- Title
- Information Inequality and Network Externalities: A Comparative Study of the Diffusion of Television and the Internet
- Author(s)
- Paul DiMaggio Paul DiMaggio (Princeton University)
- Joseph Cohen Joseph Cohen (Princeton University)
- Abstract
- This paper sheds light on whether intergroup inequality in Internet access is likely to persist as the diffusion process continues. To what extent is a given level of inequality in technology diffusion (e.g., use of the Internet) a long-term policy challenge or a temporary inconvenience? What general factors account for group-specific patterns of technology adoption? This paper draws on notions of network externalities to help answer this question. It also presents findings from a comparative analysis of household adoption of television from 1948 to 1957 and the Internet from 1994 to 2002.
- Creation Date
- 2003-10
- Section URL ID
- CACPS
- Paper Number
- 31
- URL
- https://culturalpolicy.princeton.edu/sites/culturalpolicy/files/wp31-dimaggio.pdf
- File Function
- Jel
- Z11, L86, L82
- Keyword(s)
- Television; Internet
- Suppress
- false
- Series
- 6