New technologies and regional growth: the case of Andalucía

Abstract

This paper studies the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) to economic and labour productivity growth in Andalucia (Spain) between 1995 and 2004. We find that, for the period under study, ICT assets only modestly improved total market GVA growth but did significantly improve that of ICT-intensive sectors. Although our analysis shows that ICT-intensive sectors are highly productive in comparison with non-intensive (less intensive) ones, we conclude that it is too early to detect the potential advantages of ICT use in the Andalusian marketplace, especially in comparison to most developed economies.