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Posted ContentDOI

Village Pay Phones and Poverty Reduction: Insights from a Grameen Bank Initiative in Bangladesh

01 Jun 1999-Research Papers in Economics (Bonn: University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF))-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the role of telecommunications within the contexts of rural development in general and of poverty reduction in particular, and found that pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods, especially through lowering transaction costs, and that the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to the poor.
Abstract: The intent of the present study is to evaluate the role of telecommunications within the contexts of rural development in general and of poverty reduction in particular. Bangladesh has been selected as a case study due to the uniqueness it displayed in an innovative program for expanded telecom infrastructure, in which Grameen Bank (GB) of Bangladesh, the village-based micro-finance organization, leased cellular mobile phones to successful members. GB calls these phones Village Pay Phones (VPPs). The effects of VPPs are assessed from two angles:sellers of services (telephone lessees/owners) and buyers of services (villagers). The findings of the study lead to two basic conclusions: first, pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods, especially through lowering transaction costs, and second, the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to the poor. VPPs also seems to have perceptible and positive effects on the empowerment and social status of phone-leasing women and their households. For villagers in general, phones offer additional non-economic benefits such as improved law enforcement, more rapid and effective communications during disasters, stronger kinship bonding, etc. GB’s style of managing communications can help significantly to expand access to this vital information input for all segments of the population, reduce inequality and thus enhance the broad-based, pro-poor orientation of rural development activities.
Citations
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Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the concept of ''search'' where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers, and deal with various aspects of finding the necessary information.
Abstract: The author systematically examines one of the important issues of information — establishing the market price. He introduces the concept of «search» — where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers. The article deals with various aspects of finding the necessary information.

3,790 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Jonathan Donner1
TL;DR: This paper reviews roughly 200 recent studies of mobile (cellular) phone use in the developing world, and identifies major concentrations of research, and categorizes studies along two dimensions.
Abstract: This paper reviews roughly 200 recent studies of mobile (cellular) phone use in the developing world, and identifies major concentrations of research. It categorizes studies along two dimensions. One dimension distinguishes studies of the determinants of mobile adoption from those that assess the impacts of mobile use, and from those focused on the interrelationships between mobile technologies and users. A secondary dimension identifies a subset of studies with a strong economic development perspective. The discussion considers the implications of the resulting review and typology for future research.

744 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that Western market forces continue to meet the needs of developing regions accidentally at best, and there is thus a need for technology research for developing regions.
Abstract: Alongside good governance, technology is considered among the greatest enablers for improved quality of life. However, the majority of its benefits have been concentrated in industrialized nations and therefore limited to a fraction of the world's population. We believe that technology has a large role to play in developing regions, that "First World" technology to date has been a poor fit in these areas, and that there is thus a need for technology research for developing regions. Despite the relative infancy of technology studies in developing regions, anecdotal evidence suggests that access to technology has a beneficial economic impact. Cellular telephony is probably the most visible application, but there are many others, some of which we cover in this article. The World Bank's infoDev site catalogs hundreds of information and communications technologies (ICT) projects, albeit not all successful. Most of these projects use existing off-the-shelf technology designed for the industrialized world. Although it is clear that there are large differences in assumptions related to cost, power, and usage, there has been little work on how technology needs in developing regions differ from those of industrialized nations. We argue that Western market forces continue to meet the needs of developing regions accidentally at best.

354 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
R. Abraham1
25 May 2006
TL;DR: In this article, a case study from India, where the fishing community in the south-western state of Kerala has adopted mobile phones in large numbers, was used to test the assumption that mobile phones, by virtue of their role as carriers and conduits of information, should lessen the information asymmetries in markets, thereby making rural and undeveloped markets more efficient.
Abstract: There is considerable speculation about the correlation between investments in telecommunications and economic development. Mobile phones, by virtue of their role as carriers and conduits of information, ought to lessen the information asymmetries in markets, thereby making rural and undeveloped markets more efficient. This research tests this assumption using a case-study from India, where the fishing community in the south-western state of Kerala has adopted mobile phones in large numbers. We find that with the wide-spread use of mobile phones, markets become more efficient as risk and uncertainty are reduced; there is greater market integration; there are gains in productivity and in the Marshallian surplus (sum of consumer and producer surplus); and price dispersion and price fluctuations are reduced. The potential efficiencies are, however, subject to easy access to capital, without which the market remains less efficient than it could be. Finally, the quality of life of the fishermen improves as they feel less isolated, and less at risk in times of emergencies.

354 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the links between ICT diffusion and per capita income, trade and financial indicators, education, and freedom indicators, and found that only personal computers and Internet hosts seem to have a positive association with income.
Abstract: Using data from developing countries, this paper examines the links between ICT diffusion and per capita income, trade and financial indicators, education, and freedom indicators. Internet hosts, Internet users, personal computers and mobile phones represent indicators of ICT. The Gompertz model of technology diffusion is used to study ICT dissemination. The results show that income and government trade policies influence ICT diffusion. However, freedom indices may or may not affect ICT diffusion. Moreover, only personal computers and Internet hosts seem to have a positive association with income. Contrary to expectations, ICT diffusion is not associated with education.

