The social impacts of telecom liberalisation in Europe. The productivity gains hypothesis: How do corporate users react?

Abstract

This presentation summarises the results of five European case-studies devoted to the observation of the mechanisms of adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICTs)-based services in various corporate environments and contexts of regulation. Their aim was to identify the interdependency effects between the process of telecom liberalisation, on one hand, and its employment effects in these firms. Special attention was given to the description of the interdependency effects due to the organisational, sectorial and networking factors influencing the implications of those ICTs services. These interdependency effects appear to interfere severely with the rationale concerning consequent productivity gains driving to employment creation among corporate users. Therefore, the conclusions of these case studies claim for a thorough rethinking of the so-called virtuous circle concerning technology's favourable social implications and their expected main effect: job creation.