The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Income Inequality A comparison across country income groups
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Program
Management and economics of innovation (MPMEI), MSc
Publicerad
2023
Författare
Johansson, Anton
Lidal, Johan
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
This report aims to improve the understanding of the relationship between ICTs and
income inequality by examining how this impact varies across different ICTs and
country income levels. The literature review presents existing studies from global and
regional perspectives that assess the direct link between ICTs and income inequality.
Based on the literature synthesis, two hypotheses are formulated. To test these
hypotheses, a multiple linear regression model is applied to a short, unbalanced panel
of data comprising 1078 observations for 120 countries from 2007 to 2017. The panel
data includes the Gini index as the dependent variable and seven explanatory variables,
five of which are indicators of ICT adoption. Initially, the global link between ICT and
income inequality is analyzed. Subsequently, the sample is divided into low-, middle-,
and high-income country subsamples to investigate how the relationship varies across
income groups. By comparing the estimation results with the existing literature, the two
hypotheses are confirmed, indicating that ICTs alleviate income inequality globally and
across country income levels, but that there are differences in terms of which ICTs have
significant impacts. The findings presented in this report may offer insights for
policymakers aiming to understand how ICTs impact income inequality.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) , income inequality , Gini index