ESZTER HARGITTAI'S RESEARCH

Weaving the Western Web: Explaining Differences in Internet Connectivity Among OECD Countries [pdf]

1999. Telecommunications Policy. 23(10/11):701-718.

Abstract

Despite the Internet's increasing importance, there is little social scientific work that addresses its diffusion. Our knowledge is especially limited with respect to the conditions that encourage its spread across nations. This paper takes a first step in explaining the differences in Internet connectivity among OECD countries. After examining the impact of economic indicators, human capital, institutional legal environment, and existing technological infrastructure, the empirical analyses show that economic wealth and telecommunications policy are the most salient predictors of a nations' Internet connectivity.

Outline
I.Introduction
II. Background
III. Theoretical Considerations
III.a) Findings from previous research
III.b) Economic factors
III.c) Human capital
III.d) Institutional legal environment
III.e) Existing technologies
III.f) Testable Propositions
IV. Data and Methods
IV.a) Outcome variable
IV.b) Explanatory factors
V. Findings
VI. Discussion
VII. Conclusion

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Marta Tienda, Miguel Centeno, Martin Dodge, Bruce Western, the members of Princeton University's 1998/99 Sociology Empirical Research Seminar and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I am grateful to Tim Kelly, Ben Petrazzini and Sam Paltridge for their help in providing data.

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