Assessing the Activeness of Online Economic Activity of Taiwan’s Internet Users: An Application of the Super-Efficiency Data Envelopment Analysis Model

Discussions on the second-level digital divide focus on the skills of Internet users as well as their online activity. Thus, this study applies a super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework to investigate Internet users’ activeness of users’ online economic activity at an individual level. Here, we consider users’ access to information and communication technologies (ICT), their Internet literacy, and their level of usage. In addition, the framework offers a basis for measuring and comparing ICT users. First, we construct a super-efficiency DEA model, which we use to create an index measuring the extent of users’ online economic activity. Second, we apply an OLS regression to explore the factors that influence such activity. Our results can be used to analyze the issues surrounding the second-level digital divide in terms of Internet users’ online economic activities. Our regression results indicate that those Internet users who are female, more educated, employed, earn a higher monthly income, and live in eastern Taiwan demonstrate greater online economic activity than other users. Finally, the positive significance of the difference between using broadband and 3G to access the Internet emphasizes the importance of Internet connection speed to such activities.