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AbstractAversion to 'stigma'—disutility associated with a programme or activity due to beliefs about how it is perceived—may affect labour market choices and utilization of social programmes, but empirical evidence of its importance is scarce. Using two randomized field experiments, we show that stigma can affect consequential labour market decisions. Treatments designed to alleviate stigma concerns about taking entry‐level jobs—such as how those jobs are perceived by society—had small average effects on take‐up of job assistance programmes. However, using compositional analysis and machine learning methods, we document large heterogeneity in the responses to our treatments. Stigma significantly affects the composition of who takes up a programme: the treatments were more successful in overcoming stigma for older, wealthier and working respondents. For other people, we show that our treatments merely increased the salience of the stigma without dispelling it. We conclude that social image concerns affect labour market decisions and that messaging surrounding programmes can have important effects on programme take‐up and composition.

Purpose
In an increasingly digitalised society, digital participation is reliant on information communication technology (ICT) access and the ability to use technologies for everyday tasks. To this end, people risk being digitally excluded if they cannot access and use ICTs. The purpose of this paper is to examine globally the effects of ICT access and ICT use on digital inclusion on one hand and the mediating role of ICT usage on the linkage between ICT access and digital inclusion on the other.


Design/methodology/approach
The study used a hypothesized model based on structuration theory and secondary data drawn from multiple archival sources in 121 countries. The authors test the model using partial least squares structural equation modelling.


Findings
The results from the PLS analysis shows that while ICT usage significantly influences digital inclusion at the global level, ICT access does not. Furthermore, the mediating role of ICT usage was not supported.


Originality/value
This study to the best of the authors' knowledge is one of the very few studies to examine the effects of ICT access and ICT use on digital inclusion at the global level. The study contributes to the discourse on digital inclusion in ICT4D research.

The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has enabled the rise of ride-sharing services allowing individuals to access and request rides at a reasonably lower fee and their convenience thereby disrupting the delivery of traditional taxi services. Despite the promise of this sector, Information Systems (IS) research indicates a dearth of research examining the post-adoption behaviour of individuals in this sector. Furthermore, the concentration of studies in the developed world where the ride-sharing economy is more advanced has created an aperture of studies in the developing world. Relying on data from 133 respondents of ride-sharing services in Ghana and the Uses and Gratification (U&G) theory, we develop and analyze a model using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to understand the effects of gratification, trust, and platform quality on the continuance use of ride-sharing services. Our findings revealed that enjoyment, integrative benefits, trust, and platform quality significantly influence satisfaction. Furthermore, satisfaction was found to positively influence the continuance use intention of ride-sharing services. The moderating effects of education and user experience showed support for some relationships. Our findings, provide valuable insights into the post-adoption behaviour of users in the ride-sharing economy and offer some implications and future research directions.