The (teaching) role of universities in the diffusion of the Internet

This paper provides evidence that students in the mid-1990s learned to use the Internet at university and then continued use after graduation, highlighting a micro-level role for institutions in diffusion. In particular, it shows that university attendance in the mid-1990s had a larger effect on Internet use (especially email) than did university attendance in other periods. It also shows that people who live with students from the mid-1990s are more likely to be Internet users. These effects are largest for low income households. They do not, however, hold for the use of other technologies such as word processing. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.