Can Improvements to Mobile Internet Service Help Reduce Digital Inequality? An Empirical Analysis of Education and Overall Data Consumption
Published Online:9 Oct 2024https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.03770
References
- (2021) Using synthetic controls: Feasibility, data requirements, and methodological aspects. J. Econom. Literature 59(2):391–425.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2010) Synthetic control methods for comparative case studies: Estimating the effect of California’s tobacco control program. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 105(490):493–505.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2015) Comparative politics and the synthetic control method. Amer. J. Political Sci. 59(2):495–510.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2023) When should you adjust standard errors for clustering? Quart. J. Econom. 138(1):1–35.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2009) Research note—Social interactions and the “Digital Divide”: Explaining variations in Internet use. Inform. Systems Res. 20(2):277–294.Link, Google Scholar
- (2022) How teens navigate school during COVID-19. Pew Research Center (June 2), https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/06/02/how-teens-navigate-school-during-covid-19/.Google Scholar
- (2016) Verizon wireless deals. 2016’s best plans and phones. Payette Forward (October 4), https://www.payetteforward.com/verizon-wireless-deals-2016-best-plans-phones/.Google Scholar
- (2020) As schools close due to the coronavirus, some U.S. students face a digital “homework gap.” Pew Research Center (March 16), https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/16/as-schools-close-due-to-the-coronavirus-some-u-s-students-face-a-digital-homework-gap/.Google Scholar
- (2022) Bridging the Digital Divide: An empirical analysis of public programs to increase broadband adoption. Telematics Informatics 67:101754.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2002) The internet and knowledge gaps: A theoretical and empirical investigation. Eur. J. Comm. 17(1):65–84.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) Difference-in-differences with multiple time periods. J. Econometrics 225(2):200–230.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2017) Should we combine difference-in-differences with conditioning on pre-treatment outcomes? TSE Working Paper No. 17-824, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France.Google Scholar
- (2020) The impact of data caps on mobile broadband Internet access: A welfare analysis. Inform. Econom. Policy 50:100843.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2023) Your guide to internet data caps: How to stay within your limits. SatelliteInternet.com (April 10), https://www.satelliteinternet.com/resources/internet-data-caps/.Google Scholar
- (2021) Digital inequality and mobiles: Opportunities and challenges of relying on smartphones for digital inclusion in disadvantaged contexts. Hargittai E, ed. Handbook of Digital Inequality (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK), 62–74.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2018) Decriminalizing indoor prostitution: Implications for sexual violence and public health. Rev. Econom. Stud. 85(3):1683–1715.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2004) From Unequal Access to Differentiated Use: A Literature Review and Agenda for Research on Digital Inequality (Russell Sage Foundation, New York).Google Scholar
- (2018) Research commentary—From net neutrality to data neutrality: A techno-economic framework and research agenda. Inform. Systems Res. 29(2):253–272.Link, Google Scholar
- Ericsson (2017) Ericsson mobility report November 2017. (November), https://www.ericsson.com/4ac62d/assets/local/reports-papers/mobility-report/documents/2017/emr-november-2017-shifting-mobile-data-plans.pdf.Google Scholar
- (2010) Home computers and educational outcomes: Evidence from the NYLS97 and CPS. Econom. Inquiry 48(3):771–792.Crossref, Google Scholar
- Federal Communications Commission (2020) 5G fund. Retrieved November 2, 2022, https://www.fcc.gov/5g-fund.Google Scholar
- Federal Communications Commission (2022) Homework gap and connectivity divide. Retrieved October 29, 2022, https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/homework-gap-and-connectivity-divide.Google Scholar
- Federal Communications Commission (2023a) Chairwoman Rosenworcel proposes to investigate how data caps affect consumers and competition. FCC News (June 15), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-394416A1.pdf.Google Scholar
- Federal Communications Commission (2023b) Emergency connectivity fund. Retrieved September 5, 2023, https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-connectivity-fund.Google Scholar
- (2016) Does information and communication technology lead to the well-being of nations? A country-level empirical investigation. MIS Quart. 40(2):417–430.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2022) Smartphone use and academic performance: A pervasiveness approach beyond addiction. Soc. Sci. Comput. Rev. 40(6):1542–1561.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) What’s missing? How technology maintenance is overlooked in representative surveys of digital inequalities. Hargittai E, ed. Handbook of Digital Inequality (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK), 9–30.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing. J. Econometrics 225(2):254–277.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2015) How the Internet Became Commercial: Innovation, Privatization, and the Birth of a New Network (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ).Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2009) Internet diffusion and the geography of the Digital Divide in the United States. Avgerou C, Mansell R, Quah D, Silverstone R, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK), 168–195.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2016) Matching platforms and HIV incidence: An empirical investigation of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Management Sci. 62(8):2281–2303.Link, Google Scholar
