Work

Give PC's a chance: Personal computer ownership and the digital divide in the United States and Great Britain

Year: 2001

Type: preprint

Abstract: This paper summarizes inequalities in PC ownership using data from the US Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) and the British General Household Survey (GHS) for the period 1984-98. Between 1988 and 1994, British households were more likely than US households to own a personal computer (PC). After 1994, however, US PC ownership rates accelerated rapidly, pushing the United States ahead of Britain. Differences in computer ownership rates are however much larger within the two countries, measured by income, education, age, family status, and race. Both the United States and Britain show large and growing inequality in PC ownership over the 1980s and 1990s. Analysis of ownership patterns of four other household consumer durables suggests that there may be significant limitations to relying solely on the market to eradicate PC inequality quickly.

Source: RePEc: Research Papers in Economics

Authors: John Schmitt, Jonathan Wadsworth

Institution: London School of Economics and Political Science

Language: English

Topic: Information Society and Technology Trends

Subfield: General Social Sciences

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funder: London School of Economics and Political Science

OpenAlex ID: W1595248874