Mobile Phone Penetration Research Articles

Chatbot for Promoting Best Crop Management Practices to Rice Farmers in Odisha, India

The increasing penetration of mobile phones has made it easier to reach remote farmers and bridge the knowledge gap between them and researchers/extension workers and agricultural stakeholders. Farmers need concise, context-specific, information to address the challenges which arise due to lack of near-real time updates. Scaling up innovative agricultural technologies is essential to ensure these advancements reach the farmers for their benefit. Chatbots represent an informative tool for delivering the latest agricultural developments to farmers in a user-friendly and interactive format. Chatbots can deliver information on best agronomic practices, weather forecast, market information thereby improving the decision-making capacity of farmers. This paper discusses the development of a rule-based chatbot under a pilot-study and presents findings from a user study conducted with 102 farmers in Odisha, India in 2021. The content topics were decided using a participatory approach wherein farmers selected the topic of interests and information required. The content was developed using the digital tools Rice Crop Manager (RCM), Seed Cast and Rice Knowledge Bank (RKB), developed and deployed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The chatbot is hosted on Facebook messenger platform and needs the internet support to operate. Farmers having this app can use the chatbot without any additional expense. The results indicate that farmers acknowledged and appreciated interactive features of chatbot and the content but expressed a desire for more comprehensive information on insect-pest management and other crop management practices. The findings highlight the potential of chatbot as a complementary channel to disseminate agro advisories, complementing the existing agricultural extension services. The study has its limitations in terms of small sample size which may or may not represent the variability of the entire population of the area.

The Shadow Economy, Mobile Phone Penetration and Tax Revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Shadow Economy, Mobile Phone Penetration and Tax Revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa

Paper-based and mobile application-based self-monitoring tool for healthy dietary intake, development and applicability: a non-randomized trial

BackgroundUnhealthy diet is a key risk factor for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) that contribute to increased morbidity and premature mortality. With increased computer literacy and mobile phone penetration, there is a high opportunity for mobile application-based interventions. The current study was conducted to develop a mobile application to monitor dietary intake and to assess its acceptability and effectiveness in diet control compared to a similar paper-based intervention.A mobile application was developed based on research evidence and opinions of local experts. The mobile application was introduced to a selected group of office workers who were in preparation, action, and maintenance stages of the Trans Theoretical Model (TTM) and a paper-based intervention was used as the comparator. Socio-demographic data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Participants were followed up for three months for adherence. The effectiveness of interventions was assessed at the end of three months by comparing the progressive change in the stage of change and the change from unhealthy to healthy dietary intake between two groups as primary and secondary outcomes respectively.ResultsAmong 123 office workers who participated in the study, 19.5% preferred the mobile intervention over the paper-based intervention. Younger, unmarried office workers and those who do not have children, had a higher acceptance for the mobile intervention (p < 0.05). There was no difference in adherence (in all three months) or outcomes between the two groups of intervention.Conclusion and recommendationsMobile application-based interventions are better accepted among the young age group and further studies are recommended to explore their applicability.Trial registrationThe study was registered in the Sri Lankan Clinical Trial Registry (Registration No. SLCTR/2020/025; Date 15th December 2020).

Comparative Study on the Digital Economy Development Based on TOPSIS Comprehensive Evaluation: A Case Study of the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

Promoting the digital economy in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River can not only boost the development of e-commerce, energy science and technology and other industries, but also pave the theoretical way for the digital economy development in various regions, so as to further provide an important practical basis for achieving high-quality economic growth. In this paper, seven provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are taken as the research objects. Meanwhile, the development and different trends of the digital economy in each region are quantitatively analyzed and compared to propose suggestions for better development of the digital economy in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. On this basis, this paper first constructs the evaluation and measurement model of the digital economy development, and then gives the weights to the relevant indices through the analytic hierarchy process. After that, the regions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are scored and compared via the TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation, which identifies that the mobile phone penetration, the number of Internet broadband access ports and the telecom business income are vital indices to accelerate the digital economy development. Finally, this paper argues that governments should increase investment in digital infrastructure construction and promote the deep integration of digital technology and industry.

