nep-ict New Economics Papers
on Information and Communication Technologies
Issue of 2005‒08‒13
three papers chosen by
Walter Frisch
University Vienna

  1. Status and Overview of Official ICT Indicators for China By Masahiro Katsuno
  2. Technological change: An analysis of the diffusion and implications of e-business technologies By Philipp Koellinger
  3. The economics of Information Technologies Standards & By Eric Thivant; Laid Bouzidi

  1. By: Masahiro Katsuno
    Abstract: <P>This paper examines the state of official ICT statistics in China and tries to assess ICT development in China from the currently available information. This can be seen as a first order stocktaking. The aim would be to move to a situation where data can be collected more systematically from China so as to compare them internationally.</P><P>Compared with OECD countries, statistics play a unique role in China, as they are an important tool for showing the progress made towards reaching the quantitative goals set in each Five-Year Plan. The provision of statistical data by various government bodies is therefore quite comprehensive, but because of he objective of these statistics, the information is often not or only partially comparable internationally. Most data from non-official sources are based on official statistics. The Chinese government recently passed legislation which restricts the collection of statistical data by foreign bodies, be they private or ...</P> <P>Indicateurs officiels sur les tic en Chine: tour d’horizon et bilan de la situation <P>Ce document examine la situation en matière de statistiques officielles des TIC en Chine et s’efforce d’évaluer le développement des TIC en Chine en se basant sur les informations existantes. Ce travail peut être considéré comme une première tentative de bilan. L’objectif serait d’accéder à une situation dans laquelle les données peuvent être collectées de manière plus systématique en Chine afin de pouvoir figurer dans des comparaisons internationales.</P><P>En Chine, les statistiques occupent une place particulière par rapport aux pays de l’OCDE : elles constituent un outil important pour démontrer les progrès accomplis au regard des objectifs quantitatifs fixés dans chaque plan quinquennal. Les données statistiques fournies par les différentes instances gouvernementales sont donc assez complètes, mais étant donné la finalité de ces statistiques, l’information n’est souvent pas comparable internationalement, ou elle ne l’est qu’en partie. La plupart des données des sources non ...</P>
    Date: 2005–03–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2005/4-en&r=ict
  2. By: Philipp Koellinger (DIW Berlin)
    Abstract: This is a monograph that presents both a comprehensive literature review and original research results on the diffusion and the implications of e-business technologies. The diffusion of e-business technologies among firms is regarded as part of the ongoing process of technological change and economic development. It is shown that increasing returns to adoption can arise if the technologies do not substitute each other in their functionalities, leading to an endogenous acceleration mechanism of technological development. Hence, the probability to adopt any e- business technology is hypothesized to be an increasing function of previously adopted, related technologies. Early mover advantages can exist until the early mover has exhausted all possibilities of the new technological paradigm that promise positive returns on investment. Thus, history matters for the technological development of a firm and adoption decision today affect the expected value of any other related technology in the future. The existence of the endogenous acceleration mechanism has important implications for the management of new technologies, the performance of enterprises, the development of market structures and entire economies. The theory is empirically tested and supported in four independent inquiries, using two different exceptionally large datasets and different econometric methods. The existence of a growing digital divide among companies is demonstrated for the period between 1994 and 2002. In addition, the adoption of new e-business technologies by firms creates opportunities to conduct innovation, either to reduce the costs for a given output, to create a new product or service, or to deliver products to customers in a way that is new to the enterprise. Hence, it is argued that the adoption of new technologies does have strategic relevance for firms. Empirical evidence is presented showing that e-business technologies are currently an important enabler of innovations. It is found that innovative firms are more likely to grow. Also, e-business related innovations are at the very least not inferior to traditional kinds of innovations in terms of simultaneous occurrence with superior financial performance of enterprises. The study takes an interdisciplinary approach by relating both to the economics and the management literature, with the objective to show complementarities between both research fields and to draw conclusions for both kinds of audiences.
    Keywords: Technological change, innovation, diffusion, adoption, multiple related technologies, e-business, ICT, firm performance, endogenous acceleration, competitive advantage
    JEL: O3 L0 C1
    Date: 2005–07–29
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0507008&r=ict
  3. By: Eric Thivant (University Jean Moulin Lyon 3 - Centre de Recherche de l'IAE - Equipe de Recherche SICOMOR); Laid Bouzidi (University Jean Moulin Lyon 3 - Centre de Recherche de l'IAE - Equipe de Recherche SICOMOR)
    Abstract: This research investigates the problem of Information Technologies Standards or Recommendations from an economical point of view. In our competitive economy, most enterprises adopted standardization’s processes, following recommendations of specialized Organisations such as ISO (International Organisation for Standardization), W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and ISOC (Internet Society) in order to reassure their customers. But with the development of new and open internet standards, different enterprises from the same sector fields, decided to develop their own IT standards for their activities. So we will hypothesis that the development of a professional IT standard required a network of enterprises but also a financial support, a particular organizational form and a precise activity to describe. In order to demonstrate this hypothesis and understand how professional organise themselves for developing and financing IT standards, we will take the Financial IT Standards as an example. So after a short and general presentation of IT Standards for the financial market, based on XML technologies, we will describe how professional IT standards could be created (nearly 10 professional norms or recommendations appear in the beginning of this century). We will see why these standards are developed outside the classical circles of standardisation organisations, and what could be the “key factors of success” for the best IT standards in Finance. We will use a descriptive and analytical method, in order to evaluate the financial support and to understand these actors’ strategies and the various economical models described behind. Then, we will understand why and how these standards have emerged and been developed. We will conclude this paper with a prospective view on future development of standards and recommendations.
    Keywords: information technologies, financial standards, development of standards, evaluation of the economical costs of standards
    JEL: L
    Date: 2005–07–27
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0507007&r=ict

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