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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Maciej Albinowski; Piotr Lewandowski |
| Abstract: | We study the age- and gender-specific labour market effects of two key modern technologies – Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and robots – in 14 European countries between 2010-2018. To identify the causal effects of technology adoption, we utilize the variation of technology adoption between industries and apply the instrumental variables strategy proposed by Acemoglu and Restrepo (2020). We find that the adoption of ICT and robots increased the shares of young and prime-aged women in employment and wage bill of particular sectors, but reduced the shares of older women and prime-aged men. The negative effects were particularly pronounced for older women in cognitive occupations – who tend to have low ICT-related skills – and for young men in routine manual occupations who experienced substitution by robots. Between 2010 and 2018, the growth of ICT capital played a visibly larger role than robot adoption in explaining changes in labour market outcomes of demographic groups. |
| Keywords: | technological change, labour market outcomes, demographic groups, Europe |
| JEL: | J24 O33 J23 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp042022&r= |
| By: | Olatunji A. Shobande (Teesside University, UK); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | Generally, the revolutionary idea behind using information and communication technology (ICT) has improved potential productivity in many industries, particularly in Africa. ICT is an essential tool in the oil and gas industry and plays a complementary role in technological dynamics and cross-sectoral productivity. For the educational sector, ICT facilitates research and development as well as in imparting knowledge. ICT remains the password to essential inputs required for any given output in terms of improved productivity and economic development. With regard to employment creation, ICT accounts for more than 50% of employment globally. Despite the significant role of ICT in the economy, evidence shows that more than 90% of carbon emissions have been linked to ICT production, installation, and usage. This study aims to determine whether ICT causes environmental sustainability in Nigeria and South Africa. The methodological contribution of the study lies in combining the STIRPAT framework and time series based on the VAR/VEC Granger causality, enabling the study to uncouple the dynamic interaction among environmental sustainability indicators. The findings show that ICT has contributed to South Africa's environmental sustainability, whereas evidence in Nigeria is relatively mixed. Therefore, the study recommends the urgent need to provide intervention programs tailored toward investing in environmental infrastructure to mitigate the threat of climate change in Nigeria. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions; ICT; Economic development; Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | C52 O38 O40 O55 P37 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:22/062&r= |
| By: | Lucia Russo; Jens-Christian Høj; Martin Borowiecki |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses key priorities and policy recommendations to accelerate Slovenia’s digital transformation. The government’s ambitious digitalisation strategy (Digital Slovenia 2030 Strategy) aims at putting Slovenia among the five most digitalised countries in Europe. Achieving this objective would foster productivity growth and help offsetting the negative effects of a declining labour force. While Slovenia performs well in several areas of the digital transformation, further efforts are needed to achieve the government’s ambitious objective. These include reducing the urban-rural gap in high-speed broadband access, supporting the digital transformation of businesses, fostering digital innovation, improving digital government, upgrading ICT-related skills and attracting foreign ICT specialists. |
| Keywords: | connectivity, digital transformation, labour market, productivity, skills, Slovenia |
| JEL: | I25 J24 L96 O33 O38 O43 O52 J31 |
| Date: | 2022–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1726-en&r= |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaounde, Cameroon); Mushfiqur Rahman (University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK); Mohammad Alghababsheh (Mutah University, Jordan) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses how business/financial sustainability in the perspective of financial stability moderates information technology to influence female economic participation in 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2008-2018. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions that enabled the study to account for the censored nature of the outcome variables. The following important findings are established. First, ICT dynamics (mobile phone penetration, internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions) are consistently moderated by business sustainability to positively affect female employment in the industry. Second, business sustainability scores need to exceed certain thresholds before moderating fixed broadband subscriptions to induce favorable overall effects on female employment, female labour force participation and female unemployment rates. These thresholds are 18.742 and 19.505 Z-scores for positive effects on female employment and female labour force participation, respectively and a Z-score of 17.300 for a negative impact on female unemployment. The thresholds which should be exceeded are within policy reach, make economic sense and are policy relevant. The study contributes to the extant literature by providing actionable thresholds of business sustainability that can be employed by policy makers in order for information technology to positively influence female economic inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Keywords: | information technology; business sustainability, gender inclusion |
| JEL: | E23 F21 F30 L96 O55 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:22/057&r= |
| By: | Rodrigo Fernández; Sarah Kups; Ana Llena-Nozal |
| Abstract: | This paper sets out the OECD’s assessment of the information technology (IT) systems for social services used by the public administration in Spain. It shows that large disparities exist between and within regions in the use of IT tools. The lack of unified systems and the different ways to identify individuals and classify services makes the exchange of information extremely challenging. Improving the national data collection on social services highlights the importance of agreeing on a common terminology and deciding on a set of indicators as well as designing a flexible IT infrastructure to collect the information. |
| Keywords: | information technologies, social services, spain |
| JEL: | H11 I38 L86 |
| Date: | 2022–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:277-en&r= |