European Sociological Review Advance Access originally published online on July 27, 2005
European Sociological Review 2005 21(4):409-422; doi:10.1093/esr/jci030
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Causes and Trends of the Digital Divide
Sylvia E. Korupp, Faculty of Economics, Law, and Social Sciences, Erfurt University, Nordh
userstrasse 63, D-99089 Erfurt, Germany. E-mail: sylvia.korupp{at}uni-erfurt.de
Marc Szydlik, Institute of Sociology, Zurich University, Andreasstrasse 15, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland. E-mail: szydlik{at}soziologie.unizh.ch
In modern societies, the digital divide indicates the emergence of a new form of social inequality. To analyse this concept we study causes of private computer and Internet access with a three-fold model including human capital, family context and social context. The 1997, 2001, and 2003 German Socio-Economic Panel waves contain data on private computer and Internet use, as well as information on past and present socio-economic circumstances. In 2003, membership of technical generations and ethnic background to a large extent determined the use of new technologies. By illustrating the importance of human capital and family context we are able to explain additional differences found for computer and Internet use. Effects of income, gender, and living in a single household are significant. Our study shows that some of the long-term consequences of the 40-year German separation are diminishing with regard to computer use. We demonstrate that human and social capital are more important than economic capital in explaining private computer and Internet use. Indications for higher social classes to secure or even increase their favourable social positions exist.
Manuscript received: May 2004.
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