The Influence of E-banking on the Financial Performance of Kenyan Commercial Banks

Aims: The mobile and internet revolution has influenced creation and delivery of financial services leading to more innovative ways of linking customers and partners. Electronic Banking (e-banking) has opened up a new channel of banking resulting in new capabilities for banks as intermediaries. The research questions that the study sought to answer include, the role of mobile banking on the financial performance in Kenyan commercial banks, the effect of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) on the financial performance of Kenyan commercial banks.&#x0D; Study Design: The research adopted descriptive design with quantitative data approaches.&#x0D; Place and Duration of Study: The target population was made up of 24 Kenyan Commercial Banks in the North Coast region of Kenya with a total of 240 employees. These banks are top tier lead brands listed in the stock exchange in the banking sector in Kenya between December 2022 and July 2023.&#x0D; Methodology: Strata of top management (section heads), middle managers (branch managers and super agents) and operational employees (lower cadre employees &amp; credit officers) provided 72 respondents. Both secondary and primary data sources were used with the self-administered questionnaires containing both open and closed ended questions. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression on a model of Y = 1.518+ 0.438 X1 + 0.136 X2 + ε.&#x0D; Results: The correlation of the independent variables and the dependent variable was high and positive at 0.697 and 0.573 for mobile banking and Electronic Funds Transfer on financial performance respectively. The value of the adjusted R squared was found to be 0.654. The value of F-statistic was found to be 44.919 and it p-value 0.000. The regression coefficient of mobile banking was found to be 0.438 with a t-statistic value of 6.126.&#x0D; The regression coefficient of EFT was found to be 0.136 with a t-statistic value of 6.182.&#x0D; Conclusion: There is a strong relationship between mobile banking, EFT and financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. M-banking has significantly reduced operational costs while EFT has increased the number of daily transactions. The study established that the popularity of m-banking has is due to the intensity of technology penetration of mobile phones to bank customers which has resulted in the number of customers registering for m-banking services to increase in the last five years. Commercial banks have also experienced increased ROA and growth in market share with adoption of e-banking.

Information technology, gender economic inclusion and environment sustainability in sub-Sahara Africa

PurposeThis study examines the relevance of information and communication technologies in the effect of gender economic inclusion on environmental sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe focus is on a panel of 42 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2005–2020. The empirical evidence is based on generalized method of moments. The environmental sustainability indicator used is CO2 emissions per capita. Three indicators of women’s economic inclusion are considered: female labour force participation, female employment and female unemployment. The chosen ICT indicators are mobile phone penetration, Internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions.FindingsThe results show that: (1) fixed broadband subscriptions represent the most relevant ICT moderator of gender economic inclusion for an effect on CO2 emissions; (2) negative net effects are apparent for the most part with fixed broadband subscriptions (3) both positive ICT thresholds (i.e., critical levels for complementary policies) and negative ICT thresholds (i.e., minimum ICT levels for negative net effects) are provided; (4) ICT synergy effects are apparent for female unemployment, but not for female employment. In general, the joint effect of ICTs or their synergies and economic inclusion should be a concern for policymakers in order to better ensure sustainable development. Moreover, the relevant ICT policy thresholds and mobile phone threshold for complementary policy are essential in promoting a green economy.Originality/valueThe study complements the extant literature by assessing linkages between information technology, gender economic inclusion and environmental sustainability.