- (2021) How variation in Internet access, digital skills, and media use are related to rural student outcomes: GPA, SAT, and educational aspirations. Telematics Informatics 63:101666.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2015) Democratizing education? Examining access and usage patterns in massive open online courses. Science 350(6265):1245–1248.Crossref, Google Scholar
- Hargittai E, ed. (2021) Handbook of Digital Inequality (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK).Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2017) Old dogs, new clicks: Digital inequality in skills and uses among older adults. Canadian J. Comm. 42(2):195–212.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2017) A socioeconomic related “digital divide” exists in how, not if, young people use computers. PLoS One 12(3):e0175011.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2015) Evaluating the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s BTOP on broadband adoption. Appl. Econom. 47(60):6553–6579.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) Network and neighborhood effects in digital skills. Hargittai E, ed. Handbook of Digital Inequality (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK), 75–96.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2015) The third-level Digital Divide: Who benefits most from being online? Robinson L, Cotten SR, Schulz J, Hale TM, Williams A, eds. Communication and Information Technologies Annual, Studies in Media and Communications, vol. 10 (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, UK), 29–52.Google Scholar
- (2023) Florida rejects some social studies textbooks and pushes publishers to change others. NPR (May 10), https://www.npr.org/2023/05/10/1175232763/desantis-florida-textbooks-social-studies-schools.Google Scholar
- (2007) Broadband adoption and content consumption. Inform. Econom. Policy 19(3):362–378.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2023) Which internet service providers have data caps? HighSpeedInternet.com (June 26), https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/which-internet-service-providers-have-data-caps.Google Scholar
- (2014) Will the global village fracture into tribes? Recommender systems and their effects on consumer fragmentation. Management Sci. 60(4):805–823.Link, Google Scholar
- (2008) Understanding digital inequality: Comparing continued use behavioral models of the socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged. MIS Quart. 32(1):97–126.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2010) Addressing digital inequality for the socioeconomically disadvantaged through government initiatives: Forms of capital that affect ICT utilization. Inform. Systems Res. 22(2):233–253.Link, Google Scholar
- (2019) Love unshackled: Identifying the effect of mobile app adoption in online dating. MIS Quart. 43(1):47–72.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2011) The flat-rate pricing paradox: Conflicting effects of “all-you-can-eat” buffet pricing. Rev. Econom. Statist. 93(1):193–200.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2007) Technology uses and student achievement: A longitudinal study. Comput. Ed. 49(2):284–296.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2022) The digital divide: A review and future research agenda. Tech. Forecasting Soc. Change 175:121359.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2018) Digital means for reducing digital inequality: Literature review. Informing Sci. Internat. J. Emerging Transdiscipline 21:269–287.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2019) An evaluation of the Connected Nation broadband adoption program. Telecomm. Policy 43(7):101809.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2010) Limits to self-organising systems of learning—The Kalikuppam experiment. British J. Ed. Tech. 41(5):672–688.Crossref, Google Scholar
- National Center for Education Statistics (2022) Methodology studies—Achievement gaps. Retrieved August 10, 2023, https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/gaps/.Google Scholar
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration (2023) High-speed internet for all. Accessed August 24, 2023, https://www.internetforall.gov/.Google Scholar
- (2022) Broadband voucher programs: Evaluating the Alabama Broadband Connectivity Program. Preprint, submitted August 2, https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4178771.Google Scholar
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2021) Ten principles for effective and equitable educational recovery from COVID. Accessed September 5, 2023, https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/25231:effective-and-equitable-educational-recovery-10-principles.Google Scholar
- (2013) Digital divides from access to activities: Comparing mobile and personal computer internet users. J. Comm. 63(4):721–744.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) Mobile technology and home broadband 2021. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech (June 3), https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/06/03/mobile-technology-and-home-broadband-2021/.Google Scholar
