How Do Digital Technologies Affect Household Welfare in Developing Countries? Evidence from Senegal
Samantha Lach, Carlos Rodríguez‐Castelán, Takaaki Masaki, Rogelio Granguillhome Ochoa
Abstract
Developing countries are implementing \n policies expanding the adoption and productive use of \n digital technologies to advance economic development and \n inclusion. Yet, systematic analyses of the welfare and \n distributional effects of digital technologies on households \n and individuals—especially broadband mobile internet—remain \n limited. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper proposes a \n simple analytical framework to offer insights on how more \n equitable access to digital technologies affects household \n welfare, which can be organized into four areas: (1) \n determinants of adoption of digital technologies; (2) \n distributional effects of increasing competition in the \n information and communication technology industry; (3) \n welfare and poverty effects of coverage and access to \n digital technologies; and (4) local economic effects of \n access to digital technologies. To illustrate the relevance \n and replicability of this framework across developing \n countries, the analysis is carried out for Senegal, a \n country that has recently experienced a rapid expansion in \n digital infrastructure.