nep-ict New Economics Papers
on Information and Communication Technologies
Issue of 2017‒09‒17
seven papers chosen by
Walter Frisch
Universität Wien

  1. The Theoretical Framework for the Application of the TAM in Online Grocery Shopping By Radka Bauerová; Martin Klepek
  2. The role of mobile phones in governance-driven technology exports in Sub-Saharan Africa By Simplice Asongu; Ndemaze Asongu
  3. Does Broadband Internet Affect Fertility? By Francesco C. Billari; Osea Giuntella; Luca Stella
  4. Rights on Data: The EU Communication ‘Building a European Data Economy’ From an Economic Perspective By Wolfgang Kerber
  5. Do Speed Cameras Save Lives? By Cheng Keat Tang
  6. Network-Mediated Knowledge Spillovers: A Cross-Country Comparative Analysis of Information Security Innovations By Branstetter, Lee; Gandal, Neil; Kunievsky, Nadav
  7. R&D Policy and Technological Trajectories of Regions: Evidence from the EU Framework Programmes By Wolf-Hendrik Uhlbach; Pierre-Alexandre Balland; Thomas Scherngell

  1. By: Radka Bauerová (Department of Business Economics and Management, School of Business Administration, Silesian University); Martin Klepek (Department of Business Economics and Management, School of Business Administration, Silesian University)
    Abstract: In today's world, the technology and internet reshaped the way products are ordered, delivered and consumed. More and more customers have internet connection thus opportunity to buy online. The products bought mostly online are mobile and IT, electronics, home and gardening equipment and fashion. On the other side of the spectrum is food. Thanks to high demands on logistics, companies entered the market in the Czech Republic gradually. One fourth of Czech customers tried buying food online and every tenth person buys groceries regularly. However, the relative turnover of online groceries to whole e-commerce market is low. Online retailers or e-retailers are therefore in constant search for understanding of consumer behaviour behind current situation. The aim of the paper is to formulate a theoretical model and formulate a hypothesis for consecutive model testing via structural equation modelling approach. The model will be suitable for online grocery shopping acceptance as a new technology in retail domain.
    Keywords: Technology acceptance model, TAM modification, online sales, online shopping, online grocery shopping
    JEL: M31
    Date: 2017–08–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:opa:wpaper:0044&r=ict
  2. By: Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Ndemaze Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon)
    Abstract: This study assesses how the mobile phone influences governance to improve information and communication technology (ICT) exports in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and three main governance concepts are used, namely: (i) institutional (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control); (ii) political (involving political stability/no violence and voice & accountability) and (iii) economic (including regulation quality and government effectiveness) governance. The following findings are established. First, there are positive net effects on ICT goods exports from independent interactions between mobile phones and ‘political stability’ ‘voice and accountability’ and corruption-control. Second, significant net effects are not apparent from independent interactions between mobile phones and government effectiveness, regulation quality and the rule of law. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
    Keywords: Knowledge economy; Development; Africa
    JEL: L59 L98 O10 O30 O55
    Date: 2017–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:17/036&r=ict
  3. By: Francesco C. Billari; Osea Giuntella; Luca Stella
    Abstract: The spread of high-speed Internet epitomizes the digital revolution, affecting several aspects of our life. Using German panel data, we test whether the availability of broadband Internet influences fertility choices in a low-fertility setting, which is well-known for the difficulty to combine work and family life. We exploit a strategy devised by Falck et al. (2014) to obtain causal estimates of the impact of broadband on fertility. We find positive effects of highspeed Internet availability on the fertility of high-educated women aged 25 and above. Effects are not statistically significant both for men, low-educated women, and under 25. We also show that broadband access significantly increases the share of women reporting teleworking or part-time working. Furthermore, we find positive effects on time spent with children and overall life satisfaction. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that high-speed Internet allows high-educated women to conciliate career and motherhood, which may promote fertility with a “digital divide”. At the same time, higher access to information on the risks and costs of early pregnancy and childbearing may explain the negative effects on younger adults.
    Keywords: Internet, Low Fertility, Work and Family, Teleworking
    JEL: J11 J22
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp928&r=ict
  4. By: Wolfgang Kerber (University of Marburg)
