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Do poor countries really need more IT ? the role of relative prices and industrial composition

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  • Eden,Maya
  • Gaggl,Paul

Abstract

Conventional wisdom suggests too little information and communication technologies (ICT) in poor countries. Indeed, within 70 countries at various levels of development, there is a positive relationship between income per capita and the capital share of ICT. While this regularity is consistent with explanations based on technology adoption lags and ICT-labor substitutability, there is little empirical support for these hypotheses. Instead, the paper establishes that this regularity can be fully accounted for by (a) relatively higher ICT prices in low-income countries and (b) industrial composition.

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  • Eden,Maya & Gaggl,Paul, 2015. "Do poor countries really need more IT ? the role of relative prices and industrial composition," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7352, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7352
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    1. Piotr Lewandowski & Albert Park & Wojciech Hardy & Yang Du & Saier Wu, 2022. "Technology, Skills, and Globalization: Explaining International Differences in Routine and Nonroutine Work Using Survey Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(3), pages 687-708.
    2. Marta Palczynska, 2018. "Wage premia for skills: The complementarity of cognitive and non-cognitive skills," IBS Working Papers 09/2018, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    3. Maya Eden & Paul Gaggl, 2018. "On the Welfare Implications of Automation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 15-43, July.
    4. Wojciech Hardy & Roma Keister & Piotr Lewandowski, 2016. "Technology or Upskilling? Trends in the Task Composition of Jobs in Central and Eastern Europe," HKUST IEMS Working Paper Series 2016-40, HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies, revised Dec 2016.
    5. Rafael Novella & David Rosas-Shady & Alfredo Alvarado, 2023. "Are we nearly there yet? New technology adoption and labor demand in Peru," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(4), pages 565-578.
    6. Roma Keister & Piotr Lewandowski, 2016. "A routine transition? Causes and consequences of the changing content of jobs in Central and Eastern Europe," IBS Policy Papers 05/2016, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    7. Piotr Lewandowski, 2018. "How does technology change the nature of work? Poland vs. the EU," IBS Policy Papers 02/2018, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.

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    Keywords

    E-Business; Knowledge Economy; Economic Theory&Research; Investment and Investment Climate; Information and Communication Technologies;
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