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Impacts of ICT Development on Income Inequality  

Cho, Wooje (School of Business Administration, University of Seoul)
Jung, Yoonhyuk (School of Media & Communication, Korea University)
Kim, Sahangsoon (School of Business Administration, University of Seoul)
Publication Information
Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship / v.15, no.1, 2020 , pp. 237-245 More about this Journal
Abstract
The development of information and communication technology (ICT) provides many opportunities for businesses to increase productivity, to have better relationships with customers and suppliers, and to develop new products more efficiently and effectively. However, recently, there have been claims that ICT development in a country would increase income inequality of the country. In this debate, we examine the impact of ICT development on the income inequality at the country level. Data of 28 OECD countries were used for our study. According to results of the analysis, a country with a higher level of ICT development is likely to have a lower the level of income inequality. There have been many concerns that development of ICTs may result in a higher level of income inequality mainly because wealthy companies or individuals can more affordable to utilize advanced ICT and ICTs have replaced labor. However, there has been no such identified impact, at least in recent OECD countries. Rather, we can expect ICT development to play a role in lowering income inequality of a country.
Keywords
Information and Communication Technology; Income Inequality; Panel Data; OECD; Country-level Analysis;
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