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The Role of Web and E-Commerce in Poverty Reduction: A Framework Based on Ecological Systems Theory

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E-Life: Web-Enabled Convergence of Commerce, Work, and Social Life (WEB 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 258))

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Abstract

Web and eCommerce enabled by easy access to Internet on mobile devices have a great potential to reduce poverty by improving access to education, health, government, financial and other services, and by providing access to potential global markets for the products and services they can offer. However, the role of Web/eCommerce in poverty reduction has not been well studied in IS research; specifically no theoretical framework for such studies exist. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework that can help identify causes of poverty and help examine how Web/eCommerce can intervene to reduce poverty. Our framework is based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. We apply the resulting framework to rural farming families.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kent State University, Kent, USA

    Dong-Heon Kwak

  2. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, USA

    Hemant Jain

Authors
  1. Dong-Heon Kwak
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  2. Hemant Jain
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Correspondence to Dong-Heon Kwak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Decision and Information Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Vijayan Sugumaran

  2. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA

    Victoria Yoon

  3. Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    Michael J. Shaw

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Kwak, DH., Jain, H. (2016). The Role of Web and E-Commerce in Poverty Reduction: A Framework Based on Ecological Systems Theory. In: Sugumaran, V., Yoon, V., Shaw, M. (eds) E-Life: Web-Enabled Convergence of Commerce, Work, and Social Life. WEB 2015. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 258. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45408-5_12

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