    Abstract: In its Communication "Building a European data economy" the EU Commission discusses the introduction of a new exclusive property right on data ("data producer right") for non-personal (or anonymised) machine-generated data, and mandatory access rights to privately held data for achieving more access, transfer and reuse of data, esp. in the context of "Internet of Things" applications. This article analyzes the problem of "rights on data" from an economic perspective (incentive problem, data markets, bargaining power problems, access problems in multi-stakeholder situations) and the reasonings and proposals in the Communication from an economic perspective. Important results are that a "data producer right" cannot be recom-mended but that access rights to data can be part of specifically tailored data governance solu-tions in certain sectors.
    Keywords: Big Data, machine-generated data, data ownership, data access, data markets, internet of things
    JEL: L86 O34
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201735&r=ict
  5. By: Cheng Keat Tang
    Abstract: I evaluate whether speed enforcement cameras reduce the number and severity of traffic accidents by penalizing drivers for exceeding speed limits. Relying on micro data on accidents and speed cameras across Great Britain, I find that installing these devices significantly enhance road safety. Putting another 1,000 cameras reduce around 1130 collisions, 330 serious injuries, and save 190 lives annually, generating net benefits of around £21 million. However, these effects are highly localised around the camera and dissipate over distance, and there is suggestive evidence of more collisions away from the camera, illustrating the possible limitations associated with fixed speed cameras.
    Keywords: accidents, injuries, fatalities, speed camera, speeding
    JEL: H23 I18 R41
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0221&r=ict
  6. By: Branstetter, Lee; Gandal, Neil; Kunievsky, Nadav
    Abstract: A large and growing literature has used patent and patent citation data to measure knowledge spillovers across inventions and organizations, but relatively few papers in this literature have explicitly considered the collaboration networks formed by inventors as a mechanism for shaping and transmitting these knowledge flows. This paper utilizes an approach developed by Fershtman and Gandal (FG 2011) (and applied to Open Source Software) to examine the incidence and nature of knowledge flows mediated by the collaboration networks of inventors active in the information security industry. This is an industry in which a number of nations outside the United States, including Israel, have emerged as important centers of innovation. Israeli prominence in this sector is often attributed, in part, to a dense network of personal collections and collaborations that has its genesis in elite intelligence units in the Israeli Defense Forces, through which many Israeli information security inventors and entrepreneurs receive their first exposure to this domain. Using data from U.S. PTO patent grants in information security, we find that the quality of Israeli information security inventions is systematically linked to the structure of the collaborative network generated by Israeli inventors in this sector. Using the FG (2011) model, this suggests that there are knowledge spillovers from the network. In some other nations, invention quality is less closely linked to the collaboration networks of inventors. This research highlights the importance of direct interaction among inventors as a conduit for flows of frontier scientific knowledge.
    Keywords: Information Security; Knowledge Spillovers; patents
    JEL: O31 O33 O57
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12268&r=ict
  7. By: Wolf-Hendrik Uhlbach; Pierre-Alexandre Balland; Thomas Scherngell
    Abstract: It is widely acknowledged that new technological specializations of regions are to a large extent driven by the recombination of existing knowledge and capabilities. Since this process is path-dependant and self-reinforcing, it can easily lead to technological lock-ins. A key issue is therefore to evaluate whether public policy can impact technological trajectories of regions and how it can be more effective. To address this issue, we analyze quantitatively and systematically the relation between R&D subsidies and new technological specializations of European regions from 1999 to 2010. R&D subsidies are identified by using the EU Framework Pro- grammes (FP) from the EUPRO database, and matched with patent documents from the OECD-REGPAT database. Using a fixed-effects linear probability model, our results indicate that FP participations have a positive but relatively small effect on the development of new specializations of regions, and that it can compensate for a lack of local related capabilities. We also find evidence that R&D subsidies have the highest impact if the level of relatedness with the new technology is neither too low (policy can not build a cathedral in the desert) nor too high (if all the capabilities are already present there is no need for policy).
    Keywords: Regional Diversification, Technological Change, R&D subsidies, EU Framework Programmes
    JEL: O31 O33 O38 O52
    Date: 2017–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1722&r=ict

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