of Energy, Economics of Energy and Resources Dep., Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Despite the significant role of ICT in various fields, equal opportunities have not been provided for all segments of society, and the digital divide has emerged as a new phenomenon on a global and regional scale. The digital divide is a complex and multidimensional issue that is defined by three factors: access to ICT, skills and competencies, and the social and economic effects of ICT use. Measuring the digital divide requires taking into account various variables. In this study, the digital divide was calculated using four factors: access to landline and mobile phones, internet access, and computer ownership. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the factors affecting the digital divide at the provincial level in Iran. Using a combined data method for 31 provinces of Iran during the period of 2005-2020 and employing a generalized regression model, the study examined the effects of socio-economic factors on the digital divide. The results indicate that two variables, inflation and population, are insignificant, while other variables examined (income inequality, mobile phone access, gross domestic product, education, and urbanization) have a direct and significant impact on the digital divide. According to the results, allocating credit, encouraging private sector participation and investment, increasing citizens' interest in using digital services, and expanding the scope of service delivery to remote and deprived areas are effective solutions for reducing the digital divide.

Keywords

Main Subjects


 Adeleke, R. (2021). Digital divide in Nigeria: The role of regional differentials. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 13(3), 333-346.
Afshar Ali, M., Alam, K., & Taylor, B. (2020). Do social exclusion and remoteness explain the digital divide in Australia? Evidence from a panel data estimation approach. Economics of innovation and new technology, 29(6), 643-659.
Al-Hammadany, F. H., & Heshmati, A. (2011). Determinants of Internet use in Iraq. International Journal of Communication, 5, 23.
Aubouin, M. (2023). DETERMINANTS OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE. Annals of Economics and Statistics(151), 37-80.
Badran, M. F. (2014). Young people and the digital divide in Egypt: An empirical study. Eurasian Economic Review, 4, 223-250.
Bagchi, K. (2005). Factors contributing to global digital divide: Some empirical results. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 8(3), 47-65.
Bagchi, K. K., Solis, A. O., & Gemoets, L. A. (2003). An empirical study on telecommunication product adoption in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 15(1), 1-17.
Baltagi, B. H., & Baltagi, B. H. (2008). Econometric analysis of panel data (Vol. 4): Springer.
Bardesi, H. J. (2016). Factors affecting demand for internet access in Saudi Arabia. Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), 29-38.
Bauer, J. M. (2018). The Internet and income inequality: Socio-economic challenges in a hyperconnected society. Telecommunications Policy, 42(4), 333-343.
Baum, C. F. (2006). An introduction to modern econometrics using Stata: Stata press.
Billon, M., Crespo, J., & Lera-López, F. (2017). Internet, educational disparities, and economic growth: Differences between low-middle and high-income countries. Catalyzing Development through ICT Adoption: The Developing World Experience, 51-68.
Buente, W., & Robbin, A. (2008). Trends in Internet information behavior, 2000–2004. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(11), 1743-1760.
Caglayan-Akay, E., & Oskonbaeva, Z. (2022). Analyzing the effect of economic and demographic factors on digital divide: the case of transition economies. ECONOMIC COMPUTATION AND ECONOMIC CYBERNETICS STUDIES AND RESEARCH, 56(2).
Cai, X. (2008). Jan AGM van Dijk. The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005, 240 pp., ISBN 141290403X (paperback). In: Taylor & Francis.
Chigona, W., Beukes, D., Vally, J., & Tanner, M. (2009). Can mobile internet help alleviate social exclusion in developing countries? The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 36(1), 1-16.
Chinn, M. D., & Fairlie, R. W. (2007). The determinants of the global digital divide: a cross-country analysis of computer and internet penetration. Oxford economic papers, 59(1), 16-44.
Collins, J. L., & Wellman, B. (2010). Small town in the internet society: Chapleau is no longer an island. American behavioral scientist, 53(9), 1344-1366.
