http://web.mit.edu/marshall/www/home
Communication Networks and the Rise of an Information Elite -- Do Computers Help the Rich Get Richer?
(working paper, current version 96/05/01)
Circumstances exist under which a telecommunications policy of
universal access leads to an increase in the gap between the
information "haves" and the "have-nots." A national information
infrastructure which provides only channels and not incentives for
information sharing might therefore lead to results which are
reversed from those originally intended. This argument and several
related propositions are explored through a formal theoretical
model built on four simple assumptions: one cannot converse with
everyone at the same time, information is not lost when shared,
private information resources differ in quality, and agents can
improve the quality of their information based on the quality of
the resources to which they gain access. The model rigorously
explains how inter-agent infrastructure can be used to help the
"rich get richer" and also why "it's not just what you know but
whom you know." This theoretical framework serves to explain several
stylized events and offers several useful levers for explor