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1 – 10 of over 2000Prabath Perera, Selva Selvanathan, Jayatilleke Bandaralage and Jen-Je Su
Digital inequality is considered one of the leading causes of socioeconomic disparities nowadays and a barrier to sustainable development. However, a dearth of empirical research…
Abstract
Purpose
Digital inequality is considered one of the leading causes of socioeconomic disparities nowadays and a barrier to sustainable development. However, a dearth of empirical research has examined the impact of digital inequality in attaining sustainable development. This study aims to systematically review the scientific publications on the impact of digital inequality in achieving sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach
The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA, 2020) guidelines were followed to carry out the systematic literature review (SLR) using Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest and Google Scholar electronic databases. Numerous inclusion/exclusion criteria were employed to obtain the most relevant literature. Finally, 54 articles were included to prepare the final database and qualitative synthesis was performed using 12 variables.
Findings
While the findings show that there has been a substantial expansion of scientific publications on the focused area in recent years, there is still a lack of empirical and comparative studies; less focus on the offline benefits of online activities were also demonstrated by the results. Moreover, SDGs 04 and 05 were identified as the predominant goals in the literature. Findings further highlighted the importance of an accurate conceptualization of digital inequality.
Originality/value
In general, this study investigates the level of impact of digital inequality on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, it shows the evolution of scientific publications on digital inequality in terms of its contribution when achieving sustainable development.
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The study aims to use individuals using the internet and fixed broadband subscriptions as a proxy for digitalization to empirically assess the effects of Foreign Direct Investment…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to use individuals using the internet and fixed broadband subscriptions as a proxy for digitalization to empirically assess the effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), digitalization and their interaction on income inequality in developed and developing countries from 2002 to 2019.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used the system general method of moments estimators for 30 developed and 35 developing countries.
Findings
FDI increases income inequality in developed countries but decreases it in developing countries, digitalization reduces income inequality in both groups and interaction term narrows income inequality in developed countries but widens it in developing countries.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to introduce digitalization into the FDI – income inequality relationship. Furthermore, it provides empirical evidence to show the difference in the role of digitalization in this relationship between developed and developing countries.
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Nili Steinfeld, Azi Lev-On and Hama Abu-Kishk
This study presents an innovative approach to analyzing user behavior when performing digital tasks by integrating eye-tracking technology. Through the measurement of user scan…
Abstract
Purpose
This study presents an innovative approach to analyzing user behavior when performing digital tasks by integrating eye-tracking technology. Through the measurement of user scan patterns, gaze and attention during task completion, the authors gain valuable insights into users' approaches and execution of these tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, the authors conducted an observational study that centered on assessing the digital skills of individuals with limited proficiency who enrolled in a computer introductory course. A group of 19 participants were tasked with completing various online assignments both before and after completing the course.
Findings
The study findings indicate a significant improvement in participants' skills, particularly in basic and straightforward applications. However, advancements in more sophisticated utilization, such as mastering efficient search techniques or harnessing the Internet for enhanced situational awareness, demonstrate only marginal enhancement.
Originality/value
In recent decades, extensive research has been conducted on the issue of digital inequality, given its significant societal implications. This paper introduces a novel tool designed to analyze digital inequalities and subsequently employs it to evaluate the effectiveness of “LEHAVA,” the largest government-sponsored program aimed at mitigating these disparities in Israel.
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Hermann Ndoya and Simplice A. Asongu
This study aims to analyse the impact of digital divide (DD) on income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 2004–2016.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the impact of digital divide (DD) on income inequality in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 2004–2016.
Design/methodology/approach
In applying a finite mixture model (FMM) to a sample of 35 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, this study posits that DD affects income inequality differently.
Findings
The findings show that the effect of DD on income inequality varies across two distinct groups of countries, which differ according to their level of globalization. In addition, the study shows that most globalized countries are more inclined to be in the group where the effect of DD on income inequality is negative. The results are consistent with several robustness checks, including alternative measures of income inequality and additional control variables.
Originality/value
This study complements that extant literature by assessing linkages among the DD, globalization and income inequality in sub-Saharan African countries contingent on cross-country heterogeneity.
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Cara A. Chiaraluce and Lloyd Levine
This chapter demonstrates the ways in which digital inclusion functions as a super social determinant of health, particularly within the arena of family carework and healthcare…
Abstract
This chapter demonstrates the ways in which digital inclusion functions as a super social determinant of health, particularly within the arena of family carework and healthcare for vulnerable disabled US communities. The focus on vulnerable populations, including the elderly, chronically ill, young disabled, neurodivergent, and/or medically complex children and the families that care for them, is a useful case to present a compelling argument for the need to take seriously digital inclusion to maximize health, safety, and well-being for growing populations of Americans today. The authors argue that digital inclusion is an increasingly influential social determinant of health and a key dimension of health equity that offers important benefits and potentials, especially for vulnerable patient populations, for whom in-home and family-centered care are necessary parts of health maintenance, prevention, and well-being. The chapter ends with a discussion of ways that the US government can mitigate digital barriers and facilitate equitable access to broadband internet and e-health resources that address the intersections of digital, health, and care inequalities, with significant impacts in all three dimensions.
