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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Jacinta C. Nwachukwu (Coventry University, UK) |
| Abstract: | This study has examined how information and communication technology (ICT) influences openness to improve the conditions of doing business in sub-Saharan Africa. The data is for the period 2000-2012. ICT is proxied with Internet and mobile phone penetration rates whereas openness is measured in terms of financial and trade globalisation. Ten indicators of doing business are used, namely: (i) cost of business start-up procedures; (ii) procedure to enforce a contract; (iii) start-up procedures to register a business; (iv) time required to build a warehouse; (v) time required to enforce a contract; (vi) time required to register a property; (vii) time required to start a business; (viii) time to export; (ix) time to prepare and pay taxes and (x) time to resolve an insolvency. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments with forward orthogonal deviations. While we find substantial evidence that ICT complements openness to improve conditions for entrepreneurship, the effects are contingent on the dynamics of openness, ICT and entrepreneurship. Theoretical and practical policy implications are discussed. The inquiry is based on two contemporary development concerns: the need for policy to leverage on the ICT penetration potential in the sub-region and the relevance of entrepreneurship in addressing associated issues of population growth such as unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Openness; ICT; Entrepreneurship; Africa |
| JEL: | F40 O38 O40 O55 P37 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:17/032&r=ict |
| By: | Koutroumpis, Pantelis; Leiponen, Aija; Thomas, Llewellyn D W |
| Abstract: | Although innovation opportunities within the ICT industry are assumed high in comparison with other industries because of their rapidly evolving technological trajectory, little empirical research systematically investigates the distribution of returns to R&D investment across industries and types of firms. Building on the technological opportunity framework, we examine the effect of R&D on firm revenues in a large panel of European firms and study its variation with the age, size, and sub-sector of firms. We confirm that R&D investments in ICT firms have a larger effect on their revenue performance when compared to non-ICT firms and that the effect is higher for small firms and for firms in Internet services and ICT component manufacturing. At the firm level, our results suggest that smaller and, surprisingly, older ICT firms are technologically opportunistic and exhibit the flexibility and adaptability to both identify and respond to technological opportunities and develop innovative products and services. We highlight some implications for R&D investment and policy. |
| Keywords: | ICT, R&D, firm performance, technological opportunity, firm age, firm size |
| JEL: | O31 O32 D24 |
| Date: | 2017–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:51&r=ict |
| By: | Piyanuch Chaipornkaew (College of Innovative Technology and Engineering, Dhurakij Pundit University, Thailand); Takorn Prexawanprasut (College of Innovative Technology and Engineering, Dhurakij Pundit University, Thailand); Chia-Lin Chang (Department of Applied Economics and Department of Finance, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan); Michael McAleer (Department of Quantitative Finance, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan; Discipline of Business Analytics, University of Sydney Business School, Australia; Econometric Institute, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Quantitative Economics, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain; Institute of Advanced Sciences, Yokohama National University, Japan) |
| Abstract: | One of the most powerful internet communication channels is email. As employees and their clients communicate primarily via email, much crucial business data is conveyed via email content. Where businesses are understandably concerned, they need a sophisticated workflow management system to manage their transactions. A workflow management system should also be able to classify any incoming emails into suitable categories. Previous research has implemented a system to categorize emails based on the words found in email messages. Two parameters affected the accuracy of the program, namely the number of words in a database compared with sample emails, and an acceptable percentage for classifying emails. As the volume of email has become larger and more sophisticated, this research classifies email messages into a larger number of categories and changes a parameter that affects the accuracy of the program. The first parameter, namely the number of words in a database compared with sample emails, remains unchanged, while the second parameter is changed from an acceptable percentage to the number of matching words. The empirical results suggest that the number of words in a database compared with sample emails is 11, and the number of matching words to categorize emails is 7. When these settings are applied to categorize 12,465 emails, the accuracy of this experiment is approximately 65.3%. The optimal number of words that yields high accuracy levels lies between 11 and 13, while the number of matching words lies between 6 and 8. |
| Keywords: | Email; business data; workflow management system; business transactions. |
| JEL: | J24 O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2017–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20170066&r=ict |
| By: | Nestor Duch-Brown (European Commission – JRC) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the different forces that shape the market structure of four different 'online platform ecosystems' and the competition between them. The paper focuses on the following categories of platforms, which represent a wide scope of online activities: (i) e-commerce marketplaces; (ii) app stores; (iii) social media; and (iv) online advertising platforms. A central concern is to provide descriptive, empirical evidence on the relative strength of the forces operating in each case. In the past decade or so, many theoretical and conceptual contributions have been very helpful in developing a clear understanding of many of the issues around multi-sided markets, and have analysed these activities from many different perspectives. Unfortunately, they have provided hardly any empirical evidence. This paper attempts to reduce the lack of empirical evidence available on online platforms. |
| Keywords: | digital single market, data economy, online platforms, multi-sided markets |
| JEL: | D23 K11 K12 L86 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2017-04&r=ict |
| By: | Koichiro Kamada (Deputy Director-General, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan (E-mail: kouichirou.kamada@boj.or.jp)) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates optimal currency choice, particularly the choice between paper and digital currencies, when currency is utilized solely as a medium of exchange. The Baumol-Tobin model of transactions demand for money is extended to derive conditions under which digital currency is preferred to paper currency, taking into consideration the network externality in the choice of currencies. The model is applied to explain potential variations in currency preferences across countries, especially between advanced and developing economies. Also discussed is how the introduction of negative interest rates, currency taxes, and central bank digital currency affect optimal currency choice. |
| Keywords: | Digital currency, Money demand, Network externality, Negative interest rate, Currency tax |
| JEL: | E41 E58 E20 P44 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ime:imedps:17-e-06&r=ict |