Do information and communication technologies (ICTs) make Africans happy?

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article is to examine the effect of ICT use on the happiness of African populations. To this end, the dynamic system generalized method of moments (syst-GMM) is used to estimate the model for 31 African countries using annual data from 2006 to 2018. Our results show that the effect of ICTs depends on the type of ICT. Indeed, the results highlight the negative association of cell phones and the positive association of the internet on happiness in Africa. However, all ICTs are positively associated with happiness in countries with high life expectancy and low unemployment.

RÉSUMÉ

L'objectif de cet article est d'examiner l'effet de l'utilisation des TIC sur le bonheur des africains. A cet effet, nous utilisons la méthode des moments généralisés en système sur les données couvrant la période 2006-2018 dans 31 pays en Afrique. Nos résultats montrent que l'effet des TIC sur le bonheur dépend du type de TIC. En effet, les résultats révèlent une association négative entre le téléphone mobile et le bonheur, alors que internet est positivement associé au bonheur. Cependant, ces deux outils TIC sont positivement associés au bonheur dans les pays où les populations sont en bonne santé et le taux de chômage est bas.

KEYWORDS:

• ICT
• cell phone
• Internet
• happiness
• Africa

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the anonymous referees for valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Pohjola 2001; Litan and Rivlin 2001; Choi and Hoon Yi 2009; Muto and Yamano 2009; Aker and Mbiti 2010; Avom and Melingui 2020; Maurseth 2020.

2 Although they do not have the same meaning, the economic literature largely uses the terms “life satisfaction,” “happiness,” and “subjective well-being” interchangeably as proxies (Easterlin 2005).

3 For an introduction to consumer theory, see Gravelle and Rees (1992).

4 Castellacci and Tveito (2018) present a review of the literature on this topic and develop a framework for analyzing both positive effects and potential risks.

5 Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

6 World Development Indicators (WDI).

7 World Happiness Report (WHR).

8 Our data do not allow us to distinguish between the two.

9 However, these new ICT production and management occupations also tend to replace other occupations, increasing unemployment (or worsening working conditions) in other sectors of the economy (Martin and Omrani 2015; Castellacci and Viñas-Bardolet 2019).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ariel Herbert Fambeu

Ariel Herbert Fambeu (Ph.D. in economics) is a researcher of the Research Group in Theoretical Economics (RGTE) at the University of Douala (Cameroon). His main research interests are related to digital economics, happiness, poverty and industrial economics.