Mobile phone penetration and its impact on inequality in the Western Balkan countries

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the mobile phone penetration rate on inequality in Western Balkan countries and to provide empirical evidence. We explore the question of whether cell phone diffusion helps to decrease inequality and whether it has a positive income equality effect. In the developed conceptual framework, we consider that people with access to mobile telephony also have access to Wi-Fi and GPS and that individuals can perform different activities, such as engaging in e-commerce, e-governance, health, and education; paying bills; saving money; and transferring money to other persons. This represents a good foundation for poor persons exit the cycle of deprivation and leads to the development of equal opportunities. We analyse the impact of mobile phone penetration on inequality in Western Balkan countries by using ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares models (Asongu, 2015). Our results confirm the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration

Mobile phone penetration and its impact on inequality in the Western Balkan countries

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the mobile phone penetration rate on inequality in Western Balkan countries and to provide empirical evidence. We explore the question of whether cell phone diffusion helps to decrease inequality and whether it has a positive income equality effect. In the developed conceptual framework, we consider that people with access to mobile telephony also have access to Wi-Fi and GPS and that individuals can perform different activities, such as engaging in e-commerce, e-governance, health, and education; paying bills; saving money; and transferring money to other persons. This represents a good foundation for poor persons exit the cycle of deprivation and leads to the development of equal opportunities. We analyse the impact of mobile phone penetration on inequality in Western Balkan countries by using ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares models (Asongu, 2015). Our results confirm the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration

Does the ESG matter for the countries that are not part of the European Higher Education Area?

In recent years the European countries have created a standard form for their Higher Education Systems, the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). In this paper, we have analyzed the levels of the Accreditation Process applied to the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Kosovo and Albania, and the compliance to the ESG guidelines. Furthermore, throughout the entire paper, we have made a comparison of the standards of the Accreditation Process for the HEIs in Kosovo and Albania. In order to capture these stages, we have surveyed both the accreditation agencies and the HEIs in Kosovo and Albania. From this analysis, we came to the conclusion that the accreditation process in Kosovo and Albania for the HEIs are in compliance to the ESG standards, and there is no a huge difference appearing, although Kosova is not part of Bologna Process. The paper gives hands-on information about the accreditation process of the HEIs in Kosovo and Albania that will be in the interest of all Higher Education System designers and developers of these two countries, but also for other transitions countries

Improving ICTs (Mobile Phone and Internet) for Environmental Sustainability in the Western Balkan Countries

The aim of this paper is to replicate an existing study using the Generalized Method of Moments on the impact of ICT penetration (Mobile Phone and Internet) in Western Balkan countries on environmental sustainability through changing CO2 emissions for the period 2000–2015. A two-step system GMM method is used to handle both endogeneity of the independent and persistency of the dependent variables. Two important findings are derived: First, we find that mobile phones have a positive impact, whereas the Internet has a positive but insignificant impact on CO2 emissions per capita in noninteractive models. The impact of ICTs is insignificant as far as CO2 emission from liquid fuel consumption is concerned in noninteractive specifications. Based on this finding, we suggest policymakers of Western Balkan countries follow interdisciplinary policies and strategies considering ICTs such as Internet penetration to mitigate CO2 emissions. Second, in interactive models, all marginal effects are negative, and in one specification the impact is statistically significant. We argue that increasing Internet penetration has a negative net effect on CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption. By calculating the policy threshold for this net effect, we discuss the practical implications for policy making in Kosovo where the average Internet penetration is below this threshold