Measuring the digital divide: A modified benefit-of-the-doubt approach
Publication Name
Knowledge-Based Systems
Abstract
In this paper, a modified composite index is developed to measure digital inclusion for a group of cities and regions. The developed model, in contrast to the existing benefit-of-the-doubt (BoD) composite index literature, considers the subindexes as non-compensatory. This new way of modeling results in three important properties: (i) all subindexes are taken into account when assessing the digital inclusion of regions and are not removed (substituted) from the composite index, (ii) in addition to an overall composite index (aggregation of the subindexes), partial indexes (aggregated scores for each subindex) are also provided so that weak performances can be detected more effectively than when only the overall index is measured, and (iii) compared with current BoD models, the developed model has improved discriminatory power. To demonstrate the developed model, we use the Australian digital inclusion index as a real-world example.
Open Access Status
This publication is not available as open access
Volume
261
Article Number
110191
Funding Number
19- 13946S
Funding Sponsor
Grantová Agentura České Republiky