Impact of Digital Finance on Rural Households Financial Behaviour

Villages are the backbone of India. Rural households constitute 70% of India’s population. Financial inclusions help rural households to open a bank account and encourage them to do more financial activities. Innovations in communications technology and mobile phone penetration in rural villages change rural households’ digital finance behaviour. The government has taken many initiatives to make rural households be digitally literate. Despite all the initiatives of the government, the rural house still lags behind. This study has taken rural households as the target audience to find out their digital financial behaviour with respect to savings, remittances, payments, credit and investments. A multi-stage stratified random sampling method is adopted to carry out the study. Rural households’ opinions are collected using structured questionnaires. The collected data is quantitatively analysed with the help of SPSS tools. The findings of this study revealed that financial behaviour traits are identified as a motivator, moderator and excluded. Security traits of digital finance transactions play a vital role in significant discrimination of different digital finance behaviours. Findings of Structural Equation Modelling reveal that the accessibility of various digital finance platforms can influence their digital financial behaviours in a broad way.

THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS ON THE REAL SECTOR IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between information technology and the real sector in sub-Saharan Africa during the period 1995–2019. The study proxied the real sector by industrial value-added, agriculture value-added and total factor productivity, while technological progress is proxied by fixed telephone, mobile phone and internet penetration. To achieve the objective of this study, dynamic models were estimated. The study found that the fixed telephone enhances industrial value-added and total factor productivity, while the mobile phone promotes all the proxies of the real sector. The study found that the internet does not contribute to industrial value-added or agriculture value-added, but it enhances total factor productivity. Sub-Saharan African countries can further benefit from technological advancement by providing infrastructure facilities.

Does technological progress make OECD countries greener? New evidence from panel CS-ARDL

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of information and telecommunication technologies (ICT-proxied by mobile phone subscription and Internet usage) on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1990 to 2018.Design/methodology/approachThe Cross-section Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model is employed to address the potential cross-section dependence problem. Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) and Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimators are used to test for robustness of results.FindingsResults reveal contrasting effects of mobile phone subscription and Internet usage on CO2 emissions. While mobile phone penetration helps mitigate CO2 emissions, Internet usage tends to increase the emissions. Findings show that renewable energy is beneficial to the environment while economic growth is harmful to the environment. The effects of financial development and trade openness seem negligible.Practical implicationsThis study offers practical implications for policymakers. As different proxies of ICT could have contradictory impact on CO2, governments should be cautious against utilizing ICT to mitigate CO2. Findings point to the benefits of renewable energy in alleviating CO2 emissions. Therefore, governments are strongly advised to implement policies facilitating renewable energy consumption.Originality/valuePrevious studies ignored the problem of cross-section dependence which could lead to biased results and cause misleading inferences. This study aims to fill this void in the literature.

Does technology affect human development? Examining some important moderating factors

Nowadays ICTs are fully integrated with human life. This may be why there is an increasing interest in understanding the role that ICTs development plays in societal transformations, especially in response to the challenges posed by human development in Africa. However, not much is known about the channels through which ICTs are likely to affect human development, allowing us to investigate other transmission channels of the ICTs-Human development nexus. For this purpose, we used data collected in the 2000–2017 period for 27 African countries and employed the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for empirical estimations. Our findings indicate that ICTs, captured by mobile phone and internet penetration rates, significantly improve human development. The study also found that trade openness, financial development, electricity consumption and democracy are the main channels through which ICTs positively improve human development. In light of these empirical findings, we suggest fresh insights that can convince policymakers to care so much about trade openness, financial development, electricity consumption and democracy if ICTs are to be used as economic tools for human development improvement.

