ICT Penetration and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of Major Trading Nations

Abstract

This study develops an information and communication technology (ICT) penetration index and examines the link between ICT penetration and economic growth, trade openness and foreign direct investment in major trading nations from 2001 to 2018. The nations have been selected based on total trade volume. The ICT penetration index constructed for the major trading nations is based on trade of ICT goods and services, Internet use, mobile and broadband subscriptions using principal component analysis. Based on the new endogenous growth model, co-integration and panel regression are applied to determine the relationship between ICT penetration, trade openness and economic growth. A few other control variables such as financial development and foreign direct investment are also considered to assess the relationship between growth, trade openness and ICT penetration along with cross-country effects. It is seen that there exists a relationship between ICT penetration, economic growth, trade openness and foreign direct investment for the selected countries, with emerging and high-income countries showing a significant relationship between ICT penetration and growth, while countries are focusing on enhancing the role of ICT in trade.