Abstract
This chapter covers much of the work that has been done on the economic impact of mobile phones in developing countries. It covers micro, macro and the transition that is sometimes made from the former to the latter level (that is, scaling-up). Research at the micro level is relatively plentiful and is concerned mainly with the improved communication and information in various markets, that mobile technology can help to bring about. Unfortunately, however, few of the studies at this level specifically refer to the poor and there is consequently a rather glaring research gap to be filled. There are, of course, exceptions to this general pattern and these tend, encouragingly, to reveal something of a bias in favour of the poor (such as for example the greater benefits that accrue to this group in the case of Village Pay Phones (VPPs) in Bangladesh. Similarly, at the macro level, three out of the four studies that were identified find a greater effect of mobile phones on growth, the lower is the presence of fixed-lines in a country. This favours the poorer countries, where the older technology tends to be at least in evidence. But here, as at the micro level, there is too little evidence to reach any firm conclusions. The final part of the chapter deals with three cases of successful scaling up of projects that began on a small scale. Yet, in this area too, scant attention is paid to the impact of the process on the poor, suggesting still another area for further research.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
One such case, although it is not a developing country, is the United States from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s (Helpman 2004).
- 3.
For a list of alternatives see Griffin and James (1981).
- 4.
For a full discussion of the East Asian export experience and its reliance on labour-intensive methods of production, see James (1987).
- 5.
Hartmann and Linn (2008) describe a number of successful scaling-up projects from the development literature. Unfortunately, the explanations of scaling-up in mobile phones make no attempt to forge links with this more general discussion.
- 6.
Economists such as Sachs (2006) believe that much of Africa is stuck in such a trap, but his view has been subject to harsh criticism.
- 7.
- 8.
This is where there is again a reliance on existing resources as in the other two cases. The airtime resellers already in the Safaricom network could be converted into mobile money agents, thus avoiding having to start the latter from scratch.
- 9.
These attempts are occurring, for example, in the Philippines and Tanzania.
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James, J. (2016). Micro, Macro and Scaling-Up Effects. In: The Impact of Mobile Phones on Poverty and Inequality in Developing Countries. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27368-6_5
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