Over the last few years, a large body of literature has shown that the level of information and communications technology (ICT) diffusion, and, as a result, the favorable effects of this diffusion on productivity, differ greatly between the major advanced countries, with the United States the country where ICT diffusion is strongest. This study aims to explain empirically this gap. Annual macroeconomic panel data are used for the period 1981-2005 and cover eleven OECD countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The estimates obtained provide insight into the factors determining ICT diffusion and the gaps in this diffusion vis-à- vis the United-States. Compared to the United States, the lower ICT diffusion in the other major advanced countries can be explained by a smaller share of the population with a higher education and/or a higher level of rigidity in labour and product markets.
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Find related papers by JEL classification: O47 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence O14 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Capital; Investment; Capacity G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives O33 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes O57 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
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