IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v50y2026i3s0308596125002472.html

Digitalization and firm resilience: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Bekele, Kebede
  • Durevall, Dick
  • Fetene, Gebeyehu M.

Abstract

Over the past few decades, internet access and the adoption of 3G/4G wireless networks have expanded across Africa. This digital transformation brings both opportunities and challenges. In this study, we use panel data from two rounds of the World Bank Enterprise Survey conducted in Zambia—before and after the COVID-19 outbreak—to examine the impact of digitalization on firm resilience in a developing-country context. Our analysis employs entropy balancing and difference-in-differences models and remains robust across various estimation techniques. A key finding is that firms that had adopted digital technologies before the pandemic experienced less revenue loss than other firms. The average effects are large but vary significantly across industries. These findings underscore the potential of digital strategies in mitigating economic disruptions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bekele, Kebede & Durevall, Dick & Fetene, Gebeyehu M., 2026. "Digitalization and firm resilience: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Zambia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:50:y:2026:i:3:s0308596125002472
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2025.103150
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596125002472
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2025.103150?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:50:y:2026:i:3:s0308596125002472. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.