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)