The Impact of Investment in IT on Economic Performance: Implications for Developing Countries

This paper reviews quantitative and qualitative evidence on the impact of IT on economic performance in developed and developing countries. Two strands of this literature are considered: the IT-productivity connection and the effects of IT on labor composition and the work environment. Policy implications for developing countries are considered.

Understanding the digital divide: A literature survey and ways forward

The term digital divide was introduced in the mid-1990s and defined as the gap separating those who have access to new forms of information technology from those who do not. The digital divide remains an important public policy debate that encompasses social, economic and political issues. This paper presents a literature review and classification scheme for digital divide research. The review covers journal articles published between 2001 and 2010 in three types of journals: (1) Information technology & information systems, (2) Economics and business & management and (3) Social science. A classification of digital divide literature and a comprehensive list of references are provided. The results show that the digital divide is a multifaceted phenomenon, due to the many dimensions of determinant factors. Recent studies have included socio-economic, institutional and physiological factors in order to gain a greater understanding of the digital divide. Among other findings, they show that technological determinism is not sufficient to explain the emergence of the digital divide. Moreover, several types of technologies were investigated, both from empirical and conceptual standpoints. The Internet is the most commonly studied technology. The divide in access and usage are discussed at the global, social and democratic levels by employing a quantitative method, either a survey or data analysis, as the main method. However, there is less discussion in developing countries and at the level of the organization (i.e. SMEs, the private sector and the public sector). The qualitative research method could be seen as a complementary method to fill the gap in the current research. The choice of policies which have been recommended to the policy maker and national regulatory agency (NRA) are also presented and discussed at the end of this paper. Several initiatives made at the country and regional levels and by international organizations have also attempted to create a combined policy. This may suggest that the combined policy is the current trend among digital divide policies. Therefore, there is a need for future research to examine these determinants through the context of global, social and democratic divides. The results would provide some insight into how diverse people in different areas adopt ICTs. --Digital divide,Literature review,Future research

The Impact of Information Technology on Productivity in Developing Countries

The information technology (IT) revolution has resulted in a digital divide evolving between nations that have the skills and capability to absorb these new technologies, and those without. Since developing countries have assumed that the adoption of IT may be their key engine of growth, they have exerted a lot of efforts in an attempt to overcome this digital gap. This study tests whether higher IT adoption results in higher total factor productivity (TFP) growth of developing countries or not, by conducting a panel data regression for 33 developing countries over the period 2002-2006. It also examines the relative importance of IT adoption in comparison to other technological aspects such as: Technology creation, technology transfer, and enhancing individuals’ technological absorptive capacities through higher educational levels. The study concludes that IT adoption and higher educational attainment tend to relatively be the most significant factors affecting TFP growth in developing countries.Information Technology, Productivity, Digital Divide, Development

Growth of ICT and ICT for Development: Realities of the Myths of the Indian Experience

ICT, growth, development, India, software exports

Intellectual Property Rights and South-North Formation of Global Innovation Networks

With the rise of the knowledge economy, delivering sound innovation policies requires a thorough understanding of how knowledge is produced and diffused. This paper takes a step to analyze a new form of globalization, the so-called system of Global Innovation Networks (GINs), to shed light on how the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) influences their creation and development. We focus on the role of IPR protection in fostering international innovative activities in emerging economies (South), such as China and India, and more generally, how IPRs affect the development of GINs between newly industrialized countries and OECD countries. Using both survey-based firm-level and country-level global data, we find IPRs to be an important determinant of participation in GINS from a Southern perspective. We find IPR protection at home and its harmonization across county pairs foster South-North formation of GINs. We also find that a stringent regime in the destination country discourages foreign international innovative activities that originate in NICs. Both levels of our analysis confirm the ICT industry, particularly the hardware segment, to rely on IPRs when engaging in the international outsourcing and offshoring of innovation or in patenting activities abroad.Gravity Model, Information Communication Technology, Innovation, Intellectual Property Rights, International collaborations, Networks

The state of green technologies in South Africa

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ICT and Cross-Country Comparisons: a Proposal of a New Composite Index

