Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/210953 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IFN Working Paper No. 1312
Publisher: 
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm
Abstract: 
Individuals with ancestry from countries with advanced information technology in 1500 AD, such as movable type and paper, adopt the internet faster than those with less advanced ancestry. The analysis illustrates persistence over five centuries in information technology adoption in European and U.S. populations. The results hold when excluding the most and least advanced ancestries, and when accounting for additional deep roots of development. Historical information technology is a better predictor of internet adoption than current development. A machine learning procedure supports the findings. Human capital is a plausible channel as 1500 AD information technology predicts early 20th century school enrollment, which predicts 21st century internet adoption. A three-stage model including human capital around 1990, yields similar results.
Subjects: 
Internet
Technology diffusion
Information technology
Intergenerational transmission
Printing press
JEL: 
O33
D13
D83
J24
N70
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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