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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Alexander, Dale; Prescod, Kwesi |
| Abstract: | This report presents strategic recommendations for the development of Aruba's fintech sector with a focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technologies. It evaluates Aruba's readiness in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and the financial sector, comparing key indicators against counterparts in the region, including Curaçao, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The report highlights strenaths, such as stable democratic traditions, high education levels and a robust banking sector, and weaknesses, such as small market size and regulatory gaps in ICT. The report advocates regulatory modernization, including comprehensive telecommunications sector liberalization, the establishment of regulatory sandboxes and targeted government interventions to support fintech development and encourage innovation. The report also emphasizes the importance of ethical artificial intelligence use and proposes a roadmap for implementing a central bank digital currency. Appendices provide a summary of necessary preconditions and recommended actions to accelerate fintech sector development in Aruba. Ultimately, the report underscores Aruba's potential to become a digital financial hub through collaboration between policymakers, industry stakeholders and international partners. |
| Date: | 2025–07–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:82155 |
| By: | Alexander, Dale; Prescod, Kwesi |
| Abstract: | This interim report provides a comprehensive overview of stakeholder perspectives on the opportunities and risks associated with the development and administration of fintech, distributed ledger technology and artificial intelligence in Aruba. The Government of Aruba aims to diversify its economy away from its reliance on tourism by developing its information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The report is based on consultations with stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia, conducted during an on-site mission in February 2025. Key findings highlight the potential for Aruba to become a base for export-oriented ICT services, leveraging its strong infrastructure and well-trained labour force. However, challenges have also been identified, including regulatory and institutional constraints, limited job opportunities and the risk of brain drain. The report emphasizes the need for a supportive regulatory environment and targeted initiatives to foster innovation and competition in the ICT sector, ultimately contributing to Aruba's economic diversification and resilience. |
| Date: | 2025–07–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:82153 |
| By: | Yohan Iddawela; Neil Lee; Zhiwu Wei |
| Abstract: | Mobile internet has become a fundamental component of modern infrastructure. In this paper, we consider the impact of mobile internet connectivity on household wealth in the Philippines. We construct a granular measure of local mobile internet connectivity using comprehensive information on approximately 0.27 million geocoded cell towers, and identify causal impact through a novel instrumental variable based on proximity to submarine cable landing points. Our results suggest that mobile internet connectivity significantly increases household wealth, with effects that persist across education levels and are more pronounced in urban areas compared to rural ones. Combining individual survey datasets with Points-of-Interest data, we investigate mechanisms and demonstrate that improved connectivity stimulates activities in several key economic sectors that create employment opportunities. Additionally, mobile internet connectivity enhances individual educational outcomes and promotes female labor force participation, though predominantly in occasional or seasonal roles. |
| Keywords: | employment, mobile internet, cell tower, wealth inequality, Philippines |
| Date: | 2025–07–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2114 |
| By: | Sanjaya Kumar Malik (Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi) |
| Abstract: | The electronics industry is the largest and fastest-growing industry in the world. Because of their complementary and enabler properties, electronics are increasingly diffusing into communication, computing, healthcare, defence, transportation, energy, and countless other applications around the world. Electronics are the driving force behind emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, internet of things, advanced robotics, 3D printing, 5G, and so on. The electronics industry is the most-prioritized industry of the government of India as it lies in the heart of the Make in India and Digital India programme of the country. The domestic electronics industry has nevertheless been crippled with declining share of value addition in output and negative productivity growth over the last three decades. Employing the unbalanced panel data on electronics manufacturing firms from ProwessIQ database for the period spanning from 2000-01 to 2021-22, the paper analyses the technological efforts by the electronics manufacturing firms to delineate the dismal productivity growth in Indian electronics industry. The paper underscores an abysmal technological effort made by the firms in the electronics industry, that explains the dismal productivity growth in the Indian electronics industry during the last two decades. Further, the selective policy measures are not seen to have accelerated the technological efforts by firms in the electronics industry, instead there was a declined allocation of resources towards the technological activities to revive the productivity growth of the electronics industry. |
| Keywords: | Technological change, total factor productivity, electronics industry, India |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sid:wpaper:277a |
| By: | Egana-delSol, Pablo (Adolfo Ibanez University); Vargas-Faulbaum, Luis (Adolfo Ibanez University) |
| Abstract: | This article offers a comprehensive review of Artificial Intelligence's (AI) effects on global labour markets, with a particular focus on developing economies. Drawing on an extensive body of evidence, it demonstrates that AI's disruptive potential diverges markedly from earlier waves of automation, extending its reach into occupations once deemed insulated—especially those demanding advanced education and complex cognitive abilities. The analysis reveals significant heterogeneity in AI exposure across countries at different development stages and among workers distinguished by skill sets, educational attainment, age, and gender, underscoring its unequal distributional consequences. To harness AI's benefits while safeguarding vulnerable groups, we propose four strategic policy levers: bolstering digital infrastructure, expanding vocational training and lifelong upskilling programmes, formalising labour markets, and integrating AI tools within social protection delivery. Collectively, these measures foster a human centred adoption of AI, bridge the digital divide, and promote inclusive growth, thereby mitigating adverse impacts on employment and wages. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, labour market, inequality, automation, social protection |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 O1 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izapps:pp216 |
| By: | Söllner, Matthias; Arnold, Thomas; Benlian, Alexander; Bretschneider, Ulrich; Knight, Caroline; Ohly, Sandra; Rudkowski, Lena; Schreiber, Gerhard; Wendt, Domenik |
| Abstract: | Artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems are increasingly pervading most parts of our everyday life. Whether we are shopping online or looking for information at work, providers nowadays rely on AI-based models and seek to provide us with tailored support or guidance. Recently, a novel class of AI-based systems has gained widespread attention around the world. At the latest when Open AI’s ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just over 2 months after launch (by comparison, it took TikTok 9 months, and Instagram 2.5 years to reach this level (Bhaimiya 2023; UBS 2023)), the potential as well as the challenges associated with Generative AI (GenAI) are widely discussed in academia, industry, and the public. |
| Date: | 2025–07–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:155783 |
| By: | Alonso, Ricardo; Padró i Miquel, Gerard |
| Abstract: | Two opposed interested parties (IPs) compete to influence citizens with heterogeneous priors which receive news items produced by a variety of sources. The IPs fight to capture the coverage conveyed in these items. We characterize the equilibrium level of capture of item as well as the equilibrium level of information transmission. Capture increases the prevalence of the ex ante most informative messages and can explain the empirical distribution of slant at the news‐item level. Opposite capturing efforts do not cancel each other and instead undermine social learning as rational citizens discount informative messages. Citizen skepticism makes efforts to capture the news strategic substitutes. Because of strategic substitution, competition for influence is compatible with horizontal differentiation between successful media. In equilibrium, rational citizens choose to consume messages from aligned sources despite knowledge of the bias in a manner consistent with recent empirical evidence. |
| Keywords: | collective action; communication technology;; media bias; lobbying; public opinion |
| JEL: | D72 |
| Date: | 2025–07–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:127777 |