Internet use and educational outcomes – a cross-country panel study

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the relationship between national Internet use and educational outcomes. The analysis is based on a comprehensive sample of 107 countries for the period 1990–2019. Various panel data regressions reveal that national Internet use has a significant positive effect on educational outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Internet use
• educational outcomes
• panel data
• macro level

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• O33
• I29

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

¹ Another factor that can increase the demand for LMS is policy reforms. Increasing Internet use among the population fosters greater acceptance by the public and institutions. According to theories of policy change, this can initiate necessary reform processes and ultimately result in the more profound integration of LMS into the curriculum (Cerna 2013).

² Available at: https://sites.google.com/view/nadiraltinok/datasets. Last accessed 22 August 2023.

³ Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/. Last accessed 22 August 2023.

⁴ An exception is the negative but insignificant coefficient on gdp, as it is often assumed that higher income is associated with better educational outcomes. However, recent empirical studies report similar results (e.g. Erdogdu 2022) questioning whether economic development contributes to educational outcomes.