Authors identify challenges and potentials for using new information technologies, such as the Internet, to help jobseekers in rural labour markets find employment. Social networks and telephone helplines were found to be used most at present.
Despite significant improvements in nominal levels, severe gaps of digital inclusion still exist in the American economy. This paper argues that, for certain groups, migration towards mobile computing and digital inclusion may transpire from 2G voice centric mobile telecommunications to data centric mobile computing devices. Accordingly, this analysis employs a large data set to investigate what socio-economic factors are determinant for the diffusion of mobile telecommunications; how these findings can be extended to help close the digital divide; and how these findings can inform policy making concerning the digital divide.
Author Keywords: Digital divide; Mobile computing; 2G & 3G mobile communications; Internet