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Recent article in The Economist features Robert Jensen, a development economist at Harvard University, explaining how mobiles helped the fishermen in Kerala, a region in the south of India, increase incomes and pay for the phones.
According to Jensen, fishermen’s profits jumped 8% on average and consumer prices fell by 4% on average. Initially, mobile phone is seen as an investment in Kerala. However, with the rise in profits, phones typically paid for themselves within two months, clearlyunderlying the importance of the free flow of information.
Still, it’s difficult to tell if mobile phones are promoting growth, or growth is promoting the adoption of mobile phones, as people become able to afford them. But detailed analyses of micro-market data show how phones really do make people better off…
The Economics has the complete story. (via: textually)
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