- (2021) 7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they? Pew Research Center (April 2), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/02/7-of-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they/.Google Scholar
- Pew Research Center (2021) Internet/broadband fact sheet. Pew Research Center (January 31), https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/.Google Scholar
- (2013) The broadband digital divide and the economic benefits of mobile broadband for rural areas. Telecomm. Policy 37(6):483–502.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2013) Moving from access to use of the information infrastructure: A multilevel sociotechnical framework. Inform. Systems Res. 24(3):709–730.Link, Google Scholar
- (2024) The digital lives of the poor: Entertainment traps and information isolation. Management Sci., ePub ahead of print September 27, https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.4989.Link, Google Scholar
- (2016) Special section introduction—Ubiquitous IT and digital vulnerabilities. Inform. Systems Res. 27(4):834–847.Link, Google Scholar
- (2019) Wirelessly bridging the homework gap: Technical options and social challenges in getting broadband to disconnected students. Ed. Inform. Tech. 24(6):3803–3821.Google Scholar
- (2010) The Matthew Effect: How Advantage Begets Further Advantage (Columbia University Press, New York).Google Scholar
- (2018) India just approved net neutrality rules that ban “any form” of data discrimination. The Verge (July 11), https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/11/17562108/india-department-of-telecommunications-trai-net-neutrality-proposal-approval.Google Scholar
- (2018) Interlocking inequalities: Digital stratification meets academic stratification. Amer. Behav. Sci. 62(9):1251–1272.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2020) Digital inequalities 2.0: Legacy inequalities in the information age. First Monday 25(7).Google Scholar
- (2020) Increasing low-income broadband adoption through private incentives. Telecomm. Policy 44(9):102020.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2022) Better technology produced better learning outcomes during pandemic. Gallup.com (February 3), https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/388502/better-technology-produced-better-learning-outcomes-during-pandemic.aspx.Google Scholar
- (2020) Digital inequalities: Homework gap and techno-capital in Austin, Texas. First Monday 25(7).Google Scholar
- (2011) Verizon ends unlimited data plan. CNNMoney (July 6), https://money.cnn.com/2011/07/05/technology/verizon_data_plan/index.htm.Google Scholar
- (2020) Social distancing and school closures: Documenting disparity in internet access among school children. Preprint, submitted April 26, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3572922.Google Scholar
- (2019) Time-dependent pricing for multimedia data traffic: Analysis, systems, and trials. IEEE J. Selected Areas Comm. 37(7):1504–1517.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2022) Is zero-rating a threat to human rights? Human Rights Pulse (January 11), https://www.humanrightspulse.com/mastercontentblog/is-zero-rating-a-threat-to-human-rights.Google Scholar
- (2017) Verizon unlimited data plan signals price war to come. USA Today (February 13), https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/02/13/verizon-unlimited-data-plan-signals-price-war-come/97850832/.Google Scholar
- (1970) Mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge. Public Opinion Quart. 34(2):159–170.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2017) Smartphone internet access and use: Extending the digital divide and usage gap. Mobile Media Comm. 5(3):239–255.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2017) Digital Divide: Impact of access. Rössler P, Hoffner CA, Zoonen L, eds. The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Hoboken, NJ), 1–11.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2022) Facebook, Google & big telecoms want to keep violating net neutrality in Europe. Regulators should stop them. Retrieved November 2, 2022, https://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2022/05/facebook-google-big-telecoms-want-keep-violating-net-neutrality-europe-regulators.Google Scholar
- (2012) Digital Divide initiative success in developing countries: A longitudinal field study in a village in India. Inform. Systems Res. 24(2):239–260.Link, Google Scholar
- (2014) The effect of content on global internet adoption and the global “Digital Divide.” Management Sci. 61(3):665–687.Link, Google Scholar
- (2019) Older adults’ learning motivations in massive open online courses. Ed. Gerontology 45(2):82–93.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2019) Forward-looking behavior in mobile data consumption and targeted promotion design: A dynamic structural model. Inform. Systems Res. 30(2):616–635.Link, Google Scholar
- (2010) How poor informationally are the information poor? Evidence from an empirical study of daily and regular information practices of individuals. J. Documentation 66(6):906–933.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2023) The influences of socioeconomic status on parental educational expectations: Mediating and moderating effects. Sustainability 15(16):12308.Crossref, Google Scholar
- (2021) Wired and hired: Employment effects of subsidized broadband internet for low-income Americans. Amer. Econom. J. Econom. Policy 13(3):447–482.Crossref, Google Scholar

