PUBLICATIONS
Benefits of Regulation vs. Competition Where Inequality Is High: The Case of Mobile Telephony in South Africa
Ryan Hawthorne, Lukasz Grzybowski
In this paper, we test for the distributional effects of regulation and entry in the mobile telecommunications sector in a highly unequal country, South Africa. Using six waves of a consumer survey of over 134,000 individuals between 2009-2014, we estimate a discrete-choice model allowing for individual-specific price-responsiveness and preferences for network operators. Next, we use a demand and supply equilibrium framework to simulate prices and the distribution of welfare without entry and mobile termination rate regulation. We find that regulation benefits consumers significantly more than entry does, and that high-income consumers and city-dwellers benefit more in terms of increased consumer surplus.
Narrowing the 'Digital Divide': The Role of Complementarities Between Fixed and Mobile Data in South Africa
Ryan Hawthorne, Lukasz Grzybowski
In this paper, we study substitution between fixed and mobile broadband services in South Africa using survey data on 134,000 individuals between 2009 and 2014. In our discrete-choice model, individuals choose fixed or mobile voice and data services in a framework that allows them to be substitutes or complements. We find that voice services are complements on average but data services are substitutes. However, many consumers see data services as complements. Our results show that having a computer and access to an internet connection at work or school are more important than reducing mobile data prices by 10% in driving broadband penetration.
Infrastructure deficiencies and adoption of mobile money in Sub-Saharan Africa
Onokame MOthobi, Lukasz Grzybowski
In this research paper published in Information Economics and Policy, we study whether mobile phone users who live in areas with poor infrastructure are more likely to rely on mobile phones to make financial transactions than people living in areas with better infrastructure. Our results support the notion that mobile phones improve the livelihood of individuals residing in remote areas by providing them with access to financial services, which are otherwise not available physically. Our results are based on survey data conducted in 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2011.
The role of network effects and consumer heterogeneity in the adoption of mobile phones: evidence from South Africa
LUKASZ GRZYBOWSKI
In this research paper published in Telecommunications Policy, we analyze the role of network effects in the adoption of mobile phones in South Africa between years 2008 and 2012. Due to network effects the value of mobile phones to consumers is greater when they are used by more people from their communications circle. We find that the greater is the number of mobile phones in the household, the greater is the likelihood that the other household members will also adopt a mobile phone. Without within-household network effects the penetration of mobile phones of 76.4% in 2012 would be lower by about 9.9 percentage points. Our results are based on a panel of South African households.
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