The current–voltage characteristics of light-emitting devices containing thin films of poly(dialkoxy-p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) incorporated with silicon dioxide nanoparticles have been investigated. It is demonstrated that the current enhancement of the devices containing composite layers can be modeled by assuming that the effective thickness of the composite layers is about half of their actual thickness. Field-effect measurements reveal that the mobility of the charge carriers in PPV is not significantly changed by the incorporation of nanoparticles. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.