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This paper studies the distribution of computer use in a comparison between two of the most dominant suppliers of low-cost computers for education in developing countries (partly because they involve diametrically opposite ways of tackling the problem). The comparison is made in the context of an analytical framework which traces the changing characteristics of products as income rises over time. The crucial distinction turns out to be the way sharing is handled in the two cases. In the one no sharing is allowed while in the other sharing is the basis of the entire product design. Put somewhat differently, the one computer is intensive in a high-income characteristic whereas the other relies entirely on a low-income characteristic. (Contains 1 table, 5 figures, and 9 footnotes.)

This brief paper uses a simple arithmetic framework to classify and explain the performance of developing countries in closing the absolute digital divide. Four categories are created on the basis of two variables, namely, the penetration and rate of growth of mobile phones. The paper answers questions such as: Which countries do well and badly on both variables? Are the countries in these categories drawn from specific regions or similar income levels or is the distribution more random? How can similar countries from the same region appear in two diametrically opposite categories? What does this imply for policy? (Contains 6 tables, 2 figures, and 6 footnotes.)

For the majority of those living in developing countries (especially in the rural areas) sharing may be the only means of obtaining access to IT. Oddly, however, no-one has viewed "IT for development" specifically from this point of view for the Internet, computers and mobile phones. A good beginning, it seems to me, is to make an analytical classification of existing sharing mechanisms so that they can be compared and contrasted. In so doing I rely partly on the relationship between information technology, social capital and quality of life in developing countries.

This paper is concerned with the requirements for and implications of, moving from the confines of the conventional concept of the digital divide to one that reflects a world distribution of Internet users with different income levels, with particular reference to those users living in poverty. The first part of the note provides a simple, sequential, two-country illustration of what such a transition would entail. The resulting framework is then used to revisit the much-discussed issue of recent changes in Internet use between rich and poor countries. One mechanism that is associated with the revised concept is shown to substantially reduce the size of the digital divide as conventionally measured. The other mechanism, by contrast, works in the opposite direction because the increased number of users in developing countries are drawn from high-income, educated and urban classes, creating a highly unequal distribution within these countries.

Mobile phones are a crucial mode of communication and welfare enhancement in poor countries, especially those lacking an infrastructure of fixed lines. In recent years much has been written about how mobile telephony in Africa is rapidly reducing the digital divide with developed countries. Yet, when one examines the evidence it is not at all clear what is really happening. In one country, Tanzania, for example, some observers point to the fact that 97% of the population lives under the mobile footprint, while others show that ownership is very limited. These extreme values prompted us to review the situation in Africa as a whole, in an effort to discover what is really going on.

Meeting the Millennium Development Goals will necessarily require a heavy focus on rural areas, where most of the world's poor are to be found. More specifically, policy will need to raise the productivity of this group, which includes farmers, wage labourers and those suffering from disease and malnutrition. Yet, at present, no index exists which can assess countries on the basis of technological indicators that bear heavily on the productivity of the rural poor. A wide variety of unresolved problems notwithstanding, this paper constitutes the first attempt to construct an index that is designed specifically to assist those who are concerned with rural-specific policies towards meeting the MDGs.

Understanding why sport fans socially interact with other fans, participate in team-related discussions, recruit new members, and retain membership in sport fan communities is an important issue for sport marketers. In this study, we tested a model of fan community identification that included outcome and moderator variables in the contexts of two major professional sport leagues (soccer and baseball) in Japan. Based on the results, in both settings, fan community identification had positive effects on team brand equity and four fan community-related consequences: fan community engagement, customized product use, member responsibility, and positive word-of-mouth. Furthermore, the impact of team brand equity on positive word-of-mouth was strengthened by consumers' participation in fan loyalty programs. The theoretical model and results add new insights that advance our understanding of fans' collective feelings of friendship and camaraderie in sport fan communities., Introduction Many sport fans come together at stadiums in order to enrich their social ties with others by sharing communal fan experiences such as talking, clapping, singing, or yelling (Melnick, [...]

Introduction: The distinctive social nature of sport in its capacity to promote immigrants’ adaptation to the new society has been regarded as a vehicle to cope with adverse mental health outcomes derived from acculturative stress (AS) and feelings of marginalization. However, the evidence on the relationship between sport participation (SP), AS, and mental health have been lacking and fragmented. Recognizing this challenge, we examined the mediating effect of AS on the relationship between SP and depressive symptoms (DS) among international college students in the USA. Methods: A total of 203 international college students in the USA were recruited via Prolific. The instrumentation included previously validated measures: SP (SLIM-18), AS (ASSIS), DS (CES-D-10), sense of coherence (SOC-13), and demographic characteristics. Results: Mediation analysis showed a significant association between (1) SP and DS (ß = −0.030, p < 0.05) and (2) AS and DS (ß = 0.053, p < 0.001), while (3) no significant indirect effect of AS was found [ß = −0.001, SE = 0.0003, 95% CI (−0.008, 0.004)]. Discussion: Even though several previous scholars have argued that SP is an effective tool to cope with AS among international students, the present study implies this may not be applied to all international students. Specifically, AS and DS among European participants were lower than those from non-European countries, including Asia. Future studies using meta-analysis could be beneficial to examine the external validity of the previous studies on the relationship between SP, acculturation, and mental health to address this potential heterogeneity on the level of AS based on their origin countries or continents. The current study provides meaningful implications for adopting the transformative marketing perspective, which is a marketing approach that pursues positive social outcomes by promoting positive behavior of the target population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As competition for top athletes intensifies, and as challenges associated with recruitment increase, universities must develop and employ recruiting strategies based upon attributes that student-athletes identify as important to their decision-making process. The study investigates college choice decision attributes of student-athletes, identifies key choice criteria, and examines gender and ethnicity issues related to student-athlete college choice. Three of the four decision attributes identified as being most important focused on academic characteristics of the university. Male student-athletes placed a higher value on athletic characteristics of the university as compared to female student-athletes, and females placed a higher value on academic characteristics as compared to male student-athletes. (Contains 4 tables.)