Abstract
A recent debate has emerged about the contribution of broadband and related technologies to achieving development goals. The relevance of this debate is amplified by the ambitious national broadband plans set forth by governments around the world, which involve large public investments in broadband infrastructure, applications and services, as well as training. Brazil alone has committed about USD 6 billion through 2014, with other major Latin American countries following suit. As these initiatives evolve, there are increasing questions about whether sufficient evidence exists about the positive impact of investments in broadband technologies on poverty-reduction, education, health and other development outcomes to justify such large commitment of public funds. This panel presents the results of four impact evaluation studies regarding the effect of broadband investments and adoption on key development outcomes. Until recently the availability of desegregated data about broadband use by households or individuals in Latin America was very limited, thus constraining the ability of researchers to correctly estimate the potential benefits associated with adoption. Today, large datasets on broadband availability, adoption and use in several Latin American countries are available; they provide information at lower levels of aggregation (such as municipalities, household and individuals), thus allowing for a much more precise estimation of the effect of broadband adoption on the poor or disadvantaged communities. Yet surprisingly few studies have taken advantage of these rich new data repositories. This panel will present the results of five studies that measured the development impact of broadband. The cases of Ecuador and Mexico evaluated the impact on GDP, employment and household income. The cases of Brazil, Chile and Peru evaluated the impact on education of broadband use in public schools, they compare schooling outcomes in schools that get connected to broadband compared with those that do not get connected through new broadband plans implemented in both countries. We will also present the results an exploratory study that identified how the poor obtain, share, and utilize information and communication resources in their everyday lives – the Information Lives of the Poor. Exploratory fieldwork was carried out in three low-income communities in Mexico. Using a standard before-after design, the goal was to understand whether the availability of broadband services changes the patterns of information seeking and the structure of information networks (e.g., who talks to who about what) among local residents, and whether such changes can be tied to relevant development outcomes (e.g., diversification of self-employment, adoption of new farming techniques, increased access to government services, etc.). Moderator: John Horrigan, Ph.D Vice President and Director, Media & Technology Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Washington D.C. john.horrigan@gmail.com Panelists: Roxana Barrantes, Ph.D. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos Lima, Peru roxbarrantes@iep.org.pe Hernan Galperin, Ph.D Universidad de San Andres Buenos Aires, Argentina hgalperin@udesa.edu.ar Raul Katz, Ph.D Columbia University New York, USA raul.katz@teleadvs.com Judith Mariscal, Ph.D. Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economica (CIDE) Mexico judith.mariscal@cide.edu
Published Version
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