Mobile phones: Uplifting weak and failed states

Washington Quarterly

Volumn 36, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 111-125

  Rotberg, Robert I ^a   Aker, Jenny C ^b  

^a CARLETON UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

^b TUFTS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84871424438     PISSN: 0163660X     EISSN: 15309177     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0163660X.2013.751651     Document Type: Article

References (26)

1. For numbers and abundant data, see Jenny C. Aker and Isaac M. Mbiti Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa, Journal of Economic Perspectives 24, no. 3 (2010): 207-232, http://sites.tufts.edu/jennyaker/files/2010/09/aker_mobileafrica.pdf
2. Robert I. Rotberg, Harnessing Mobile Telephonic Capabilities, in Africa Emerges: Consummate Challenges, Abundant Opportunities (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013, forthcoming)
3. data also heavily drawn from an unpublished paper by Jenny C. Aker and Robert I. Rotberg, Harnessing Mobile Telephone Capabilities for Positive Social Change in Weak and Failed States, May 2012; (Research support generously provided by Google Ideas, with particular gratitude toward Brendan Ballou and Yasmin Dolatabadi).
4. Nigeria's Phase3 Telecom to Boost Fiber Optics in West Africa, BikyaMasr, February 23, 2012, www.bikyamasr.com/58298/
5. Samantha Spooner, The Freedom on the Net, 2011, Africa Review, February 23, 2012, http://www.africareview.com/Special+Reports/The+freedom+on+the+Net+2011/-/979182/1333304/-/a49s95z/-/index.html
6. Sanja Kelly, Sarah Cook, and Mai Truong, eds., Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media, (Washington, DC: Freedom House, September 24, 2012), http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTN%202012%20FINAL.pdf
7. Raul L. Katz and Pantelis Koutroumpis, Measuring Socio-Economic Digitization: A Paradigm Shift (working paper presented at TPRC 2012), Social Science Research Network, May 30, 2012, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2031531
8. N. Czernich, O. Falck, T. Kretschmer, and L. Woessman, Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth, Economic Journal, 121, Issue 552 (2011): 505-532, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1840209
9. www.africa.slow: The Last Continent Without Fast, Easy and Cheap Internet Access, Economist, August 27, 2011, http://www.economist.com/node/21526937.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. See Robert I. Rotberg, The Failure and Collapse of Nation-States: Breakdown, Prevention, and Repair in When States Fail: Causes and Consequences, ed. Rotberg (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), 1-45.
13. iCow, Afriapps, http://www.afriapps.com/app/icow.
14. Jenny C. Aker, Christopher Ksoll, and Travis J. Lybbert, Can Mobile Phones Improve Learning? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Niger.American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 4, no. 4 (October 2012): 94-120, https://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.4.4.94.
15. Ben Elers, quoted in Stephanie Strom, Web Sites Shine Light on Petty Bribery Worldwide, New York Times, March 8, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/business/web-sites-shine-light-on-petty-bribery-worldwide.html?pagewanted=all.
16. Kingsley Ighobor, Social Media for a Social Cause, AfricaRenewal, December 2011, http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2011/social-media-social-cause.
17. The Civil War in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa Resource, May 30, 2007, http://www.africaresource.com/index.phpioption=com_content&view=article&id=306:the-civil-war-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo&catid=36:essays-a-discussions&Itemid=346
18. Heather Murdock, Rapes, Retribution in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Voice of America News, November 23, 2011, http://www.voanews.com/content/rapes-retribution-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-134407438/148631.html
19. Death toll numbers vary depending on source, but for the highest figure, see Laura Heaton, Congo: a Death Toll Rivaling the Holocaust, Enough Project, February 11, 2010, http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/congo-death-toll-rivaling-holocaust.
20. Robert I. Rotberg, Mugabe Uber Alies: The Tyranny of Unity in Zimbabwe, Foreign Affairs (July/August 2010), http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66471/robert-i-rotberg/mugabe-ueber-alles.
21. How to Save Votes, Economist, February 28, 2012, http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2012/02/african-elections.
22. Health Statistics >Physicians >per 1000 people (most recent) by Country, NationMaster.com
23. Physicians per 1000 People (Most Recent) By Country, http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_phy_per_1000_peo-physicians-per-l-000-people
24. Robert I. Rotberg and Rachel M. Gisselquist, Strengthening African Governance: Index of African Governance, Results and Indicators (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School, 2009), 267, http://www.nber.org/iag/iag2009.pdf.
25. See Peter Wayner, Monitoring Your Health with Mobile Devices, New York Times, February 22, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/technology/personaltech/mon-itoring-your-health-with-mobile-devices.html
26. Eric Topol, quoted in Now for Some Good News: Two Books that Argue the Future is Brighter than We Think, Economist, March 3, 2012, http://www.economist.com/node/21548937.