Threshold effects of ICT access and usage in Burkinabe and Ghanaian households

ABSTRACT

Information and communication technology (ICT) has a crucial role in the individual, businesses, and cooperative lives of citizens. Many studies on ICT access tend to concentrate on the supply side of improving access to ICTs; however, limited efforts have been made to examine the households’ demand side. Thus, this study contributes to the extant literature by investigating the demand side of ICT access by households. It also examines the socioeconomic characteristics that affect the households’ access and usage of ICTs, which create a somewhat digital divide between ‘ICT have’ and ‘have not’ in Burkina Faso and Ghana. It employs Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for both Burkina Faso and Ghana 2014 in achieving its objectives. The results, among others, underscore different threshold effects in access to ICTs’ Burkinabe and Ghanaian households. Thus, to enhance the households’ ICT access, and consequently, usage of the features of the households should be taken into consideration when developing ICT access policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Burkina Faso
• Ghana
• households
• ICT access and usage
• threshold effect

JEL CODES:

• O14
• R22

Acknowledgements

This paper is a beneficiary of the African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA)’s Mentorship Program. Thus, the authors appreciate the cross-fertilization of ideas received from the platform. The second author acknowledges the supports from Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discoveries (CUCRID) during the preparation of the manuscript. He also acknowledges the Research Fellowship Award [Ref: 3.4-1147508-NGA-GF-P] and Equipment Subsidy Grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation [REF: 3.4-8151/19047] to Centre for Economic Policy and Development Research (CEPDeR), Covenant University that facilitated the revision of the paper. The views expressed in this article are the responsibility of the authors’.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alhassan Abdul-Wakeel Karakara

Alhassan Abdul-Wakeel Karakara is a researcher at the School of Economics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He is also Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy and Development Research (CEPDeR), Covenant University, Nigeria. He has executed some research projects as a team member and has published some research articles in reputable journals. He has also participated in many international conferences, workshops, and training across Africa as a panelist and presenter or discussant of research papers. His research interest includes but not limited to Energy Economics; Economics of Innovation and Technology; Agricultural economics/Land agrarian issues; Environmental Economics, Poverty Studies and Development Economics; and International Trade with an emphasis on developing and transition economies.

Evans S. Osabuohien

Evans S. Osabuohien is Professor of Economics and Head of Department at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. In 2020, he was recognized as one of the 6 Youngest Professors in Nigeria. He pioneered the Centre for Economic Policy and Development Research (CEPDeR) as well as the Regional Centre of Expertise, Ogun State (RCE Ogun) at Covenant University. He is Visiting Professor at Witten/Herdecke University, Germany and Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. He is a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Sweddish Institute, among others. He has published three books and over 145 scholarly articles. He is a member of numerous professional associations, a reviewer, and editorial board member for many journals.