Cruz-Jesus, F., Vicente, M. R., Bacao, F., & Oliveira, T. (2016). The education-related digital divide: An analysis for the EU-28. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 72-82.
Dé, R. (2016). Societal impacts of information and communications technology. IIMB Management Review, 28(2), 111-118.
DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). Digital inequality: From unequal access to differentiated use. Social inequality, 355-400.
Dobrinskaya, D. E., & Martynenko, T. (2020). Is Digital Equality Possible?(On the Book The Digital Divide by J. Van Dijk). Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya(10), 158-164.
Donner, J. (2006). The use of mobile phones by microentrepreneurs in Kigali, Rwanda: Changes to social and business networks. Information Technologies & International Development, 3(2), pp. 3-19.
Due, A. (2002). A nation online: How Americans are expanding their use of the Internet. In: Washington, DC: National Telecommunications and Information Administration ….
Dutta, D., & Dutta, D. (2018). Development under Digital Divide in India. Development under Dualism and Digital Divide in Twenty-First Century India, 155-197.
Elena-Bucea, A., Cruz-Jesus, F., Oliveira, T., & Coelho, P. S. (2021). Assessing the role of age, education, gender and income on the digital divide: Evidence for the European Union. Information Systems Frontiers, 23, 1007-1021.
Engle, R., & Granger, C. (2015). Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing. Applied Econometrics, 39(3), 106-135.
Fang, Y. X., Gill, S. S., Kunasekaran, P., Rosnon, M. R., Talib, A. T., & Abd Aziz, A. (2022). Digital Divide: An Inquiry on the Native Communities of Sabah. Societies, 12(6), 148.
Feenstra, R. C., Xu, M., & Antoniades, A. (2017). What is the Price of Tea in China? Towards the Relative Cost of Living in Chinese and US Cities. Retrieved from
Fong, M. W. (2009). Technology leapfrogging for developing countries. In Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Second Edition (pp. 3707-3713): IGI Global.
Fuchs, C. (2009). The role of income inequality in a multivariate cross-national analysis of the digital divide. Social science computer review, 27(1), 41-58.
Furuholt, B., & Kristiansen, S. (2007). A rural‐urban digital divide? Regional aspects of Internet use in Tanzania. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 31(1), 1-15.
Goldin, C., & Katz, L. F. (2009). The race between education and technology: harvard university press.
Golkhandan, Abulghasem. Khansari, Mojtaba. Golkhandan, Daud. (2014). ICT and income inequality in Iran. Science and Technology Policy, 7(1), 15-25. (In Persian)
Granger, C. W. (1969). Investigating causal relations by econometric models and cross-spectral methods. Econometrica: journal of the Econometric Society, 424-438.
Greenstein, S. M. (2004). The economic geography of Internet infrastructure in the United States.
Guha, A., & Mukerji, M. (2021). Determinants of digital divide using demand-supply framework. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 25.
Gunkel, D. J. (2003). Second thoughts: Toward a critique of the digital divide. New media & society, 5(4), 499-522.
Gupta, R., & Jain, K. (2012). Diffusion of mobile telephony in India: An empirical study. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 79(4), 709-715.
Haenssgen, M. J. (2018). The struggle for digital inclusion: Phones, healthcare, and marginalisation in rural India. World Development, 104, 358-374.
Haj Ismaili, F., Kazemi, H. (2017). Comparison of four levels of digital divide according to demographic variables (case study: Rafsanjan city). Social Issues of Iran (Khwarazmi University), 9(2), 27-48. (In Persian)
Hale, T. M., Cotten, S. R., Drentea, P., & Goldner, M. (2010). Rural-urban differences in general and health-related internet use. American behavioral scientist, 53(9), 1304-1325.
Hargittai, E. (2001). Second-level digital divide: Mapping differences in people's online skills. arXiv preprint cs/0109068.
