The economic impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on microenterprises in the context of development

Authors

• Han Ei CHEW, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
• P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan
• Mark Levy

Publication Type

Journal Article

Book Title/Conference/Journal

Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries

Year

10-2010

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of information and communication technologies, especially landline and mobile phones, computers, and Internet cafés in facilitating economic growth in the developing world. Data on access to ICTs, as well as business-relevant behaviors and attitudes, was collected by a multi-stage probability sample of women microentrepreneurs in Mumbai, India. Main findings include evidence that in urban microenterprises owned by women, business growth is a function of ICT access and is related to motivation to use ICTs for business purposes; and that the more positive a woman microentrepreneur feels about her status and power because of her business, the more she will be motivated to use ICTs in support of her business. Implications for the study of digital divides and strategies for studies of communication and technology more generally are considered.

Keywords

development, ICT4D, India, Microenterprises, Mobile phones, Women entrepreneurs

Disciplines

Asian Studies | Communication | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Subject(s)

Applied or Integration/Application Scholarship

ISSN/ISBN

1681-4835

Publisher

Wiley

DOI

10.1002/j.1681-4835.2010.tb00316.x

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2010.tb00316.x

Version

publishedVersion

Language

eng

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Format

application/PDF

Citation

CHEW, Han Ei; Ilavarasan, P. Vigneswara; and Levy, Mark. The economic impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on microenterprises in the context of development. (2010). Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries. 44, (1), 1.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/oi_research/15