337 citations


Cites background from "Village Pay Phones and Poverty Redu..."

  • ...from the use of ICT on credit and trade markets in some countries [2,33], there are studies that highlight...

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References
More filters
Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the concept of ''search'' where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers, and deal with various aspects of finding the necessary information.
Abstract: The author systematically examines one of the important issues of information — establishing the market price. He introduces the concept of «search» — where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers. The article deals with various aspects of finding the necessary information.

3,790 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...Mostly it is ignored...“ (Stigler 1961)....

    [...]

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the identification of sellers and the discovery of their prices is described as an example of the role of the search for information in economic life, and the identification and discovery of prices of goods and services is discussed.
Abstract: The identification of sellers and the discovery of their prices is given as an example of the role of the search for information in economic life.

3,575 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: While productivity, consumer value, and bush ness profitability are related, they are ultimate, which means that IT has not had any bottom line impact on business profitability.
Abstract: The business value of information technology (IT) has been debated for a number of years. While some authors have attributed large productivity improvements and substantial consumer benefits to IT, others report that IT has not had any bottom line impact on business profitability. This paper focuses on the fact that while productivity, consumer value, and bush ness profitability are related, they are ultimate1 Allen Lee was the accepting senior editor for this paper. 2 An earlier version of this paper appears in the

1,692 citations


"Village Pay Phones and Poverty Redu..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Over recent years, the interest in better understanding the economics of information has grown (e.g. World Bank, 1998/99; Hitt and Brynjolfsson, 1996; Stiglitz, 1985; Stiglitz and Weiss 1981)....

    [...]

Book
01 Sep 1993
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the linkages between infrastructure and economic development based on both formal and empirical research and informal case studies and conclude that economic benefits result from investments in infrastructure only to the extent that they generate a sustainable flow of services valued by users.
Abstract: This paper presents an examination of linkages between infrastructure and economic development based on both formal and empirical research and informal case studies. Its main thesis is that economic benefits result from investments in infrastructure only to the extent that they generate a sustainable flow of services valued by users. Therefore, an analysis of infrastructure's contribution to growth must consider the impacts of services as actually perceived, not at indirect indicators that measure only aggregate provision of infrastructure capital. The paper notes that macro and industry level research, while having limitations in both methodology and data, suggest a positive and statistically significant relationship between infrastructure and economic output. This paper suggests that to gain more insight into how infrastructure contributes to economic growth and to improved quality of life, and to understand the welfare costs of inadequate or unreliable infrastructure, it is necessary to look at microeconomic evidence. Interesting illustrations of these relationships may be found in developing countries because they demonstrate a wide variance in the availability and quality of infrastructure. The paper discusses some research on firms and households, as well as individual country experiences.

251 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, Chenery et al. utilized 1965 aggregate agricultural production data and the concept of the aggregate production function to study the effects of transportation and communication infrastructure on aggregate agricultural productivity.
Abstract: A relationship has long been recognized between a country's agricultural development and its investment in infrastructure capital, such as transportation and communication facilities, that is not directly related to the agricultural production process. The relevant literature spans Adam Smith's proposition "That the Division of Labour is Limited by the Extent of the Market"; the work of von Thtinen; numerous studies by historians and economic historians; and the work of economists such as Schultz, Kuznets, Wharton, Owens, and Johnston and Kilby, to mention a few.' Despite the apparently widespread recognition and acceptance that a relationship exists between agricultural development and infrastructural development, few, if any, empirical studies test this as a hypothesis and provide estimates of the magnitude of such a relationship.2 The aim of this paper is to utilize 1965 aggregate agricultural production data and the concept of the aggregate production function to study the effects of transportation and communication infrastructure on aggregate agricultural productivity. The aggregate data come from 47 less developed countries (LDCs) and 19 developed countries (DCs); the sample countries are listed in the Appendix. The use of intercountry comparisons for development studies dates to Clark and the pioneering work of Kuznets, and it has been exploited econometrically by Chenery.3 An important contribution to the study of international agricultural productivity was made by Hayami and Ruttan, who showed that an aggregate agricultural production function that accounts for intercountry differences in resource endowments, technical (modern) inputs, and human capital can explain a large proportion of the variation in aggregate agricultural output across more and less developed agricultures.4 Evenson and Kislev modified Hayami and Ruttan's model by including a variable measuring each country's investment in agricultural research.5 Essentially the same

244 citations


"Village Pay Phones and Poverty Redu..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Nevertheless, tangential discussions of the impact of telecom may be found in some studies that focus primarily on postal and other means of communication (e.g. Antle, 1983; Ahmed and Hossain, 1990)....

    [...]