The world in one click: the digital divide associated with e-commerce in southern Europe

Abstract

This chapter examines the implications of the digital divide for e-commerce, particularly in southern Europe. We intend to analyze not only inequality in access to the Internet, but other forms of inequality: who shops through the Internet (the consumers), what inequalities exist among firms that sell through the Internet (structure, sectors, size, etc.) and even with reference to prosumers (those persons that both buy and seek information from the Internet). Using a comparative methodology, we examine these issues in four countries – Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece – along with the average for the European Union (EU). Among the main conclusions: there is no Europe at two speeds, but rather at various speeds. Spain continues to be near the EU average; Italy remains off the track, overtaken by Portugal, which has climbed onto the tech wagon; and in last place is Greece, which, as a consequence of the economic crisis, finds itself far from the other countries in the region.