DOES DIGITAL ACCESS INFLUENCE POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN RURAL AREAS? A VILLAGE-LEVEL STUDY IN CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/ijbs.12821.2026Keywords:
Digital Access, Poverty, Rural Area, IndonesiaAbstract
This study aims to determine the effect of digital access, including internet facilities, internet signals, telephone signals, television, and radio, on poverty at the village level in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that no previous study has measured the effect of digital infrastructure on poverty at the village level. The uniqueness of this study lies in its unit of analysis at the village level in Central Java. This study uses panel data analysis with a fixed effect model. The data used is the Central Java Province Village Potential data released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2018, 2021, and 2024 in 8,562 villages and a total of 25.684 observations. The results of this study indicate that digital access, consisting of the variables of Internet café, phone signal, and internet signal, has a negative and significant effect on poverty at the village level. In contrast, the variables of government television and private television have a positive and significant effect on poverty at the village level. Radio broadcasts have no significant effect on poverty at the village level in Central Java Province, Indonesia. This research recommends that the government provide facilities and training/education programs based on an equitable digital access infrastructure. Regarding internet infrastructure, 64.3% of villages in Central Java Province do not have internet access, and 12% do not have a phone signal. Government policy interventions should focus on individual device ownership and providing inclusive shared infrastructure so the entire community can access digital infrastructure.
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