The Internet and poverty in developing countries: Welfare economics versus a functionings-based approach

There are many reasons why the impact of the Internet on poverty in developing countries is poorly understood. Not the least of these reasons has to do with alternative modes of thinking about the issue. In this paper, we examine the theories of consumption underlying two important evaluative frameworks, namely, traditional welfare economics on the one hand and Sen's notion of functionings on the other. Using a number of actual examples, we find that in at least two major respects, the former approach is far too limiting and needs to be replaced by the latter (which, in particular, focuses on the actual use that is made of the Internet and embraces, rather than excludes, disciplines other than economics). The functionings approach has a close affinity with ethnographic research, which, as we tried to show, reveals much about the less visible impact of the Internet on poverty.