The effects of home access to technology on computer skills: Evidence from a field experiment

The overwhelming reliance on technology in the workplace and classroom, and for communications and acquiring information suggests that computer skills are and will continue to be important for labor market success. This paper examines whether disparities in access to home computers are limiting the acquisition of computer skills, and thus potentially resulting in negative economic consequences for those being left behind in the digital age. Estimating the causal relationship between home computers and computers skills, however, is fraught with selection bias. To address this problem, I use data from the first-ever randomized field experiment providing free computers to students. Participating students were randomly selected to receive free computers to use at home and their computer skills were measured at the end of the second academic year. I find that the treatment group of low-income students receiving free computers has significantly higher levels of computer skills than the control group of low-income students not receiving free computers. The "intent-to-treat" estimates indicate an increase in high-level computer skills of 17 percentage points, and the LATE estimates indicate a range of 19 to 23 percentage points. The results are robust to estimation strategy, measurement of the dependent variable, and inclusion of different sets of controls. The benefits appear to be the strongest among young, minority, low-income, and female students.