Производительность труда секторов экономики в регионах: роль информационно-коммуникационных технологий

Abstract

The attention of this article is focused on the impact that expanding of the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) has on the economic development of Russian regions. As shown by various authors, the use of ICT ultimately leads to an increase in the factor productivity. Here, we assess to what extent the use of ICT contributes to the growth of economic development efficiency at the regional level, which is interpreted here as labor productivity in certain economic sectors, and measured as output per worker. Panel data analysis for Russian regions covers 2015–2018. The analysis shows that the spread of ICT has a positive effect on labor productivity in both mining and manufacturing, with dividing regions into two groups – ‘resource’ and ‘non-resource’ depending on role of the extractive industry in regional economy – when considering labor productivity in mining. It was found that there is a relationship between ICT development indicators and labor productivity, with significant factors being industry and regionally specific. The widespread adoption of ICT has a positive effect on the economic development effectiveness, with a stronger link in the manufacturing, while for the mining the discovered relation was not so clear. Among the factors affecting labor productivity in the mining in ‘resource’ regions are access to the Internet, the use of ‘cloud’ services, as well as involvement in research and development; for ‘non-resource’ regions significant factors are the use of local computer networks, regional ICT subsidies, and the purchase of computing equipment. For the manufacturing, the key factors are access to the Internet, the share of high-tech businesses in the regional economy, the purchase of computing equipment, and the use of the services of third-party organizations and ICT specialists