Socioeconomic determinants of the digital divide in WAEMU countries: Data and Stata do-files

This dataset contains the data and Stata scripts used for the study "Socioeconomic determinants of the digital divide in WAEMU countries: an analysis of mobile phone adoption and internet access". Using Global Findex (2021) data, the research employs a biprobit model to examine the factors influencing ICT adoption in the WAEMU region. The data includes socioeconomic variables such as income, education, gender, and rural/urban location for Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

This study examines the socioeconomic determinants of the digital divide in the countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), focusing on mobile phone ownership and internet access. Using data from the Global Findex survey (2021), a biprobit model is employed to estimate these two decisions simultaneously. The results reveal a strong interdependence between mobile phone ownership and internet access. The mobile phone appears to be the primary gateway to the internet, with a nearly 30-percentage-point increase in the probability of internet access for individuals who own it. The analysis also highlights a multidimensional digital divide. Women, rural populations, low-income individuals, and those with low levels of education are significantly less likely to adopt ICTs. Education is the most important determinant, ahead of income, whereas age follows an inverted U-shaped relationship, with adoption peaking among young adults. The results are robust to the estimation of an instrumental variables probit model, confirming the stability of the estimated relationships. These findings call for public policies focused on three priorities. First, economic barriers to internet access, particularly data costs, should be reduced for populations already equipped with mobile phones. Second, invest in digital skills, given the central role of education in adoption. Finally, women and rural populations should be prioritized through joint initiatives on access, digital skills, and infrastructure.

Keywords: digital divide, mobile adoption, internet access, socioeconomic determinants, biprobit, WAEMU

JEL Classification: C25, O33, O55.