TIME-SPACE COMPRESSION REVISITED: EXAMINING THE EFFECT OF INTERNET USE ON COSMOPOLITANISM, INTERNATIONAL ONLINE COMMUNICATION AND TRADE

Open Access
- Author:
- Bai, Yang
- Graduate Program:
- Mass Communications
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 25, 2019
- Committee Members:
- Krishna Prasad Jayakar, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Krishna Prasad Jayakar, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Patrick Robert Parsons, Committee Member
Anne M Hoag, Committee Member
Johannes Wolfgang Fedderke, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Internet
Cosmopolitanism
International online communication
International trade
Generalized Methods of Moments - Abstract:
- The role of communication technologies as an agent of globalization has long been recognized. With the wide adoption of the Internet around the globe, increasing attention has been given to the new technology as a force which could shrink the world into a global village. This dissertation joins the discussion on the distance-compressing effect of the Internet. First, the common narratives regarding the role of the Internet in the compression of physical distance are revisited. Specifically, the distance-compression is often described as a dramatic increase in cross-border communication, which, in turn, fosters a cosmopolitan worldview that all humans belong to the same community. Two studies are conducted to examine whether these potentials of the Internet, which are widely believed to be the reality but in fact have never been empirically tested, are indeed realized. In general, a positive effect of the Internet is found. Nevertheless, only after the diffusion of the Internet reaches a critical level will the increase in its adoption lead to a rise of the cosmopolitan worldview, and the positive effect of the Internet on cross-border online communication is found to be stronger in high-income countries. Second, the Internet’s effect on the compression of physical distance is examined by analyzing data on U.S. exports. Although the Internet could significantly increase the exports of the U.S. to its partner countries, there is little evidence suggesting that the Internet achieves this effect through mitigating the challenges imposed by the physical distance.