Determinant Factors of Rural Income Distribution with Special Reference to Information and Communication Technology

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of information and communication technology development on economic development and income distribution of rural communities and to answer this question that whether the development of information and communication technologies in rural areas could improve income distribution condition in these communities or not. To this end, data on 30 province of country during 2000-2009 and panel data method has used. Results approves Kuznet's inverted U theory with respect to the economic growth and income distribution and shows that information and communication technology development has improved the income distribution and economic justice in country's rural communities. The negative and significant coefficient (-0.15), of number of computer users among rural households, show that the development of information and communication technologies in rural areas of the country play as a factor for improving income distribution in these communities. The model estimation also showed a significant and positive effect of urbanization and unemployment on the dependent variable. This means that with rising unemployment, the condition of income distribution has worsened in rural communities during the period of study.