Special Issue On E-Business and the Politics of Poverty Alleviation
Guest Editors:
Lakshmi Iyer, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Babita Gupta, California State University Monterey Bay
Introduction
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), specifically emerging Internet-based technologies, increase the potential for e-Business to help alleviate poverty. First and foremost, it can get much needed information to the people in the form of market information, health information, and government service information. This information can help people improve their economic status. For example, farmers using an SMS service can get real-time market prices for their goods and with that information, they can negotiate better price through their intermediaries. Second, e-Business can open up markets by increasing access. Farmers can be linked to world commodity markets and artisans to international buyers through e-commerce sites. While traditional methods of poverty alleviation rely on job creation through temporary employment, job creation through internet-based initiatives could be strengthened. In addition, market expansion through the Internet can help create more jobs.
Government initiatives that embrace use of the Internet can also alleviate poverty. Online access to government provides a single source for services. Thus, people seeking these services do not have to travel from one government department to another to get help. These government initiatives can also increase government transparency, which can fight corruption and break down barriers to job creation. In both developed and developing nations, alleviation of poverty involves redistribution of wealth to improve conditions of underserved populations. While the intrinsic objectives of this notion are altruistic in nature, the politics surrounding redistribution of wealth is an important political issue. While there is much potential for e-Business to alleviate poverty, research linking the two is scarce.
Objective of the Special Issue
The objective of the special issue is to seek research papers that focus on the topic of E-Business and the Politics of Poverty Alleviation.
Recommended Topics
Topics to be discussed in this special issue include (but are not limited to) the following:
Submission
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit papers for this special theme issue on e-Business and Poverty Alleviation on or before April 2, 2010. All submissions must be original and may not be under review by another publication. INTERESTED AUTHORS SHOULD CONSULT THE JOURNAL’S GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS at http://www.igi-global.com/development/author_info/guide.asp. All submitted papers will be reviewed on a double-blind, peer review basis. Papers must follow APA style for reference citations.
All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of:
Lakshmi Iyer
Babita Gupta
Guest Editors
International Journal of E-Politics
Email:
Lsiyer@uncg.edu
bgupta@csumb.edu
