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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Ibadoghlu, Gubad |
| Abstract: | The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector holds strategic importance for Azerbaijan's ambitions to diversify beyond hydrocarbons and modernize its national economy. Yet, despite extensive public investment and infrastructure development, the sector's contribution to GDP, employment, and exports remains limited. Drawing on official statistics and policy documents for 2020-2025, this study examines the performance, structure, and constraints of Azerbaijan's ICT and digital economy. In 2024, ICT accounted for only 1.8 percent of GDP, 0.036 percent of total exports, and 1.4 percent of national employment. Research and development (R&D) expenditure remained below 0.3 percent of GDP, while Azerbaijan ranked 94th in the 2025 Global Innovation Index-well behind regional peers. The paper attributes the sector's underperformance to low innovation intensity, weak private-sector participation, and overreliance on state-led infrastructure projects such as Azercosmos, which, while symbolically important, have not produced broad technological spillovers. At the same time, Azerbaijan has made measurable progress in digital finance, with non-cash payments rising from 30 percent in 2021 to 64.2 percent in 2024. These advances, however, have not translated into a robust, innovation-driven ICT ecosystem. The findings suggest that Azerbaijan's digital transformation remains infrastructure-heavy but innovation-light, requiring a shift toward policies that promote R&D investment, entrepreneurial capacity, and integration into global digital value chains. |
| Keywords: | Azerbaijan, Digital Economy, ICT Sector, Innovation, R&D, Diversification, Azercosmos, E-Governance, Non-Cash Payments, Digital Transformation |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:333330 |
| By: | Maria Bigoni; Andrea Ichino; Aldo Rustichini; Giulio Zanella |
| Abstract: | Machines have at times equalized physical strength by substituting for human effort, and at other times amplified these differences. Artificial intelligence (AI) may likewise narrow or widen disparities in cognitive ability. Recent evidence from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution suggests that computers increased inequality by education but reduced it by cognitive ability. Early research on generative AI shows larger productivity gains for less-skilled than for high-skilled workers. Whether AI ultimately acts as an equalizer or an amplifier of human cognitive differences is especially crucial for education systems, which must decide whether -- and how -- to allow students to use AI in coursework and exams. This decision is urgent because employers value workers who can leverage AI effectively rather than operate independently of it. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.03902 |
| By: | Gupta, Sagnik Kumar; Ojha, Manini; Dhamija, Gaurav |
| Abstract: | We examine whether women's exposure to the internet enhances their economic agency in India. Using nationally representative data and an instrumental variables strategy that exploits plausibly exogenous variation in district-level mobile tower density, we identify the causal effect of internet access on women's financial control and use of formal banks. We find that internet exposure increases women's overall financial autonomy by 10 percentage points. We document improvements in independent mobility, employment, and financial awareness which we consider potential mechanisms of our estimated effects. Disaggregated outcomes show higher likelihood that women have money of their own over which they full control, as well as increased ownership and active use of a bank account. Our results are robust to additional controls and a battery of sensitivity analyses. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that effects are concentrated among women with at least secondary education, and among those from historically disadvantaged social groups. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of digital connectivity in enhancing the usage of financial resources, with important implications for women's autonomy and participation in the formal economy. |
| Keywords: | Internet Exposure, Mobile Tower Density, Financial Autonomy, Instrumental Variable, India |
| JEL: | D13 G20 I31 J16 O12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1697 |
| By: | Zeyu He |
| Abstract: | We identify a distinct motive for search, termed catalytic exploration, where agents rationally explore alternatives they expect to reject to resolve uncertainty about the status quo. By decomposing option value into switching and catalytic components, we show that high exploration rates can coexist with bounded switching probabilities. This mechanism generates three insights. First, strong catalytic motives cause separating equilibria to collapse in signaling games as receivers explore indiscriminately. Second, agents optimally acquire more precise information about the status quo than about alternatives, reversing rational inattention intuitions. Third, catalytic exploration creates negative externalities: information technology improvements can paradoxically reduce welfare by encouraging excessive benchmarking. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.17981 |