The Digital Divide in Developing Countries1

Abstract

Poverty has been a critical issue for a long time and continues to affect developing countries in the era of booming digitalization. This study investigates the contribution of digitalization to poverty alleviation, confirming that it can promote economic growth. However, utilizing a sample of 37 developing countries in 2014 and 2016, this study observes that the extremely poor are deprived of their share of the benefits that digitalization can offer. Therefore, while strategies to further promote digitalization are critical to economic development, support systems or policies meant to bring those in extreme poverty into mainstream development are badly needed.