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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Aghion, Philippe; Bunel, Simon; Jaravel, Xavier; Mikaelsen, Thomas; Roulet, Alexandra; Søgaard, Jakob |
| Abstract: | Using French firm-level data on AI adoption from 2017-2020, we find that, first, firms adopting AI are larger and more productive and skill intensive. Second, difference-in-difference estimates reveal an increase in firm-level employment and sales after AI adoption, suggesting that the induced productivity gains allow firms to grow and outweigh potential displacement effects. Third, occupations classified in recent work as substitutable with AI expand. Fourth, AI usage is a relevant dimension of heterogeneity in the labor demand response: We find positive employment growth for certain uses (e.g., information and communications technology security) and negative for others (e.g., administrative processes). |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2025–05–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128375 |
| By: | Demir, Banu; Javorcik, Beata; Piyush Paritosh Panigrahi |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how improved internet infrastructure impacts supply chains and economic activity, focusing on Turkiye. Using the expansion of fiber-optic networks and firm-to-firm transaction data, the paper finds that better connectivity shifts input sourcing to well-connected regions and diversifies supplier networks. Estimates from a spatial equilibrium model with endogenous network formation and rational inattention show that high-speed internet reduced information acquisition and communication costs. Enhanced connectivity increased real income by 2.2 percent in the median province. The findings underscore the importance of digital infrastructure investments in fostering economic growth by improving supply chain efficiency and broadening firms' access to suppliers. |
| Date: | 2025–05–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11122 |
| By: | Chen CHEN; Nimesh SALIKE; Willem THORBECKE |
| Abstract: | China’s information and communication technology (ICT) exports have faced intense trade friction. To investigate why China’s ICT industry has been targeted, this paper examines it before the Sino-U.S. trade war erupted. We first investigate whether changes in exchange rates and tariffs affect China’s ICT exports differently depending on their sophistication levels. We estimate the exchange rate and tariff effects for 44 ICT HS 4-digit export categories included in Attachment A for the WTO Information Technology Agreement by employing high-dimensional fixed effects on bilateral trade data between China and 196 trading partners between 2003 and 2018. The results indicate that renminbi appreciations reduce ICT exports and that exchange rate elasticities are lower for more sophisticated products. Tariffs reduce exports much more than appreciations do, especially for highly sophisticated ICT exports. We also report product-level exchange rate elasticities for important ICT products and present an industrial development strategy. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25054 |
| By: | Fahmida Khatun; Muntaseer Kamal; Foqoruddin Al Kabir; Preetilata Khondaker Huq |
| Abstract: | In today’s world, technology plays a pivotal role in shaping economic activities by driving growth in both industrial and service sectors. Digital literacy has the potential to empower youth and women by providing access to education, economic opportunities, and social participation, thus fostering a more inclusive society. |
| Keywords: | technology empowerment, digital literacy, youth empowerment, women empowerment, digital skills development, inclusive growth, social participation, industrial growth |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdb:report:69 |
| By: | Farjana, Fariha; Nguyen, Thanh Tung; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | The internet is expanding at a rapid rate, which is true even in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. The internet affects how people produce and consume food and other goods and services. This may also have implications for incomes and diets in smallholder farm households, where poverty and undernourishment are still commonplace. Here, we use primary data collected from 720 farm households in Bangladesh to analyze how using the internet affects agricultural production activities and food consumption choices. Potential issues of endogeneity are addressed through an instrumental variable approach and other quasi-experimental methods. Our results suggest that using the internet increases farm production diversity, commercialization, and income by improving farmers’ access to markets, information, and innovative ideas. We also find positive effects on dietary diversity, even though the results depend on the concrete dietary indicators used. Strikingly, using the internet seems to encourage the production of certain nutritious and profitable foods but does not always lead to an increase in their consumption. Our results highlight the important role of the internet in enhancing farm productivity, income, and potentially also diets. At the same time, our findings also suggest that more efforts are needed to improve dietary outcomes and nutrition. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2025–06–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:358944 |
