Information And Communication Technology Capital Research Articles

How do information and communication technology, human capital and renewable energy affect CO2 emission; New insights from BRI countries

If nations want to attain sustainable development with the exponential growth of information and communication technology (ICT) around the world, they must understand the connection between ICT and carbon emissions. Therefore, this study has used panel data from 64 ‘‘Belt and Road Initiative economies between 2000 and 2021 while finding the impact of ICT, renewable energy consumption (REC), human capital (HC) and economic growth (EG) on CO2 emissions. This study employs the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator, Mean Group (MG) estimator and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality. The findings indicate that the use of ICT, HC and the REC are inversely related to CO2 emissions, whereas EG is positively associated to CO2 emissions and hence poses a danger to environmental sustainability. In addition, the interaction term of EG with ICT, REC and HC has negative impact on CO2 emissions in BRI economies. Intriguingly, the results reveal that ICT and CO2 emissions has inverted U-shape relationship in BRI economies. Furthermore, the causality results show that ICT, REC, and human capital are all cause and effect linkages that affect CO2 emissions in both directions. In order to reduce energy utilization and boost economic growth, the findings stress the importance of implementing cutting-edge ICT and REC in the industrial sector.

Information and communication technologies and medium-run fluctuations

This paper explores the possibility that productivity improvements in information and communication technologies (ICT) are a source of medium-run fluctuations in total factor productivity (TFP) and economic activity. We document in a structural VAR setting that supply shocks in the ICT sector are followed by hump-shaped and long-lasting increases in TFP. Following the ICT literature, we use a two-sector model to suggest a mechanism behind the hump-shaped TFP response: that ICT is a general-purpose technology (GPT). Using impulse-response matching, we show that a model with a spillover from ICT capital is able to match the hump-shaped TFP response, hinting at the importance of the diffusion of ICT.

Revisiting capital-skill complementarity, inequality, and labor share

This paper analyzes the quantitative contribution of capital-skill complementarity in accounting for rising wage inequality, as in Krusell, Ohanian, Rios-Rull, and Violante (KORV, 2000). We study how well the KORV framework accounts for more recent data, including the large changes in labor's share of income that occurred after the KORV estimation period ended. We also study how using information and communications technology (ICT) capital as the complementary capital stock affects the model's implications for inequality and overall model fit. We find significant evidence for continued capital-skill complementarity across all model permutations we analyze. Despite nearly 30 years of additional data, we find very little change to the original KORV estimates of substitution elasticities when the total stock of capital equipment is used as the complementary capital stock. We find much more capital-skill complementarity when ICT capital is used. The KORV framework continues to closely account for rising wage inequality through 2019, though it misses the three percentage points decline in labor's share of income that has occurred since 2000.

Shared prosperity, energy-saving, and emission-reduction: Can ICT capital achieve a “win-win-win” situation?

The continuous innovation of information and communication technology (ICT) provides new opportunities for the synergistic development of shared prosperity, energy-saving, and emission-reduction. Based on Chinese provincial data from 2000 to 2019, we analyzed the impact of income inequality on energy consumption and carbon emissions from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, focusing on the impact mechanism, moderating effect, and threshold effect of ICT capital on the relationship between income inequality and energy consumption and carbon emissions. The study finds that income inequality increases energy consumption and carbon emissions, whereas regardless of whether it is hardware, software, or communication capital, ICT capital effectively mitigates the growth of energy consumption and carbon emissions caused by income inequality, with a significant inhibitory effect. Furthermore, ICT capital has a stronger moderating effect on energy consumption and carbon emissions in urban and developed eastern region. Notably, the effect of income inequality on the growth of energy consumption and carbon emissions diminishes non-linearly with increasing ICT capital. This study confirms that an increase in ICT capital contributes to the “win-win-win” situation of shared prosperity, energy-saving, and emission-reduction, providing useful empirical guidance for China and similar countries to fully utilize ICT capital in the digital economy.

ASSESSING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN BUILDING BLUE SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR MARITIME COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this study is to assess the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the development of maritime communities and to build the concept of blue social capital. Blue social capital comprises a social network, social trust and development resilience that take place in the Internet. As individuals constantly accept ICT changes, it helps them to obtain information easily as well as increase their social capital. However, there are still a handful of maritime communities who do not know that the blue social capital may help promote their well-being and present them with the benefits of development. Lack of exposure in ICT is one of the reasons that some people do not understand the potential of blue social capital. The problem of cybercrime and poverty will also occur if the maritime community members are not trained to use ICT. This study uses a systematic literature review to examine the relationship between ICT and building of blue social capital towards maritime community development. The literature review analyses arguments between social capital components and ICT. An expected result is a positive relationship between ICT and blue social capital in the context of maritime community development. Future research should focus on blue social capital community empowerment in urban areas.