Hidalgo, A., Gabaly, S., Morales-Alonso, G., & Urueña, A. (2020). The digital divide in light of sustainable development: An approach through advanced machine learning techniques. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 150, 119754.
Hilbert, M. (2012). Mapping out the transition toward information societies: Social nature, growth, and policies. University of Southern California,
Hsiao, C. (2007). Panel data analysis—advantages and challenges. Test, 16(1), 1-22.
Isazadeh Roshan, Yusuf. Porfaraj, Alireza. (2017). Examining the causal relationship between the digital divide and the income gap in the provinces of Iran. Strategic and macro policies. 6(22), 107-131. (In Persian)
Jamil, S. (2021). From digital divide to digital inclusion: Challenges for wide-ranging digitalization in Pakistan. Telecommunications Policy, 45(8), 102206.
Jensen, R. (2007). The digital provide: Information (technology), market performance, and welfare in the South Indian fisheries sector. The quarterly journal of economics, 122(3), 879-924.
Kazemi, Hossein. Haj Ismaili, Fahima. (2015). The digital divide from physical access to common use: explaining the role of digital literacy and literacy and motivational access. World Media Magazine - Persian version. 11(2). 180-197. (In Persian)
Kao, C., & Chiang, M.-H. (2001). On the estimation and inference of a cointegrated regression in panel data. In Nonstationary panels, panel cointegration, and dynamic panels (pp. 179-222): Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Köksal, E., & Anil, B. (2015). The determinants of broadband access and usage in Turkey: do regions matter? Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies, 17.
Kos-Łabędowicz, J. (2017). The issue of digital divide in rural areas of the European Union. Ekonomiczne Problemy Usług, 126(1/2), 195-204.
Lee, T., Lee, B.-K., & Lee-Geiller, S. (2020). The effects of information literacy on trust in government websites: Evidence from an online experiment. International Journal of Information Management, 52, 102098.
Lengsfeld, J. H. (2011). An econometric analysis of the sociodemographic topology of the digital divide in Europe. The Information Society, 27(3), 141-157.
Liu, H., Fang, C., & Sun, S. (2017). Digital inequality in provincial China. Environment and Planning A, 49(10), 2179-2182.
Loo, B. P., & Ngan, Y. (2012). Developing mobile telecommunications to narrow digital divide in developing countries? Some lessons from China. Telecommunications Policy, 36(10-11), 888-900.
Makun, K., Singh, R., Lal, S., & Chand, R. (2022). Information and communications technology, health, and gender equality: Empirical evidence from a panel of Pacific developing economies. Plos one, 17(6), e0269251.
Mubarak, F., Suomi, R., & Kantola, S.-P. (2020). Confirming the links between socio-economic variables and digitalization worldwide: the unsettled debate on digital divide. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 18(3), 415-430.
Murthy, K. B., Kalsie, A., & Shankar, R. (2021). Digital economy in a global perspective: is there a digital divide? Transnational Corporations Review, 13(1), 1-15.
Myovella, G., Karacuka, M., & Haucap, J. (2021). Determinants of digitalization and digital divide in Sub-Saharan African economies: A spatial Durbin analysis. Telecommunications Policy, 45(10), 102224.
Ndoya, H., & Asongu, S. A. (2022). Digital divide, globalization and income inequality in sub-Saharan African countries: analysing cross-country heterogeneity. Social Responsibility Journal.
Ngono, J. F. L. (2021). Financing women’s entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: bank, microfinance and mobile money. Labor History, 62(1), 59-73.
Nishida, T., Pick, J. B., & Sarkar, A. (2014). Japan׳ s prefectural digital divide: A multivariate and spatial analysis. Telecommunications Policy, 38(11), 992-1010.
Nishijima, M., Ivanauskas, T. M., & Sarti, F. M. (2017). Evolution and determinants of digital divide in Brazil (2005–2013). Telecommunications Policy, 41(1), 12-24.