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Minu Gupta and Ravi Kiran
This study firstly aims to prepare a hierarchical structure of the barriers contributing to digital exclusion of women. Secondly, the study aims to understand the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study firstly aims to prepare a hierarchical structure of the barriers contributing to digital exclusion of women. Secondly, the study aims to understand the inter-relationship of the barriers by converting them into a cyclic flow.
Design/methodology/approach
Systematic review was conducted through Web of Science and EBSCO Host Discovery Services with keywords: “digital divide” OR “digital gap” OR “digital inequality” OR “online difference” AND gender AND wom?n AND factors OR “demographic factors” OR “socio-economic” OR determinants OR reasons OR causes OR influences. Review was conducted of articles published in English language after 2012. Systematic literature review was conducted in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Framework 2020. Authors reviewed 21 reports.
Findings
This research found absence of education as the root of digital exclusion of women in the hierarchy of barriers. The cyclic flow of barriers displayed that how ill education of women lead to financial and psychological dependence of women on men, creating a hurdle in women empowerment. To break the cycle of digital exclusion, women education is must not only on primary basis but their tertiary education is important too.
Originality/value
This study makes an important contribution by ranking those barriers in a pyramid hierarchy and depicting their inter relation by framing a cyclic structure. This study provides suggestions to remove those barriers and ultimately break their chain to provide digital inclusive society for women.
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Laura Robinson, Jeremy Schulz, Katia Moles and Julie B. Wiest
The work connects classic theories of selfing to the COVID-19 pandemic to make fresh connections between pandemic-induced trauma to the self and digital resources. This research…
Abstract
The work connects classic theories of selfing to the COVID-19 pandemic to make fresh connections between pandemic-induced trauma to the self and digital resources. This research introduces the concept of the “traumatized self” emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to digital disadvantage and digital hyperconnectivity. From Cooley’s original “looking glass self” to Wellman’s “hyperconnected” individualist self, social theories of identity work, and production of the self have a long and interdisciplinary history. In documenting this history, the discussion outlines key foci in the theorizing of the digital self by mapping how digital selfing and identity work have been treated from the inception of the internet to the epoch of the pandemic. The work charts the evolution of the digital selfing project from key theoretical perspectives, including postmodernism, symbolic interactionism, and dramaturgy. Putting these approaches in dialogue with the traumatized self, this research makes a novel contribution by introducing the concept of digitally differentiated trauma, which scholars can employ to better understand selfing processes in such circumstances and times.
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Zhiqin Lu, Peng Li, Qinghai Li and Heng Zhang
This paper according to the logic of the “digital access divide--digital capability divide--digital outcome divide” aims to systematically discuss the impact of the digital divide…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper according to the logic of the “digital access divide--digital capability divide--digital outcome divide” aims to systematically discuss the impact of the digital divide on individual happiness in China, accounting for the variations that exist across different groups, as well as the corresponding mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents cross-sectional analyses of the relationship between the digital divide and individual happiness in China. The analyses are based on data from the Chinese General Social Survey 2017, which academic institutions run on the Chinese Mainland. This database contains information on respondents' Internet access, skills and consequences of use, which can measure the digital divide of Chinese individuals at three levels.
Findings
First, individual happiness declined when they experienced the digital access divide in China. For the digital capability divide, the lower the usage skills, the more individual happiness declined. When analyzing the digital outcome divide, the greater the negative consequences, the more individual happiness declined. Second, the impacts of digital access, capability and outcome divide vary according to age, gender, education degrees, hukou, region and sub-dimensions. Third, the digital access and capability divide reduce individuals' happiness by lowering their self-rated social and economic status, whereas the digital outcome divide reduce individual happiness by lowering their fairness perception and social trust.
Originality/value
The authors believe that this is the first study to examine the impact and its variations among different groups of the three-level digital divide on individual happiness, as well as its mechanisms.
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Witness Roya and Sandiso Ngcobo
Several studies have been conducted on social inequalities. Despite highlighting inequalities between the rich and poor, researchers often overlook the fact that disabled people…
Abstract
Several studies have been conducted on social inequalities. Despite highlighting inequalities between the rich and poor, researchers often overlook the fact that disabled people in Africa are marginalised more than their counterparts elsewhere. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a theory and data analysis method, this study sought to answer two questions: (1) What is reported about the inclusion of disabled people in using digital media? (2) How is it reported? Twenty-two articles were purposively sampled: 15 from Newsday and 7 from The Herald published between 20 November 2017 and 24 September 2022. Findings indicate that the two papers exposed marginalisation of disabled people in an educative and informative way and had erudite analysis from disabled columnists. This was successful because the papers relied on the disabled community as sources of information and contributors of published material. The papers also engaged stakeholders such as corporates, government and civil society organisations. It is recommended that other newspapers and many forms of mass communication provide a representation of people with different forms of disabilities. Future studies could seek the views of disabled communities about their presentation in the digital media through disabled writers and providers of information.
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