Использование информационно-коммуникационных технологий и социальный капитал: природа взаимосвязи

Objective. Critical analysis of existing research about the correlation between involvement in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and social capital; formulation of the author’s point of view on limitations of existing research about the correlation between ICT and social capital.Background. The development of ICT creates a new social reality and appearance of new social practices. Spreading of ICT and, in particular, the Internet, defines global changes in the technological context of communications. Social capital as one of the most important products of social interaction can be determined by the development of ICT, and at the same time social capital can influence the development of ICT. What is the nature of this relationship, how social capital will change in the context of ICT’s development, and how social capital affects the inclusion people in ICT’s using — these are the main questions that this study focuses on.Conclusions. Existing studies prove the correlation between social capital and developing of ICT. In doing so, both social capital influences the nature and intensity of ICT’s using, and ICT influence the creation and maintenance of social capital. This link can be analyzed not only on the individual, but also on the collective level. At the same time, the existing studies on the relationship between ICT and social capital have some limitations. Among the main limitations: imbalance in the levels of analysis (individual and collective levels) in studies on the relationship between ICT and social capital; lack of theoretical explanations of link mechanism between ICT and social capital; lack of studies that summarize the current knowledge about the relationship between ICT and social capital.

Measuring ICT externalities and their contribution to productivity: A bilateral trade based approach

This paper studies the contribution of information and communication technology (ICT) to productivity both directly – and indirectly, via externalities that originate in other sectors or countries.Building upon the theoretical model proposed by Basu et al. (2003), we include several features to account for two important aspects of ICT: complementarity with other intangibles, and externalities among different sectors. We propose several measures of externalities, distinguishing between foreign and domestic spillovers, and inter- and intra-industry spillovers. We focus on domestic spillovers, and compare a standard measure with a measure computed by weighting the ICT capital of other industries with bilateral sectoral trade.We find that results are affected by the way spillovers are measured. Evidence in favour of domestic externalities is only found when using the second measure, meaning that spillover effects only exist among industries that are connected via international trade. Foreign spillover effects are not detected.

Analysis of ICT, Power Supply and Human Capital Development in Nigeria as an Emerging Market Economy

Abstract This paper analyzed the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) and power supply on human capital development in Nigeria as an emerging market economy. The study adopted the Classical Linear Regression Model for the empirical analysis. The result showed that ICT, power supply (proxied by electricity consumption) and population impact positively on human capital development, while infant mortality has a negative impact on human capital development in Nigeria. The impact of ICT on school enrolment suggests that technology is fast evolving and new technologies are preferred to old ones. The study, therefore, recommended that Nigeria should follow in the trend of ICT globally in harnessing her human capital endowments. In conclusion, the Nigerian government should harness her ICT and electric power potentials and develop the human capital available to her to prevent the emigration of her human resource endowment to more resilient and promising economies.

The Role of ICT and Human Capital Development in Pursuing a Demographic Dividend and Improving Economic Welfare in Indonesia

This article aims to provide evidence that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and human development play an important role in pursuing a demographic dividend and accelerating economic welfare in Indonesia by exploiting provincial data from 2012 to 2017. The empirical evidence implemented in this research is Two-Stage Least Squares and dynamic system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) techniques. The results show that a 1%-point rise in ICT development growth potentially leads to an approximately 0.24%-point increase in economic welfare growth, whereas an in life expectancy may decrease GDP per capita. The analysis also finds that a 1%-point increase in the ratio of the participation rate will promote a nearly 0.16%-point rise in per capita output. Meanwhile, a 1%-point increase in the share of the working-age population will generate roughly 0.19%-point rise in per capita income. A recent paper suggests that policymakers have to promote more supportive ICT and human development policies to pursue a demographic dividend since even though they have a positive impact on per capita income, the magnitude remains relatively low.

Aging labor, ICT capital, and productivity in Japan and Korea

This study examines how aging affects labor productivity using industry-level data of Japan and Korea. The analysis shows that, for both Japan and Korea, aging has positive effects on labor productivity when older workers are working in industries with a large share of information and communication technology (ICT) in the capital stock. We also find that, on average, older workers exert positive effects on labor productivity across all industries when they are low-educated in Japan and high-educated in Korea. In addition, a complementary effect between ICT capital and older workers is observed for both high- and low-educated workers in Japan but only for low-educated workers in Korea. The complementarity between ICT and old workers existed in both manufacturing and services industries of Korea and Japan.

