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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Charles S. Saba (Johannesburg, South Africa); Simplice A. Asongu (Johannesburg, South Africa); Nicholas Ngepah (Johannesburg, South Africa); Yolande E. Ngoungou (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | The present study assesses how governance affects information and communication technology at the global level contingent on macroeconomic policy factors such as trade, foreign investment, manufacturing value added and agriculture value added. The focus of the study is on 183 countries for the period 2003 to 2021 and the empirical evidence is based on the generalised method of moments. The following main findings are established. For the full sample, governance unconditionally promotes ICT development while trade openness (industrial added value) moderate governance to promote (dampen) ICT development. In sub-Saharan Africa, only trade openness effectively moderates governance to induce an overall positive effect on ICT while in the MENA, all policy variables moderate governance for an overall positive incidence on ICT sector development. The findings of the MENA are confirmed in the ECA region with the exception of the moderating role of industrial added values which engenders an overall negative effect. In the East & South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP) countries, one overall positive incidence is apparent in the role of trade openness while net negative effects are established from the moderating roles of industrial added value and agricultural added value, respectively. In the American sub-sample, a positive (negative) net effect is apparent from the role of industrial added value (trade) in moderating the incidence of governance on ICT sector development. Policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | ICT; Governance; Trade; FDI; Industry; Agriculture |
| JEL: | G20 O38 O40 O55 P37 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:23/040&r=ict |
| By: | Makoza, Frank |
| Abstract: | The Government of Malawi set out to implement national ICT policy from 2013 to 2016. The policy activities were partially executed, and recently reviewed the ICT policy to incorporate digitization. This paper reviewed policy change that led to the development of Malawi ICT and digitalization. Using Deleuze and Guattari’s Assemblage Theory, the study analysed policy documents and media reports. Content analysis was used to analyse the secondary data. The findings showed that the policy development activities departed from the conventional process of policy cycle championed in the line ministry of the ICT sector. Instead, the Presidential Delivery Unit coordinated the policy change. The process destabilized policy activities to address service delivery, transformation of economic sectors and created opportunities for policy actors to exercise their distributed agency. The study contributes to the literature on policy change of national digital policies in the context of developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Policy change, Policy Assemblage, National Digital policy, Digitalization policy, Malawi |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:273309&r=ict |
| By: | Antonela Miho; Martin Borowiecki; Jens Høj |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on the effects of digitalisation on the labour market in Slovenia using a unique dataset of Slovenian workers and firms for the years 2016 to 2020. Results show that at the firm level, digitalisation – measured in terms of ICT investment, is associated with positive and statistically significant effects on employment. However, job growth is not evenly distributed: High-skilled workers and younger workers benefit the most from employment gains, whereas there is little to no employment increases for low- and medium-skilled workers and older workers aged 50 or more. Furthermore, employment effects from digitalisation are strongest for private manufacturing firms. In contrast, ICT investment by state-owned firms is not associated with employment gains. |
| Keywords: | employment, ICT investment, labour reallocation, wages |
| JEL: | E22 E24 J62 O33 |
| Date: | 2023–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1767-en&r=ict |
| By: | Martin Borowiecki; Federico Giovannelli; Jens Høj |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on the impact of digitalisation on productivity in Slovenia during the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic affected overall labour productivity negatively. Nonetheless, results show that firms that were more ICT-intensive before the pandemic experienced a smaller decline in their labour productivity growth compared to their less ICT-intensive peers in the same 2-digit level sector. This resilience effect was strongest for firms that are integrated in global value chains. A second finding is that COVID-19 resulted in productivity-enhancing reallocation of labour to ICT-intensive firms, reflecting that these firms registered higher employment growth relative to their less ICT-intensive peers during the pandemic. A third finding is that high levels of state ownership in a sector was associated with less productivity-enhancing reallocation. This suggests that state-owned enterprises retained workers that could be redirected to more productive firms. Together, these findings highlight the potential of digitalisation to support resilience and stronger productivity growth, although labour market rigidities and state ownership hamper the positive impact of digitalisation. |
| Keywords: | digitalisation, labour reallocation, productivity |
| JEL: | D24 E22 E24 O33 |
| Date: | 2023–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1766-en&r=ict |