Girls' Night In? Effects of the Kenyan COVID-19 Lockdown on Web Browsing.
Saved in:
| Title: | Girls' Night In? Effects of the Kenyan COVID-19 Lockdown on Web Browsing. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Giardili, Soledad1 (AUTHOR) soledad.giardili@ed.ac.uk, Jain, Sanjay2 (AUTHOR) sanjay.jain@economics.ox.ac.uk, Miller, Amalia R.3 (AUTHOR) armiller@virginia.edu, Ramdas, Kamalini4 (AUTHOR) kramdas@london.edu, Sungu, Alp5 (AUTHOR) alpsungu@wharton.upenn.edu |
| Source: | Review of Industrial Organization. Apr2025, Vol. 66 Issue 4, p493-524. 32p. |
| Subjects: | Web browsers, Internet speed, Stay-at-home orders, Gender inequality, Digital divide |
| Abstract: | We present the first objective evidence on how COVID-19 lockdowns affected internet browser usage in Africa: We use detailed digital trace data on PC-based and mobile-based browsing patterns of 316 Kenyans who had access to a PC. Our data cover the period before and during Kenya's first national COVID-19 curfew, which was declared on March 25, 2020. We find that total daily browser usage increased by 41 minutes, or 15 percent of average browsing time, after the curfew started. We find no significant differences in total browsing time during the curfew by gender or by residence in high-speed versus low-speed broadband access areas. However, we do find gender differences in the content of browsing. Women's time on YouTube and Netflix exceeded men's from the start of our sample period, and the gender gap in Netflix browsing increased by 36 minutes daily, which corresponds to almost twice the average daily Netflix time in the sample. Men's browsing became less concentrated during the curfew, across both domains and topics– but women's did not. The degree of overlap in browsing between men and women also increased: This was likely due to men visiting sites that were previously exclusively visited by women. Across the entire sample, browsing of Kenyan domains dropped significantly relative to that of non-Kenyan domains, which indicates greater reliance on international content during this period of economic and social upheaval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Review of Industrial Organization is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 1 |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 185469710 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Girls' Night In? Effects of the Kenyan COVID-19 Lockdown on Web Browsing. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Giardili%2C+Soledad%22">Giardili, Soledad</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> soledad.giardili@ed.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jain%2C+Sanjay%22">Jain, Sanjay</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> sanjay.jain@economics.ox.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Miller%2C+Amalia+R%2E%22">Miller, Amalia R.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> armiller@virginia.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ramdas%2C+Kamalini%22">Ramdas, Kamalini</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> kramdas@london.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sungu%2C+Alp%22">Sungu, Alp</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> alpsungu@wharton.upenn.edu</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Review+of+Industrial+Organization%22">Review of Industrial Organization</searchLink>. Apr2025, Vol. 66 Issue 4, p493-524. 32p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Web+browsers%22">Web browsers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internet+speed%22">Internet speed</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stay-at-home+orders%22">Stay-at-home orders</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+inequality%22">Gender inequality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Digital+divide%22">Digital divide</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: We present the first objective evidence on how COVID-19 lockdowns affected internet browser usage in Africa: We use detailed digital trace data on PC-based and mobile-based browsing patterns of 316 Kenyans who had access to a PC. Our data cover the period before and during Kenya's first national COVID-19 curfew, which was declared on March 25, 2020. We find that total daily browser usage increased by 41 minutes, or 15 percent of average browsing time, after the curfew started. We find no significant differences in total browsing time during the curfew by gender or by residence in high-speed versus low-speed broadband access areas. However, we do find gender differences in the content of browsing. Women's time on YouTube and Netflix exceeded men's from the start of our sample period, and the gender gap in Netflix browsing increased by 36 minutes daily, which corresponds to almost twice the average daily Netflix time in the sample. Men's browsing became less concentrated during the curfew, across both domains and topics– but women's did not. The degree of overlap in browsing between men and women also increased: This was likely due to men visiting sites that were previously exclusively visited by women. Across the entire sample, browsing of Kenyan domains dropped significantly relative to that of non-Kenyan domains, which indicates greater reliance on international content during this period of economic and social upheaval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Review of Industrial Organization is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=egs&AN=185469710 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s11151-025-10015-3 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 32 StartPage: 493 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Web browsers Type: general – SubjectFull: Internet speed Type: general – SubjectFull: Stay-at-home orders Type: general – SubjectFull: Gender inequality Type: general – SubjectFull: Digital divide Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Girls' Night In? Effects of the Kenyan COVID-19 Lockdown on Web Browsing. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Giardili, Soledad – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Jain, Sanjay – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Miller, Amalia R. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Ramdas, Kamalini – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sungu, Alp IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 04 Text: Apr2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 0889938X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 66 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Review of Industrial Organization Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
