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Place matters for the poor: Digitisation and spatial inequality in Chile

Pedro Fierro et al.

Telecommunications Policy2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2026.103188article
AJG 1
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0.50

What the paper says

This paper examines the extent to which digitalisation can foster political inclusion in the context of a centralised political system with spatial inequalities. It investigates the factors associated with the digitalisation of 343 municipal governments and how both territorial and individual-level characteristics relate to attitudinal and behavioural digital civic engagement, using data from 9924 face-to-face surveys in the Chilean region of Valparaíso. At the municipal level, the results show that territorial inequalities continue to determine access to digital services since larger and wealthier localities tend to provide more digital services. At the individual level, living in a digitised municipality is positively associated with the likelihood of using digital services. Additionally, wealthier individuals are more likely to feel empowered or engage digitally. However, engagement is greater in poorer areas, suggesting that digitisation may be particularly valuable where traditional political inclusion is limited. Important is that place and person characteristics interact: disadvantaged individuals are more engaged digitally when they live in poorer areas than when they live in wealthier areas, place makes little difference for the well-off. • Territorial inequalities continue to shape the availability of digital services • Digital engagement with local government is greater in poorer areas • Place does not matter much for the well-off, but it does matter for the poor. • Disadvantaged individuals digitally engage less with local government in wealthier areas. • Results highlight the importance of person-in-place based digital policies.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2026.103188

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@article{pedro2026,
  title        = {{Place matters for the poor: Digitisation and spatial inequality in Chile}},
  author       = {Pedro Fierro et al.},
  journal      = {Telecommunications Policy},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2026.103188},
}

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Place matters for the poor: Digitisation and spatial inequality in Chile

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.