Workshop on Human Potential (Patricia Ritter, Harris)

Patricia Ritter, Doctoral Student, Harris School of Public Policy and CHPPP Pre-Dissertation Fellow, will present, "The Effect of Cell Phone and Internet Access on Labor Market Outcomes in Rural Villages in Peru."

Bio: Patricia Ritter is a third-year doctoral student at the Harris School and a CHPPP Pre-Dissertation Fellow. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Oxford and a B.Sc. in Economics from the Universidad del Pacifico in Peru. She has worked for the International Finance Corporation in Peru and for the Institution of Liberty and Democracy in Tanzania and Mexico, among others. Her research interests center on health, labor and development economics.

Abstract: Even when, theoretically, information and telecommunication technology (ICT) should produce important benefits for a society, especially in terms of employment and other labor outcomes, there is little empirical evidence of these benefits. In this paper we analyze the effect of cellphone and Internet penetration on labor market outcomes by analyzing the effect of a government program in Peru that introduced ICT in remote areas. We apply a Difference in Difference (DiD) approach at the village level. Additionally, in order to account for potential migration bias, we estimate another model that incorporate fixed effects at the individual level.

The Workshop/Working Group on Human Potential is one of the core intellectual activities of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy. It is an interdisciplinary forum for graduate students, post docs, and faculty whose work concerns behavior, health, and well-being across the lifespan and the ways in which technology and public policy shape human potential and achievement. The Workshop/Working group has active members in the areas of the social, behavioral, health, and policy sciences.

The Workshop/Working Group on Human Potential alternates between two types of sessions. Not only do we regularly invite outside speakers for a traditional "workshop" presentation, but we also provide a forum for faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students to present research-in-progress in order to receive critical and constructive feedback.