nep-ict New Economics Papers
on Information and Communication Technologies
Issue of 2020‒04‒20
six papers chosen by
Marek Giebel
Universität Dortmund

  1. Digitalisation challenges and opportunities for subnational governments By Luiz de Mello; Teresa Ter-Minassian
  2. Social media and price discovery: the case of cross-listed firms By Rui Fan; Oleksandr Talavera; Vu Tran
  3. THE ROLE OF E-SERVICE QUALITY TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY By issalillah, fayola
  4. The Relative Effectiveness of Teachers and Learning Software: Evidence from a Field Experiment in El Salvador By Konstantin Büchel; Martina Jakob; Christoph Kühnhanss; Daniel Steffen; Aymo Brunetti
  5. Bridging the divide- new evidence about firms and digitalisation By Reinhilde Veugelers
  6. Digitalisation and its impact on SME finance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reviewing the hype and actual developments By Disse, Sabrina; Sommer, Christoph

  1. By: Luiz de Mello; Teresa Ter-Minassian
    Abstract: The world economy and societies are going through a digital transformation that goes well beyond computerisation and use of information and telecommunications technologies. This transformation is creating opportunities and challenges for all levels of government in the areas of tax and expenditure policy and administration, service delivery and fiscal-financial management, and regulatory practices and policies. However, governments (especially sub-national ones, SNGs) often also face shortages of skills, equipment and physical infrastructure, while having to address emerging challenges in cyber security risk management and data protection. The digital transformation calls for cooperation among the different layers of administration in support of effective and efficient digitalisation of SNGs. This paper reviews and discusses these opportunities and challenges.
    Keywords: decentralisation, digitalisation, subnational governments
    JEL: H11 O38 H70
    Date: 2020–04–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ctpaab:31-en&r=all
  2. By: Rui Fan (Swansea University); Oleksandr Talavera (University of Birmingham); Vu Tran (University of Reading)
    Abstract: This paper examines whether social media information affects the price discovery process for cross-listed companies. Using over 29 million overnight tweets mentioning cross-listed companies, we investigate the role of social media for the linkage between the last periods of trading in the US markets and the first periods in the UK market. Our estimates suggest that the size and content of information flows in social networks support the price discovery process. The interactions between lagged US stock features and overnight tweets significantly affect stock returns and volatility of cross-listed stocks when the UK market opens. These effects weaken and disappear after one to three hours after the UK market opening. We also develop a profitable trading strategy based on overnight social media, and the profits remain economically significant after considering transaction costs.
    Keywords: Twitter, investor sentiment, cross-listed stocks, text classification, computational linguistics
    JEL: G12 G14 L86
    Date: 2020–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bir:birmec:20-05&r=all
  3. By: issalillah, fayola
    Abstract: The existence of the internet is followed by the development of various advanced technologies such as smartphones. A smartphone is a smart phone that is equipped with various convenience features for its users. Many aspects of life are affected by the development of the internet, one of which is consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is dynamic, meaning that consumer behavior is always changing and moving all the time, therefore when the Internet and technology continue to develop, consumer behavior also changes, including in terms of shopping. Customer satisfaction and loyalty depends on the quality of service provided by the company, in the online market we are more familiar with e-service quality is a new version of service quality that was developed to evaluate a service provided on the internet network. This study will examine the effect of e-service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty by involving 276 respondents who frequently shop online. The analytical tool used is path analysis. From the findings of the study mentioned that e-service quality has a significant influence on customer satisfaction but e-service quality does not have a significant effect on customer loyalty. Keywords: e-service quality, customer satisfaction, loyalty
    Date: 2020–04–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:csx3z&r=all
  4. By: Konstantin Büchel; Martina Jakob; Christoph Kühnhanss; Daniel Steffen; Aymo Brunetti
    Abstract: This study provides novel evidence on the relative effectiveness of computer-assisted learning (CAL) software and traditional teaching. Based on a randomized controlled trial in Salvadoran primary schools, we evaluate three interventions that aim to improve learning outcomes in mathematics: (i) teacher-led classes, (ii) CAL classes monitored by a technical supervisor, and (iii) CAL classes instructed by a teacher. As all three interventions involve the same amount of additional mathematics lessons, we can directly compare the productivity of the three teaching methods. CAL lessons lead to larger improvements in students' mathematics skills than traditional teacher-centered classes. In addition, teachers add little to the effectiveness of learning software. Overall, our results highlight the value of CAL approaches in an environment with poorly qualified teachers.
    Keywords: computer-assisted learning, productivity in education, primary education, teacher content knowledge
    JEL: C93 I21 J24 O15
    Date: 2020–04–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bss:wpaper:36&r=all
  5. By: Reinhilde Veugelers
    Abstract: Using new evidence on the digitalisation activities of firms in the European Union and the United States, we document a trend towards digital polarisation based on firms’ use of the latest digital technologies and their plans for future investment in digitalisation. A substantial share of firms are not implementing any state-of-the-art digital technologies and do not have plans to invest in digitalisation. However, there is also a substantial share of...
    Date: 2019–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:33633&r=all
  6. By: Disse, Sabrina; Sommer, Christoph
    Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are pivotal for inclusive economic development, but suffer disproportionally from institutional and market failures, especially from constrained access to external finance. Digitalisation of the financial industry is often seen as a game changer. This paper aims to answer the question what the role is of digital financial instruments in SME finance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It discusses the opportunities and challenges of digital advances for SME finance in general and of three specific financing instruments in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely mobile money (including digital credits), crowdfunding (including peer-to-peer lending) and public equity, in order to contrast the hype around digital finance with actual market developments and trends. Over 90 per cent of firms are small and medium-sized enterprises employing more than half of the formal workforce worldwide and more than 60 per cent in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). SMEs also account for most of the new jobs created (or at least as much as larger firms). They create economic opportunities such as employment, skill development and upward mobility in diverse geographic areas and economic sectors, and provide a livelihood and income for diverse segments of the labour force, including low-skilled workers as well as disadvantaged and marginalised groups such as young people, women and minorities. Hence, SMEs can foster inclusive economic development and subsequently contribute to social cohesion. A substantial share of national value added is attributed to SMEs and the SME segment is strongly and positively associated with economic growth (even though no causality can be claimed in this respect) and economic diversification. SMEs are also vital for advances in productivity and innovation, as small and young firms may introduce new, efficient technologies or - especially important for LMICs -make small modifications in order to adapt innovations to the local or national contexts or benefit from knowledge spillover. In short, SMEs play a crucial role for economic development. (...)
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:diedps:42020&r=all

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