Aging Labor, ICT Capital, and Productivity in Japan and Korea

This study examines how aging affects labor productivity using industry-level data of Japan and Korea. The analysis shows that, for both Japan and Korea, aging has positive effects on labor productivity when older workers are working in industries with a large share of information and communication technology (ICT) in the capital stock. We also find that, on average, older workers exert positive effects on labor productivity across all industries when they are low-educated in Japan and high-educated in Korea. In addition, a complementary effect between ICT capital and older workers is observed for both high- and low-educated workers in Japan but only for low-educated workers in Korea. We discuss the interplay among educational attainment, industry characteristics, and production techniques to explain the differences between the two countries in the productivity of their older workers.

Drivers and emerging innovations in knowledge-based destinations: Towards a research agenda

Abstract Research on innovation in tourism is fragmented and confined to traditional paradigms. This critical review paper, which cross-fertilises and discusses the relevant literature in tourism and other theoretical domains, proposes an integrative theoretical framework of innovation in destinations. The paper identifies four emerging innovations – experience co-creation, smart destinations, e-participative governance and social innovation – as evolutionary, knowledge-driven phenomena that are generated by the interaction among four destination actors and facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social capital. The discussion and conclusion present some theoretical advances as follows: local contexts matter in destination innovation when assuming a repository role of spatial and cross-sectorial knowledge; social capital and ICT infrastructures facilitate innovativeness and stakeholder engagement; and emerging innovations are pervasive and the holistic results of the collective knowledge of four destination actors and are facilitated by ICT and social capital. The paper offers avenues for future research and challenges that should be explored by academics, policy makers and destination managers.

Digitalization, Multinationals and Employment: An Empirical Analysis of Their Causal Relationships

Abstract This study measures the effects of digitalization related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) investment on employment and other economic variables according to firms‘ ownership. We present two computable general equilibrium models (with full employment and with unemployment) which differentiate two types of firms: National and foreign multinationals (MNEs). Both types of firms allow for the substitution between labour and ICT capital. We conclude that ICT investments significantly create jobs and raise real wages, GDP and welfare. The aggregate positive effects are stronger for ICT investment in national firms than in foreign MNEs although the sign of some sectoral effects can be negative. We also analyze the role of wage flexibility in this context, with the most favorable results related to scenarios where wages are more rigid for both cases, when investors are national firms or foreign MNEs. The model is applied to the case of Spain, a country with a high unemployment rate where ICT investment has been large since the mid 1990s.

ICT and employment generation: evidence from Turkish manufacturing

ABSTRACTThis study is said to be the first attempt in exploring the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) capital on employment generation/destruction in Turkish manufacturing industry by using labour demand estimation framework. The analysis is based on firm-level data, which includes all firms employing 20 or more employees in Turkish manufacturing for the period 2003–2013. Our findings based on system GMM estimations show that ICT has employment-enhancing effects in Turkish manufacturing. Moreover, our results provide the evidence that tangible ICT capital has stronger employment generation impact than that of intangible ICT capital in medium- and low-tech industries.

Fiscal counter-cyclicality and productive investment: evidence from advanced economies

Abstract We use a difference-in-difference approach to 25 industries for 18 advanced economies over the period 1985–2012 to examine the effect of fiscal counter-cyclicality on productive investment: (i) Research and Development (R&D), and (ii) Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The results show that fiscal counter-cyclicality increases R&D expenditure and the share of ICT capital in industries that are more financially constrained. Moreover, the effect is larger during recessions – when financing constraints are more likely to be binding – than during economic expansions. Our statistical method mitigates concerns about omitted variable bias and reverse causality. In addition, the results are robust to different measures of fiscal counter-cyclicality and to the inclusion of several controls.

ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries

This paper analyzes the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on economic growth in developing, emerging and developed countries. The main question is whether the gains from investments in ICT differ between developing, emerging and developed countries. The analysis is based on a high-quality sample of 59 countries for the period 1995–2010. Various panel data regressions confirm the previously reported positive relationship between ICT capital and GDP growth. For the combined sample of all 59 countries, the estimated output elasticity of ICT is larger than the ICT factor compensation share suggesting excess returns to ICT capital. The regressions for the subsamples of developing, emerging and developed countries do not reveal statistically significant differences in the output elasticity of ICT between these three groups of countries. Thus, the results indicate that developing and emerging countries are not gaining more from investments in ICT than developed economies, calling into question the argument that these countries are ‘leapfrogging’ through ICT.