| By: | Døhl Diouf, Lika; Alexander, Dale |
| Abstract: | Caribbean policymakers and regulators are grappling with the challenges and opportunities associated with the digital transformation, and seeking to develop inclusive, evidence-based policies suited to Caribbean realities. Realizing the need for data related to the digital transformation, efforts are ongoing across the subregion to improve measurement systems and agree on common indicators to enable national and subregional action. One of the outcomes of a 2023 subregional workshop on the measurement of the digital society to advance digital inclusion was a draft list of subregional priorities and indicators. As discussions on the list are set to continue, these areas and indicators warrant a closer examination, with the support of relevant data. This study seeks to contribute to the advancement of the discussions by providing an analysis of the current availability of data for the proposed priorities and associated indicators. The analysis is supplemented by information provided by Caribbean experts working with ICT policymaking and regulation regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their systems for measurement of ICT indicators, their related capacity-building needs, and their priorities for measurement. Finally, the study outlines some possible approaches to continuing the work of defining and refining the indicators in the future. |
| Date: | 2025–05–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col033:81554 |
| By: | Estrin, Saul; Herrmann, Andrea; Levesque, Moren; Mickiewicz, Tomasz; Sanders, Mark |
| Abstract: | We present a Schumpeterian model of new venture creation, under uncertainty, which explains the tradeoff between speed-to-breakeven and revenue-at-breakeven and relates this to the level of innovation. We then explore the tradeoffs between these outcomes empirically in a sample of 331 information and communication technology (ICT) ventures using a multi-input, multi-output stochastic frontier model. We estimate the contribution of financial capital and labor to the outcomes and the tradeoffs between them, as well as address heterogeneity across ventures. We find that more innovative (and therefore more uncertain) ventures have lower speed-to-breakeven and/or lower revenue-at-breakeven. Moreover, for all innovativeness levels, new ventures face a tradeoff between speed-to-breakeven and revenue-at-breakeven. Our results suggest that it is the availability of proprietary resources (founder equity and founder labor) that helps ventures overcome bottlenecks in the venture creation process, and we propose a line of research to explain the variation in venture creation efficiency. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; innovation; new venture creation; proprietary resource; Stochastic frontier analysis; Schumpeterian growth model |
| JEL: | O31 L29 |
| Date: | 2025–06–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128098 |
| By: | Emilio Colombo; Luca Michele Portoghese; Patrizio Tirelli |
| Abstract: | Is the roll-out of (fast)broadband connections a driver of firms' total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the European Union? Does broadband generate convergence or polarisation? In this regard, which firms benefit most from a broadband connection and is the traditional divide between rural and urban deployment areas important? To answer these questions, we estimate the effects of broadband coverage shocks on individual firms' TFP growth, exploiting broad firm-level coverage from the ORBIS dataset and a relatively long time span (2011–2022) over which broadband shocks are observed. Broadband shocks permanently raise firms' TFP, but their effect is uneven: fast-growth firms improve their relative position. They are more beneficial for the TFP of firms in non-digital sectors, supporting the view that internet connectivity is a general-purpose technology. Firms in urban areas are also better equipped to benefit from increased broadband connectivity. TFP responses to fast-broadband shocks are almost muted. |
| JEL: | L25 D24 L9 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dis:wpaper:dis2504 |
| By: | Naritomi, Joana; Nyamdavaa, Tsogsag; Campbell, Stephanie |
| Abstract: | Over the past decade, governments worldwide have introduced incentive programs - often in the form of lottery prizes - to encourage consumers to help combat tax evasion. While similar programs date back to the 1950s, the rapid expansion of Value Added Tax (VAT) systems in developing countries, combined with the Information Technology revolution, has reshaped the tax enforcement policy toolbox, leading to a recent surge in enforcement policies through consumer incentives. This paper reviews the rationale behind these policies, documents variations in their design, and examines the conditions under which they can enhance compliance and raise revenue. |
| Keywords: | tax compliance; VAT; tax enforcement; consumer rewards; lotteries |
| JEL: | H25 H26 E26 |
| Date: | 2025–05–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:127223 |