This paper focuses on the use and diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a mechanism that may reduce the global divide between rich and poor countries. Our main contribution deals with the importance of counting with accurate time-series data and a precise assessment of the components that define ICT indicators at a national level. Thus, a multiple imputation technique is carried out to estimate ICT missing data under the expectation maximization approach. The resulting dataset allows us to propose a more confident estimation of an ICT composite index based on the notion of national capabilities, the called NaCap Index. A distinctive feature of the NaCap is that it attempts to capture countries’ differences on education and structural elements, both determinant factors to attain positive impacts from the use of ICT. The calculation of the Nacap Index for a broad sample of 170 countries and for a time spam from 1991 to 2003 enable us to do cross-country and time comparisons in a more robust manner.La idea de partida en este trabajo es que las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC), particularmente su uso y difusión, pueden resultar ser un mecanismo que contribuya a la disminución de la desigualdad existente entre países ricos y pobres en la era digital. Nuestra principal aportación está relacionada con la importancia que tiene la disponibilidad de información estadística para períodos extensos y mediciones más precisas de los distintos componentes que definen el nivel de acceso a las TIC de los países. Se recurre al uso de una técnica de imputación múltiple para estimar los datos ausentes de TIC y, a partir de esta estimación, se realiza la propuesta de un nuevo índice complejo de difusión de TIC que aporta una más adecuada cuantificación de las capacidades nacionales: el índice NaCap. Una de las características distintivas del NaCap es que intenta capturar el papel diferenciado de los distintos niveles de acceso a la educación en relación con la complejidad de las tecnologías y otros elementos estructurales de las economías, entendiéndolos como factores determinantes del impacto de las TIC en el desarrollo de los países. La estimación de los valores que adopta el índice NaCap en 170 países durante el período comprendido entre 1991 y 2003 permite la realización de análisis dinámicos así como acometer comparaciones internacionales más amplias y precisas que las que permite la información disponible en otras fuentes estadísticas internacionales.Difusión tecnológica, Adopción de tecnologías, Brecha digital, Indicadores compuestos, Imputación de datos, Technology diffusion, technology adoption, Digital divide, Composite indicators, Data imputation.

Competing in the Digital Economy?: The Dynamics and Impacts of B2B E-commerce on the South African Manufacturing Sector

ICTs, B2B e-commerce, manufacturing sector, South Africa

Determinants of Productivity per Employee: an Empirical Estimation Using Panel Data

Two different approaches are used in this article to study productivity per employee: the determinants of its growth rate in the 1990s are first examined, and then the determinants of its level, using a more structural approach. ICT are shown to have a positive and significant effect on both growth rates and levels of productivity. This result is consistent with that of Gust and Marquez (2002), although the sample of countries is larger and GMM are used. In both sections of the paper, the employment rate and productivity exhibit a significant negative relationship, arising from the concentration of employment on the most productive members of the workforce. Indicators of financial depth and price stability are found to be significant.Productivity ; Panel ; Generalized method of moments ; Information and communication technology (ICT) ; Growth accounting

Innovation-ICT-cybersecurity: The triad relationship and its impact on growth competitiveness

This study examines the global growth competitiveness of countries using the dynamics of growth, ICT, and innovation. It also introduces a new dynamic, cybersecurity, and argues that within a growth competitiveness framework, ICT, innovation, and cybersecurity mechanisms allow some countries to achieve higher ranks on the competitiveness ladder than others. Based on a theoretical framework that encompasses the economic growth model, the complementarity theory, and the international law theory, a model that integrates ICT, innovation, and cybersecurity, depicts the relationships amongst them and with growth competitiveness, and incorporates complementary factors with possible moderating effect is presented. The model proposed relationships are then tested using PLS-PM. The model proves to have adequate goodness-of-fit as well as predictive validity. Results support most hypotheses showing: (1) a positive relationship between ICT and innovation; (2) a positive relationship between each of innovation and ICT with growth competitiveness; (3) a mediating effect of innovation has in the ICT – growth competitiveness relationship; (4) a positive relationship between ICT and innovation on one hand and cybersecurity on the other; (5) a mediating role of cybersecurity in the ICT – growth as well as the innovation – growth relationships; and the (6) moderating effect that human capital has in the above relationships. Cyber threats, however, do not have a moderator role in these relationships. These findings are interpreted in relation to the extant body of knowledge related to ICT, innovation, and cybersecurity. Moreover, the theoretical and the practical implications are discussed and the practical significance is shown. Finally, the study limitations are listed, the recommendations are presented, and the direction for future work is discussed