Abstract
Digitalization is increasingly invoked as a vector of socio-economic inclusion, but most studies deal with the relationships between digital infrastructure, innovation, employment and poverty through linear models that assume pre-established causal directions and ignore the interdependence structure of the system. This paper proposes a complementary approach, based on network analysis, which allows the simultaneous estimation of the associations between all variables and the identification of their latent configuration. The study capitalizes on data for the member states of the European Union and a Network Analysis was carried out, in which the edges express partial correlations, i.e. associations remaining after controlling for all other variables in the network. The strongest positive associations arise between individual internet use and household access to the internet, respectively between innovation performance and internet use, confirming that digital adoption and innovation capacity form a coherent core. The occupancy rate functions as a connecting node between the two communities, being connected to both digital variables and innovation. In contrast, the poverty rate behaves as a peripheral node, maintaining only negative relationships with employment, internet use, internet access and innovation, suggesting that socio-economic exclusion manifests itself simultaneously as digital exclusion. The conclusions support the idea that digital access does not lead to inclusion directly, but through effective use, innovation capacity and employment. From a public policy perspective, the results call for interventions that go beyond the expansion of infrastructure and target digital skills and the absorption of innovation, as levers to reduce poverty.
Cuvinte cheie
digital divide
socio-economic inclusion
network analysis
partial correlation network
innovation
employment
European Union.
Istoric articol
Publicat
31.08.2026
Informații autori
Citare recomandată
Elena Iulia Nițescu (2026). From Digital Access to Socio-Economic Inclusion: A Network Analysis of European Countries. Constantin Brâncuși University of Târgu Jiu Economics Series, 2(1), 606–612. https://doi.org/10.65631/jes.4.2026.55
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