Pantea, S., & Martens, B. (2013). Has the digital divide been reversed? Evidence from five EU countries.
Park, S. R., Choi, D. Y., & Hong, P. (2015). Club convergence and factors of digital divide across countries. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 96, 92-100.
Pérez-Amaral, T., Valarezo, A., López, R., & Garín-Muñoz, T. (2021). Digital divides across consumers of internet services in Spain using panel data 2007–2019. Narrowing or not? Telecommunications Policy, 45(2), 102093.
Philip, L., Cottrill, C., Farrington, J., Williams, F., & Ashmore, F. (2017). The digital divide: Patterns, policy and scenarios for connecting the ‘final few’in rural communities across Great Britain. Journal of rural studies, 54, 386-398.
Qadikolaei, M. R., Zali, N., & Soltani, A. (2022). Spatiotemporal investigation of the digital divide, the case study of Iranian Provinces. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 1-16.
Rafiy, M., & Adam, P. (2016). The Demand of Services for Information Technology Industry in Indonesia. AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, 8(665-2016-45135), 125-132.
Ragnedda, M. (2017). The Third Digital Divide: A Weberian approach. In: New York: Routledge.
Rajagukguk, W. (2022). The demographic and economic features: the nexus with internet use. Heliyon, 8(9).
Rogers, S. E. (2016). Bridging the 21st century digital divide. TechTrends, 60(3), 197-199.
Rosenberg, N. (1972). Factors affecting the diffusion of technology. Explorations in economic history, 10(1), 3.
Schleife, K. (2010). What really matters: Regional versus individual determinants of the digital divide in Germany. Research Policy, 39(1), 173-185.
Seighlani, Shahbod. Rahmani, Taimur. (2017). An analysis of the relationship between liquidity shocks and the inflation rate of consumer price index components to test price stickiness. Planning and budgeting. (In Persian)
SHAIR, W., TAYYAB, M., NAWAZ, S., & AMJAD, K. (2023). DIGITAL DIVIDE IN PAKISTAN: BARRIERS TO ICT ADOPTION. Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 12(2), 243-252.
Singh, J. B., & Vimalkumar, M. (2019). From mobile access to use–evidence of feature-level digital divides in India. Econ Polit Wkly, 54(32), 60-67.
Singh, S. (2010). Digital divide in India: Measurement, determinants and policy for addressing the challenges in bridging the digital divide. International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy (IJIDE), 1(2), 1-24.
Sujarwoto, S., & Tampubolon, G. (2016). Spatial inequality and the Internet divide in Indonesia 2010–2012. Telecommunications Policy, 40(7), 602-616.
Szeles, M. R. (2018). New insights from a multilevel approach to the regional digital divide in the European Union. Telecommunications Policy, 42(6), 452-463.
Taherpour, Javad. Salem, Ali Asghar. Amiri, Sarah (2017). Calculation and evaluation of information and communication technology costs in the budget of urban and rural households by income groups. Modern Economics and Business, 13(1), 116-87. (In Persian)
Van Deursen, A. J., & Helsper, E. J. (2015). The third-level digital divide: Who benefits most from being online? In Communication and information technologies annual (pp. 29-52): Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Van Deursen, A. J., & Van Dijk, J. A. (2014). Digital skills: Unlocking the information society: Springer.
Van Deursen, A. J., Van Dijk, J. A., & Ten Klooster, P. M. (2015). Increasing inequalities in what we do online: A longitudinal cross sectional analysis of Internet activities among the Dutch population (2010 to 2013) over gender, age, education, and income. Telematics and informatics, 32(2), 259-272.
Van Dijk, J., & Hacker, K. (2003). The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The Information Society, 19(4), 315-326.
Van Dijk, J. A. (2017). Digital divide: Impact of access. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 1-11.
Vicente, M. R., & López, A. J. (2011). Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27. Telecommunications Policy, 35(3), 220-237.
Wilson, E. J. (2004). The information revolution and developing countries: MIT press