Enhancing ICT for female economic participation in sub-Saharan Africa

PurposeThis study investigates how enhancing information and communication technology (ICT) affects female economic participation in sub-Saharan African nations.Design/methodology/approachThree female economic participation indicators are used, namely female labour force participation, female unemployment and female employment rates. The engaged ICT variables are fixed broadband subscriptions, mobile phone penetration and Internet penetration. The Generalized Method of Moments is used for the empirical analysis.FindingsThe following main findings are established: First, there is a (1) negative net effect in the relevance of fixed broadband subscriptions in female labour force participation and female unemployment and (2) positive net effects from the importance of fixed broadband subscriptions on the female employment rate. Secondly, an extended analysis is used to establish thresholds at which the undesirable net negative effect on female labour force participation can be avoided. From the corresponding findings, a fixed broadband subscription rate of 9.187 per 100 people is necessary to completely dampen the established net negative effect. Hence, the established threshold is the critical mass necessary for the enhancement of fixed broadband subscriptions to induce an overall positive net effect on the female labour force participation rate.Originality/valueThis study complements the extant literature by assessing how increasing penetration levels of ICT affect female economic inclusion and by extension, thresholds necessary for the promotion of ICT to increase female economic inclusion.

Information technology, business sustainability and female economic participation in sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses, from the perspective of financial stability, how business/financial sustainability, moderates the influence of information technology on female economic participation in 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2008–2018. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regression, which accounted for the censored nature of the outcome variables. The following important findings were obtained: First, ICT (information and communications technology) dynamics (mobile phone penetration, internet penetration, and fixed broadband subscriptions) are consistently moderated by business sustainability to positively affect female employment. Second, business sustainability scores must exceed certain thresholds before moderating fixed broadband subscriptions to induce favorable overall effects on female employment, female labor force participation, and female unemployment rates. The positive effects on female employment and labor force participation is ascertained by the thresholds of 18.742 and 19.505 Z-scores, respectively and a Z-score of 17.300 for the negative impact on female unemployment. The thresholds that should be exceeded are within policy reach, make economic sense, and are policy-relevant. This study contributes to the extant literature by providing actionable thresholds for business sustainability that can be employed by policy makers such that information technology positively influences female economic inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Comparison of travel attitude study methods using online tools: The case of understanding public acceptance of autonomous vehicles

With the growing penetration of mobile phones, mobile apps and media platforms offer new ways to conduct travel-related research. The aim of this study is to compare two pairs of quantitative and qualitative research methods that leverage these tools: (1) an online survey versus a mobile chatbot interaction, and (2) an online focus group discussion over a live video conference versus a moderated discussion over a mobile messaging application. As a case study, we investigate the public acceptance of autonomous vehicles (AVs) for public transit in Singapore. 320 participants answered the same five research questions posed across the four methods, which were carried out over the first half of 2021. Across all methods, it was consistently found that there was cautious excitement about shared AVs in Singapore. Nevertheless, there were concerns about the safety of AV technology and uncertainty of how AVs will be implemented in practice. Compared to more conventional tools, the advantages of using mobile messaging apps to conduct travel-related studies are their low cost, scalability, and ease of analyzing resultant data. However, it was more challenging to recruit participants, mainly due to unfamiliarity, uncertainty of time requirements and a need to install the prerequisite mobile app. In chat groups, there was an observed lack of group interaction between participants. Overall, we found that while chatbots and chat groups hosted on mobile messaging apps were potential alternatives to surveys and focus groups to widen participation, there are still some inherent limitations to be overcome.

A Design-Led Theory of Change for a Mobile Game App (Go Nisha Go) for Adolescent Girls in India: Multimix Methodology Study

