{"title":"Internet Penetration and Human Capital Development in Africa","authors":"Jean-Claude Kouladoum","doi":"10.1007/s13132-024-02234-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study investigates the effect of internet penetration on human capital development in 48 African countries between the periods of 1980 to 2019. The two-step system GMM strategy is adopted to address the potential endogeneity. The findings show that the level of human capital development is ameliorated by growth in information and communication technologies specifically by internet penetration. Internet penetration is measured by individuals using internet and the subscription rate of fixed broadband. These findings remain consistent in both the low- and the middle-income African countries, irrespective of their technology infrastructure levels. From the findings of our study, we suggest that much investment should be made in both the communication and technology infrastructures and in the educational and the health sectors so as to enhance the level of human capital development. Investments in human capital are encouraged by channeling more funds to the educational and health departments to boost the continent’s productivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":47435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Knowledge Economy","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the Knowledge Economy","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02234-y","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates the effect of internet penetration on human capital development in 48 African countries between the periods of 1980 to 2019. The two-step system GMM strategy is adopted to address the potential endogeneity. The findings show that the level of human capital development is ameliorated by growth in information and communication technologies specifically by internet penetration. Internet penetration is measured by individuals using internet and the subscription rate of fixed broadband. These findings remain consistent in both the low- and the middle-income African countries, irrespective of their technology infrastructure levels. From the findings of our study, we suggest that much investment should be made in both the communication and technology infrastructures and in the educational and the health sectors so as to enhance the level of human capital development. Investments in human capital are encouraged by channeling more funds to the educational and health departments to boost the continent’s productivity.
期刊介绍：
In the context of rapid globalization and technological capacity, the world’s economies today are driven increasingly by knowledge—the expertise, skills, experience, education, understanding, awareness, perception, and other qualities required to communicate, interpret, and analyze information. New wealth is created by the application of knowledge to improve productivity—and to create new products, services, systems, and process (i.e., to innovate). The Journal of the Knowledge Economy focuses on the dynamics of the knowledge-based economy, with an emphasis on the role of knowledge creation, diffusion, and application across three economic levels: (1) the systemic ''meta'' or ''macro''-level, (2) the organizational ''meso''-level, and (3) the individual ''micro''-level. The journal incorporates insights from the fields of economics, management, law, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and political science to shed new light on the evolving role of knowledge, with a particular emphasis on how innovation can be leveraged to provide solutions to complex problems and issues, including global crises in environmental sustainability, education, and economic development. Articles emphasize empirical studies, underscoring a comparative approach, and, to a lesser extent, case studies and theoretical articles. The journal balances practice/application and theory/concepts.
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