Regional Disparity in ICT Adoption: an Empirical Evaluation of The Effects of Subsidies in Italy
Abstract
This paper investigates on a marked case of regional inequality concerning the information and communication technology adoption process and the role of subsidies in Italy. There is a consolidated and persistent gap between the industrialized North and the sensibly backward South. Econometric results show that adoption of ICT is affected by the geographical location, the industry and firm characteristics. A matching estimator is applied to explore subsidies effectiveness. We find that subsidies have a significant impact but only for small firms. Given the firm system in Italy, we conclude that, to limit the acceleration of Italian North-South dualism, subsidies should only be granted to small firms.Download Info
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Paper provided by Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia in its series Working Paper CRENoS with number 200608.Length:
Date of creation: 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cns:cnscwp:200608
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Related research
Keywords: regional disparities; digital divide; subsidies; treatment effect; nearest neighbour matching estimator; information and communication technologies;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
- C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
- D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
- O18 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2006-07-21 (All new papers)
- NEP-ENT-2006-07-21 (Entrepreneurship)
- NEP-GEO-2006-07-21 (Economic Geography)
- NEP-ICT-2006-07-21 (Information & Communication Technologies)
- NEP-INO-2006-07-21 (Innovation)
- NEP-TID-2006-07-21 (Technology & Industrial Dynamics)
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Aiello, Francesco & Cardamone, Paola, 2012.
"Regional economic divide and the role of technological spillovers in Italy. Evidence from microdata,"
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics,
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