India has one of the largest adolescent populations in the world. Yet adolescents, particularly adolescent girls, have limited access to correct sexual and reproductive health information and services. The context in which adolescent girls live is one of gender inequity where they contend with early marriage and early pregnancy and have few opportunities for quality education and labor force participation. The digital revolution has expanded the penetration of mobile phones across India, increasingly being used by adolescent girls. Health interventions are also moving onto digital platforms. Evidence has shown that applications of game elements and game-based learning can be powerful tools in behavior change and health interventions. This provides a unique opportunity, particularly for the private sector, to reach and empower adolescent girls directly with information, products, and services in a private and fun manner. The objective of this paper is to describe how a design-led Theory of Change (ToC) was formulated for a mobile game app that is not only underpinned by theories of various behavior change models but also identifies variables and triggers for in-game behavioral intentions that can be tracked and measured within the game and validated through a rigorous post-gameplay outcome evaluation. We describe the use of a multimix methodology to formulate a ToC informing behavioral frameworks and co-design approaches in our proof-of-concept product development journey. This process created a statement of hypothesis and "pathways to impact" with a continuous, cumulative, and iterative design process that included key stakeholders in the production of a smartphone app. With theoretical underpinnings of social behavior and modeling frameworks, systematic research, and other creative methods, we developed a design-led ToC pathway that can delineate complex and multidisciplinary outputs for measuring impact. The statement of hypothesis that emerged posits that "If girls virtually experience the outcomes of choices that they make for their avatar in the mobile game, then they can make informed decisions that direct the course of their own life." Four learning pathways (DISCOVER, PLAY, DECIDE, and ACT) are scaffolded on 3 pillars of evidence, engagement, and evaluation to support the ToC-led framework. It informs decision-making and life outcomes through game-based objectives and in-game triggers that offer direct access to information, products, and services. This approach of using a multimix methodology for identifying varied and multidisciplinary pathways to change is of particular interest to measuring the impact of innovations, especially digital products, that do not necessarily conform with traditional behavioral change models or standard co-design approaches. We also explain the benefits of using iterative and cumulative inputs to integrate ongoing user feedback, while identifying pathways to various impacts, and not limiting it to only the design and development phase.

Information Technology, Inequality, and Adult Literacy in Developing Countries

The studyassesses linkages between information technology, inequality, and adult literacy in 57 developing countries for the period 2012–2016. Income inequality is measured with the Gini coefficient while six dynamics of information technology are taken on board, namely use of a virtual social network, Internet access in schools, Internet penetration, mobile phone penetration, fixed broadband subscription, and a number of personal computer users. The empirical evidence is based on interactive Tobit regressions. The findings show that only Internet access in schools unconditionally promotes adult literacy. The corresponding inequality threshold that should not be exceeded for Internet access in schools to continue promoting adult literacy is 0.739 of the Gini coefficient. Policy implications are discussed.

DIGITAL LITERACY TRAINING FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE DIRECTION OF ATMANIRBHARTA- A CASE OF KAROLIA VILLAGE

The impact of any global crisis is rarely ever gender neutral, and Covid-19 is not an exception. Countless women across diverse geographies have experienced an increase in their domestic workload, alongside the shrinking or complete loss of their livelihoods. While the entire world is facing unprecedented challenges, women are largely bearing the brunt of the economic and social fallout of Covid-19. Women from marginalized communities, employed in the informal sector in semi-urban and rural areas, are especially susceptible to loss of avenues of income, and added hours of unpaid labour with day-care and schools shutting down. The scenario in India is no different. Here, the struggle for women employed in the informal sector, or in running small business enterprises is even more pronounced. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, unemployment levels in the country have moved into double digits. In fact, recent study under the UdyamStree campaign had 57 percent of women entrepreneurs cite a deterioration in their business enterprises during the pandemic owing to factors like diminishing customer base, loss of supply chains and avenues of funding shutting down. In the face of such adversity, the key to survival lies in the quick adoption of new business models that cater to what has now become the ‘new normal’. Business models that were primarily dependent on offline production or delivery models, experienced a far greater decline than those reliant on digital channels. Digital technology can act as the game changer for women entrepreneurs, particularly in rural areas. It can make a greater impact in the lives of women who run different kinds of micro small and medium businesses in rural and semi-urban areas. The penetration of mobile phones in rural areas could be leveraged wisely to bring these women closer to the stakeholders in their business ecosystems. The women in Karolia are skilled and have initiated their business several times but the initiative is not sustainable due their inability to get finance registrar their business and get business digitally. Thus, a project was to train women entrepreneur on digital literacy. 15 rural women undergone the training. They have learnt all the key principles of online platforms. Women were able to share their experiences and were amazed to realise their constant practices after their session. The evaluation was done by questionnaire method in which it covered all the content from start. The group at the end has been digitally active to do their business and has started managing their business digitally.

