The effects of mobile phones in social and economic development: The case of female microentrepreneurs in Chennai, India

This dissertation participates in the grand debate on whether ideas or technology change social structures that affect the lives of individuals. At its broadest and based on its findings, this dissertation makes the argument that neither ideas nor technology takes precedence. While technology can drive economic and social changes, it cannot do so in the absence of human agency. Insofar as technology drives social change, it does so by amplifying human intent and capacity. Through an examination of mobile phone use by 335 female microentrepreneurs in Chennai, India, this dissertation found that: (1) microentrepreneurs who are highly motivated to grow their businesses experience higher business growth, demonstrating a fairly strong link between attitudes and desired outcomes; (2) business growth is a function of both the use of mobile phones for business processes and the entrepreneurial intent to grow one's business; (3) the economic consequences of mobile phones use may sometimes be over-estimated by the users themselves; and (4) the social use of mobile phones may have a social development outcome in that female microentrepreneurs who use mobile phones for social purposes more frequently also reported a greater sense of self-worth. This dissertation also contributes to the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) field by introducing and testing the concept of mattering, a construct that measures self-perception of how significant one is to others. The generalizability of the findings in this dissertation is limited in part by the cross-sectional survey method that was used to collect the data. While claims of causality are made, they should be verified through longitudinal data and can be tested using more powerful statistical procedures. The generalizability of the findings are also limited to historic time and to Chennai, India, home of female microentrepreneurs with their own set of personal and business characteristics. Policy recommendations arising from the findings are also made.