Impact of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure on Economic Growth: An Empirical Assessment for the EU Countries

The accelerated development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past two decades has encouraged an increasing number of researchers to examine and measure the impact of this technology on economic growth. Our study aims to identify and evaluate the effect of using ICT infrastr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2018-10, Vol.10 (10), p.3750
Main Authors: Toader, Elena, Firtescu, Bogdan, Roman, Angela, Anton, Sorin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to information
Capital costs
Communication
Consumption
Economic conditions
Economic development
Economic factors
Economic growth
Economics
Expenditures
GDP
Generalized method of moments
Gross Domestic Product
Impact analysis
Information technology
Infrastructure
International organizations
Internet access
Longitudinal studies
Per capita
Productivity
Researchers
Social change
Studies
Sustainable development
Technology
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Summary:The accelerated development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past two decades has encouraged an increasing number of researchers to examine and measure the impact of this technology on economic growth. Our study aims to identify and evaluate the effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in European Union (EU) countries for a period of 18 years (2000–2017). Using panel-data estimation techniques, we investigate empirically how various indicators of ICT infrastructure affect economic growth, proxied in our study by GDP per capita. Within the estimates, we have included some macroeconomic control variables. Our results indicate a positive and strongly effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in the EU member states, but the magnitude of the effect differs depending on the type of technology examined. Regarding the impact of macroeconomic factors, our estimates indicate that inflation rate, unemployment rate, the degree of trade openness, government expenditures, and foreign direct investments would significantly affect GDP per capita at EU level. The findings are broadly similar to the theoretical predictions, but also to the findings of some relevant empirical studies. Our research reveals that ICT infrastructure, along with other macroeconomic factors, is an important driver of economic growth in EU countries.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su10103750