The Digital Divide: Current and Future Research Directions - MISRC ...

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80,000 companies across 55 industries in the U.S. from 1998 to 2000 to examine whether company location and industry type impact the adoption of advanced Internet applications by organizations. The findings indicate that location does matter, particularly when explaining the tendency to adopt Internet-based technologies that will be used within the organization versus those that will promote information transfer across company boundaries. These results are interpreted using urban leadership theory and global village theory. In addition, the analysis shows that whether a firm operates within an IT-usage-intensive industry versus an IT-producing industry impacts its tendency to adopt internal and external focused Internet applications. Finally, the three country level studies complement each other nicely in covering a range of issues relevant to the global diffusion of ICT. Dewan et al. [2005] examine the extent of the digital divide at the country level from 1985 to 2001 to test the magnitude and changing trends of the divide across three technology eras: mainframe, PC and the Internet. Using data from 22 developed countries and 18 developing countries, this analysis tests a model to examine the impact of several factors on the divide, including economic, demographic and environmental factors. As other studies have shown, this analysis confirms that national income level is a primary driver of the adoption of IT at the national level. In addition, further analysis using quantile regression methods shows that in the more recent Internet era, mainline telephone density and economic trade activity are helping to narrow the divide as less developed countries seek to catch up to more developed countries. In a related effort, Crenshaw and Robison [2006] use diffusion theory to empirically examine the drivers of Internet diffusion in 65 developing countries over the 1995 to 2000 time frame. The analysis emphasizes the role of similarity to (structural conduciveness) and contact with (globalization) developed countries. The results suggest that teledensity, political openness and other structural conduciveness factors, as well as such globalization factors as aid share and tourist share, are significant drivers of the distribution and growth of Internet usage. Kauffman and Techatassanasoontorn [2005b] examine the existence and extent of the digital divide in wireless phone technologies, based on data for three technology 44
generations (2G, 2.5G and 3G) from 43 countries around the world. 7 They characterize technology adoption gaps in terms of differences in subscriber penetration levels and generational penetration gaps ⎯ the latter based on a novel regional contagion theory. The analysis reveals substantial gaps in technology adoption both across individual countries and regions of the world, however, the pattern of the divide reflects that of other ICTs, such as the Internet ⎯ that is, North America and the Pacific Rim countries are among the leaders, while countries from Africa and South Asia are at the other end of the digital spectrum. The key drivers of wireless technology diffusion are found to be telecommunication infrastructure, the number of competing standards, and competition among the providers. The effect of multiple standards is stronger in developing countries relative to developed countries, whereas the impacts of market competition and non-price competition are substantially stronger in developed countries. The analysis also finds strong regional contagion effects whereby the diffusion of the technology in a country is affected by the diffusion in neighboring countries in the region. In terms of the future digital divide in this technology, the results suggest that the substantial gaps in penetration today will narrow over time. In closing, we note that understanding the drivers and future trends of the digital divide continues to be a rich research area for social and political scientists and business researchers alike, including the reader population of this journal. As has been noted earlier, how the digital divide is defined and measured, as well as the theoretical perspective and research methodology, all have important bearing on the study and the conclusions to be drawn. As we have pointed out earlier, we believe this area is wide open for further research in this area. We hope the papers in this and a future special issue provide good surveys of the state of knowledge on the digital divide, as well as an effective launching pad for future research in this important area. Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank the participants of the 2004 Symposium on the Digital Divide held at the MIS Research Center of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota on August 27-28, 2004. Much appreciation is given to Donna Sarppo, Assistant Director of the MIS Research Center, who was instrumental in arranging and conducting the symposium. In addition, we 7 From the regions Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East, North America, South Asia and Western Europe. 45
Page 1 and 2: THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: CURRENT AND FUT
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