Do children benefit from internet access? Experimental evidence from Peru

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Development Economics
Year: 2019
Volume: 138
Issue: C
Pages: 41-56

Authors (4)

Malamud, Ofer Cueto, Santiago (not in RePEc) Cristia, Julian (not in RePEc) Beuermann, Diether W. (Inter-American Development Ban...)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper provides experimental evidence for the impact of home internet access on a broad range of child outcomes in Peru. We compare children who were randomly chosen to receive laptops with high-speed internet access to (i) those who did not receive laptops and (ii) those who only received laptops without internet. We find that providing free internet access led to improved computer and internet proficiency relative to those without laptops and improved internet proficiency compared to those with laptops only. However, there were no significant effects of internet access on math and reading achievement, cognitive skills, self-esteem, teacher perceptions, or school grades when compared to either group. We explore reasons for the absence of impacts on these key outcomes with survey questions, time-diaries, and computer logs.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:deveco:v:138:y:2019:i:c:p:41-56
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-24