Leveraging digital technology for development: Does ICT contribute to poverty reduction?

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 requires countries to end poverty of all forms. At the same time, SDG 9 target 9.c calls for increasing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access and striving to provide universal and affordable access to the internet in the least developed countries by 2020. While the existing studies have explored the effect of ICT on economic growth, there is a limited empirical study on the effect of ICT on poverty reduction. This article, therefore, investigates the effect of ICT on poverty reduction using comprehensive panel data for 44 sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 2010 to 2019. Using the dynamic system-generalized method of moment estimator to control endogeneity, the findings show that telephone penetration, mobile phone penetration, and ICT goods imported contribute to poverty reduction, while internet penetration, broadband penetration, and ICT goods exported increase poverty rate regardless of gender and age group. The net effect estimates reveal that at the maximum value of most ICT variables, economic growth, income inequality, and access to credit significantly increase poverty rate regardless of the age group. We argue that for SSA to leverage ICT to drive economic prosperity, policies that seek to drive ICT availability and affordability should be supported with policies that ensure income redistribution, trickle-down development, and minimizing the cost of accessing credit.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY DYNAMICS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The potential for information technology penetration in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is very high compared to other regions. Unfortunately, productivity levels in the area are also deficient. This study investigates the importance of information technology in influencing the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on total factor productivity (TFP) dynamics. The focus is on 25 countries in SSA. Information technology is measured with mobile phone and internet penetration, while the engaged TFP productivity dynamics are TFP, real TFP, welfare TFP, and real welfare TFP. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalized Method of Moments. The findings show that except regressions about real TFP growth for which the estimations do not pass post-estimation diagnostic tests, it is apparent that information technology modulates FDI to positively influence TFP dynamics (i.e., TFP, welfare TFP, and welfare real TFP). Policy and theoretical implications are discussed.

Urbanization and carbon emissions: Panel evidence from 68 low-income and lower-middle-income countries

ABSTRACT Although the developed world has almost completed the process of urbanization, developing countries are still rapidly urbanizing. Applying the extended stochastic regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model for the period 2000–2019, this article is an endeavor to explore the consequences of urbanization along with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow, trade openness, and mobile phone penetration on carbon dioxide emissions in 68 low-income and lower-middle-income countries across Asia, Africa, Middle East, and South America. Initially, the study used a panel unit root test to identify whether the variables are stationary or not. Subsequently, by using the co-integration test, a long-run association among the variables was seen. Finding a long-run relationship, the fully modified ordinary least squares method was applied to examine the impact of urbanization and other explanatory variables on carbon dioxide emissions. Results showed that urbanization followed by GDP per capita are the key promoters of CO2 emissions across all countries, whereas the direction and significance of inward FDI and trade openness varied across regions. Furthermore, it was observed that mobile phone penetration (as an indicator of information and communication technology [ICT]) has a significant and negative relationship with CO2 emissions, showing that ICT-based technologies might be the answer to decoupling economic growth from emissions growth.

Mobile money, ICT, financial inclusion and growth: How different is Africa?

We investigate the contributions of fixed and mobile telecommunications (ICT) and mobile money to economic growth and financial inclusion in a 22-year panel of 146 countries. We extend the Solow growth model to include human capital, money, ICT, and mobile money, splitting the sample into sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the rest of the world (RoW) in addition to the whole sample analysis. We find mobile money affects economic growth through direct and indirect channels. Mobile money has a significant overall positive impact on growth, especially in countries with better mobile phone penetration and more dispersed populations. But its total quantitative effect is not large. Mobile money also tends to improve financial inclusion which in turn promotes growth. There are important differences between the SSA and RoW parameters, implying that the quantitative determinants of growth are different to some extent as between SSA and RoW.