The role of education in the IT diffusion: evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

Abstract

We analyse the importance of education as a measure of human capital in the computer and Internet diffusion within households in the UK for the period from 2000 to 2005. We employ data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and we use a modified version of a dynamic random effect probit model proposed by Cappellari and Jenkins (2009) and a propensity matching score technique proposed by Rubinstein and Rubin (1983) to measure the importance of education in the IT diffusion among households. Our results suggest that higher levels of education at home have played an important role in the spread of these technologies and that these technologies tend to create a habit among users which is stronger for more educated families.