Raising European Productivity Growth Through ICT

Most commentary on Europe’s economy focuses on its precarious financial system and anemic employment recovery since the Great Recession. But Europe faces a challenge of equal or even greater magnitude that has received far less attention: lagging productivity. After a long period during which Europe was closing the productivity gap with the United States, since 1995 that gap has widened steadily and shows no signs of narrowing. If Europe is going to catch back up it must follow the same path that drove U.S. productivity growth: more ubiquitous adoption — as distinct from production — of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by all organizations (for-profit, nonprofit, and government) throughout the European economy. Increasing productivity is the key way that countries can raise their per-capita income. It should not be surprising, then, that two decades of lackluster productivity growth have left many European companies uncompetitive, European incomes stagnant, and European government finances in turmoil. Only one EU-15 country, the relatively small Ireland, managed productivity growth rates that exceeded those of the United States in the two periods since 1995. Given the demographic challenges and increasing international competition that Europe faces in the coming decades, it is crucial that Europe find a way to reverse these growth trends. The scholarly evidence strongly suggests that increased ICT adoption, and the transformative change it can bring to organizations, is a key piece of Europe’s productivity puzzle. ICT is a general purpose technology (GPT) that has wide-ranging effects throughout an entire economy, reshaping entire systems of production and distribution. Around two-thirds of U.S. total factor productivity growth between 1995 and 2004 was due to ICT, and ICT has contributed roughly one-third of growth since then. These gains are primarily due to the efficiencies of ICT capital, as well as associated complementarities and spillovers.

Erratum to: ICT and Human Capital Spillover Effects in Achieving Sustainable East Asian Knowledge-Based Economies

This study assesses the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) and human capital spillover effects on productivity on selected five countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, (ASEAN5), Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, plus three East Asian Countries (China, Japan, and South Korea). The factors identified as inducing productivity of ASEAN-5 + 3 are the single contributions of physical capital, labor, ICT, human capital, and the instantaneous contribution of the quality of these factors. That is articulated as the total factor productivity (TFP). The study contributes to the knowledge by using three variations of extensive and intensive growth theories (such as output model, labor productivity, and capital productivity). In this respect, the results show that the productivity growth of ASEAN 5 is an input driven; however, China has overtaken the second largest economy position in the world and emerged as productivity-driven nation that attracted multination company investment. Meanwhile, Japan and South Korean model has constructed global companies that help them to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Direct and Complementary Effects of Investment in Knowledge-Based Economy on Innovation Performance in Tunisian Firms

This paper investigates two sets of hypotheses related to the relationship between the investment in the knowledge-based economy (KBE) and innovation performance in a developing country. The first set supposes that investment in information and communication technologies (ICT), organizational innovations, and human capital, the main three pillars of KBE, has a direct effect on innovation performance of Tunisian firms. The second set tests the hypothesis of complementary effect of these pillars such that their combination constitutes a significant production system affecting the innovation performance. Using recent firm-level data, we find evidence of direct effect of investment in the KBE on firm’s innovation performance. The second set of hypotheses is partly supported. We find evidence of complementarity between ICT and human capital as well as between ICT and organizational innovations, but we do not find evidence of complementarity between human capital and organizational innovations. Moreover, we find that full complementarity between ICT, organizational innovations, and human capital does not apply to Tunisian firms.

Impact of ICT on the productivity of the firm: evidence from Turkish manufacturing

This paper aims to explore the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on labor productivity growth in Turkish manufacturing. This is the first attempt at exploring the impact of ICT on productivity in Turkish manufacturing at the firm level. The analysis is based on firm level data obtained from Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) and covers the period from 2003 to 2012. The data used in the analysis includes all firms employing 19+ workers in Turkish manufacturing industry. Growth accounting results show that the contributions of conventional and ICT capital to value added growth are not significantly different from each other. On the other hand, results based both on static (fixed-effects) and dynamic panel data analysis highlight the positive influence on firms’ productivity exerted by ICT capital. The findings show that the impact of ICT capital on productivity is larger by about 25 to 50% than that of conventional capital. This contribution of ICT capital is higher than that of non-ICT capital for small sized and low-tech firms. Our findings imply that investing in ICT capital increases firm productivity by increasing the productivity of labor and also that convention growth accounting approaches may not be adequate to identify such linkages.