Mapping Multistakehoderism In Internet Governance In Lebanon: Implications On The Internet And Economic Development

The study presented in this thesis investigates the causal relationship between Internet governance and economic output in Lebanon. It addresses the controversy surrounding concepts of multistakeholder Internet governance and the Lebanese government’s monopoly regime. It seeks to investigate and engage with issues that are of rising importance to the vitality of the Internet, which is becoming more central to economic and social development around the world. Specifically, it highlights the importance of multistakeholder participation in Internet governance and examines the implementation of such an approach in practice.

The purpose of this study is twofold. On one hand, it attempts to answer a relatively straightforward question: does Internet governance spur Internet development and economic advancement? Intuitively, it seems clear that broadband Internet with good governance engenders economic growth. Here, the researcher presents the evidence generated by the literature regarding the debate over Internet governance and the impact of the Internet on the economy, examining some empirical studies and investigating case studies that illustrate how multistakeholderism is applied in practice at a national level.

On the other hand, this study examines empirical evidence the researcher has gathered in Lebanon; this evidence addresses current Internet infrastructure and Lebanese stakeholders’ views on the process of multistakeholder Internet governance. Some researchers in this area have focused on a direct relationship between broad Internet and economic growth, however, no study has investigated the effect of Internet governance on economic performance. This study attempts to develop a model of multistakeholder Internet governance, (MIG-L), that helps explain the origin of Internet governance and points toward theories linking the structure of the proposed model to the performance of the Internet and the economy.

The literature on governing the Internet suffers from insufficient attention to the governance dynamics and influences within countries and limited appreciation for the micro-level political and social roots of governance. By raising some yet unexplored issues in the debate, this thesis aims to contribute to efforts to better understand the dynamics of multistakeholderism at a national level and to leverage a more pragmatic model of multistakeholder Internet governance.

The pragmatic epistemological approach offered in this mixed-methods research is consistent with interpretations of contemporary institutional scholars like Coase as well as those of liberal economists like Stigler, Posner and Peltzman.