Rizky Dwi Putri, Moh Shadiqur Rahman, Annur Ahadi Abdillah, Wen-Chi Huang
The expansion of Internet access from urban to rural and coastal areas has changed all aspects of life, including lifestyles and work practices. Although several studies have shown that Internet use is essential in the fisheries sector, more information about the link between Internet usage and subjective well-being among small-scale fishermen is needed. This study is the first attempt to investigate the effect of Internet use on subjective well-being, particularly for small-scale fishers. This study used cross-sectional data from 220 respondents in East Java, Indonesia. Two-stage predictor substitution (2SPS) approaches were used to address the endogeneity issue in the estimation. The results revealed that fishing tools, access to credit, and region positively and significantly influenced small-scale fishers' determination to use the Internet. Savings and off-farm employment significantly and negatively affect adoption decisions. The main findings suggest that Internet use significantly increases small-scale fishermen's subjective well-being (proxied by happiness and life satisfaction). This suggests that improving the Internet infrastructure in coastal areas is needed to support economic activities in the fisheries sector and boost the well-being of small-scale fishers. © 2024 The Authors
Departement of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan; Department of Development Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; Agriculture Socio-Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia; Department of Marine, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine, Universitas Airlangga, Campus C UNAIR, Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
