Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Shandra, John | Cole, Stephen | Tyree, Andrea | Koenig, Michael.
Date
2015-08-01
Keywords
developing countries, International Monetary Fund, Internet, longitudinal, telecommunications, World Bank | Sociology
Department
Department of Sociology.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76832
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
Because cross-national studies have not addressed the question about the effectiveness of International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) structural adjustment loans, and World Bank telecommunications loans on Internet usage in developing countries, I address this gap though analysis of the contending theoretical perspectives of dependency and economic liberalization. My study is based on a longitudinal analysis of 149 World Bank low-and middle-income countries from 2000 through 2008 inclusive using ordinary least squares and a lagged dependent variable model. Relevant explanatory factors in addition to the lagged dependent of Internet usage, include three types of structural adjustment loans (SAL), debt, trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), real interest rates, private investment in telecommunications infrastructure, GNP, gross capital formation, primary and secondary education, urbanization and democracy. To increase the validity and reliability of my findings, I use three techniques for dealing with missing data: pairwise deletion, listwise deletion, and mean substitution. Findings are similar among the three types of missing data techniques. First, only a country's GNP, secondary education, and prior level of Internet usage in 2000 significantly affect the level of Internet usage in 2008. Second, the results for the WB and IMF structural adjustment loans are mixed, with both positive and negative correlations associated with Internet usage in 2008. Third, for all three types of missing data techniques, the WB telecommunications loan has a negative correlation with Internet usage in 2008, with the WB telecommunications loan reaching negative and statistical significance using mean substitution. | 120 pages
Recommended Citation
Stalker, Dianne S., "Structural Adjustment, Debt, and Internet Usage: A Longitudinal Study of Developing Countries" (2015). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 2708.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/2708