IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i14p8471-d859991.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Digital Economy a Good Samaritan to Developing Countries?

Author

Listed:
  • Vujica Lazović

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Jovana Tomaševića 37, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

  • Milorad Jovović

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Jovana Tomaševića 37, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

  • Tamara Backović

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Jovana Tomaševića 37, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

  • Tamara Djuričković

    (Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education, Mihaila Lalića 1, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

  • Biljana Rondović

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Jovana Tomaševića 37, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

Abstract

It is no surprise that the digital economy (DE) has raised expectations and it is still raising them. The aim of this study is to implement testing which will indicate how much the digital economy can help the less developed countries to overcome the economic lag. In order to come up with an answer, the study is based on provocative hypotheses which will elaborate on the development paradox by which the digital economy cannot help the less developed countries. The argument that supports the main hypothesis of this study declares that GDP growth is not equivalent to the growth of investment in DE infrastructure and, therefore, DE is contributing to the increase in inequality instead of reducing it. The paradox is confirmed with the implementation of the SEM modelling on high-income countries (HIC) and middle-income countries (MIC). Moreover, the study measured, i.e., determined, the relative importance and impact of each DE component on the economic growth in HIC and MIC countries. According to the results of this research, in MIC the most significant DE factor which has an impact on GDP growth is the investment in education, whereas in HIC countries infrastructure has the leading part when it comes to economic growth. The final part of this study includes a proposition of a set of guidelines relating to the direction of public policy development in order to make the most of DE’s impact on the creation of a fairer and better system and society. Due to the comprehensive range of questions that come from this study, several topics for future research have been recommended.

Suggested Citation

  • Vujica Lazović & Milorad Jovović & Tamara Backović & Tamara Djuričković & Biljana Rondović, 2022. "Is Digital Economy a Good Samaritan to Developing Countries?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8471-:d:859991
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8471/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8471/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Walter Mayer & Gary Madden & Chen Wu, 2020. "Broadband and economic growth: a reassessment," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 128-145, January.
    2. Audrey Siew Kim LIM & Kam Ki TANG, 2008. "Human Capital Inequality And The Kuznets Curve," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 46(1), pages 26-51, March.
    3. World Bank, 2012. "2012 Information and Communications for Development : Maximizing Mobile [Information et communications au service du développement : Exploiter au maximum la téléphonie mobile]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11958, December.
    4. De, Supriyo, 2014. "Intangible capital and growth in the ‘new economy’: Implications of a multi-sector endogenous growth model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 25-42.
    5. Ayoub Yousefi, 2011. "The impact of information and communication technology on economic growth: evidence from developed and developing countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 581-596, November.
    6. Alexandra Spitz-Oener, 2006. "Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking outside the Wage Structure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 235-270, April.
    7. Vujica Lazovic & Biljana Rondovic & Danijela Lazovic & Tamara Djurickovic, 2021. "Is Economic Theory, Presented in Basic Academic Textbooks, Applicable to the Digital Economy?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-23, November.
    8. John Quiggin, 2014. "National accounting and the digital economyy," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 136-142.
    9. Watanabe, Chihiro & Tou, Yuji & Neittaanmäki, Pekka, 2018. "A new paradox of the digital economy - Structural sources of the limitation of GDP statistics," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 9-23.
    10. Ngozi Adeleye & Chiamaka Eboagu, 2019. "Evaluation of ICT development and economic growth in Africa," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 31-53, April.
    11. Habibi, Fateh & Zabardast, Mohamad Amjad, 2020. "Digitalization, education and economic growth: A comparative analysis of Middle East and OECD countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Anteneh Ayanso & Danny I. Cho & Kaveepan Lertwachara, 2014. "Information and Communications Technology Development and the Digital Divide: A Global and Regional Assessment," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 60-77, January.
    13. Niebel, Thomas, 2018. "ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 197-211.
    14. Sotiris Papaioannou & Sophia Dimelis, 2007. "Information Technology as a Factor of Economic Development: Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 179-194.
    15. Huarng, Kun-Huang, 2011. "A comparative study to classify ICT developments by economies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(11), pages 1174-1177.
    16. Appiah-Otoo, Isaac & Song, Na, 2021. "The impact of ICT on economic growth-Comparing rich and poor countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    17. Sanjeev Dewan & Kenneth L. Kraemer, 2000. "Information Technology and Productivity: Evidence from Country-Level Data," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 548-562, April.
    18. James, M.J., 2006. "The internet and poverty in developing countries : Welfare economics versus a functionings-based approach," Other publications TiSEM 6800f64f-c814-42eb-abbd-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    19. World Bank Group, 2016. "World Development Report 2016 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2016]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23347, December.
    20. Watanabe, Chihiro & Naveed, Kashif & Tou, Yuji & Neittaanmäki, Pekka, 2018. "Measuring GDP in the digital economy: Increasing dependence on uncaptured GDP," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 226-240.
    21. Pradhan, Rudra P. & Arvin, Mak B. & Norman, Neville R., 2015. "The dynamics of information and communications technologies infrastructure, economic growth, and financial development: Evidence from Asian countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 135-149.
    22. W. Edward STEINMUELLER, 2001. "ICTs and the possibilities for leapfrogging by developing countries," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 140(2), pages 193-210, June.
    23. Raéf Bahrini & Alaa A. Qaffas, 2019. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Economic Growth: Evidence from Developing Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stella Chinye Chiemeke & Omokhagbo Mike Imafidor, 2020. "An assessment of the impact of digital technology adoption on economic growth and labour productivity in Nigeria," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 103-128, December.
    2. Habibi, Fateh & Zabardast, Mohamad Amjad, 2020. "Digitalization, education and economic growth: A comparative analysis of Middle East and OECD countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. N.M. Odhiambo, 2022. "Information Technology, Income Inequality and Economic Growth in sub-Saharan African Countries," Working Papers AESRI-2022-14, African Economic and Social Research Institute (AESRI), revised Jan 2022.
    4. Odhiambo, Nicholas M., 2022. "Information technology, income inequality and economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6).
    5. Awad, Atif & Albaity, Mohamed, 2022. "ICT and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Transmission channels and effects," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8).
    6. Odhiambo, Nicholas M., 2022. "Information technology, income inequality and economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6).
    7. Raéf Bahrini & Alaa A. Qaffas, 2019. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Economic Growth: Evidence from Developing Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, March.
    8. Hussain, Ammar & Batool, Irem & Akbar, Minhas & Nazir, Marina, 2021. "Is ICT an enduring driver of economic growth? Evidence from South Asian economies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).
    9. Liu, Yajie & Cui, Lijuan & Xiong, Yanyan & Yao, Xianguo, 2023. "Does the development of the Internet improve the allocative efficiency of production factors? Evidence from surveys of Chinese manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 161-174.
    10. Niebel, Thomas, 2018. "ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 197-211.
    11. Vujica Lazovic & Biljana Rondovic & Danijela Lazovic & Tamara Djurickovic, 2021. "Is Economic Theory, Presented in Basic Academic Textbooks, Applicable to the Digital Economy?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-23, November.
    12. Bakari, Sayef & Tiba, Sofien, 2020. "The Impact of Internet on Economic Growth in North Africa: New empirical and policy analysis," MPRA Paper 100609, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Mohammad Soltani Delgosha & Tahereh Saheb & Nastaran Hajiheydari, 2021. "Modelling the Asymmetrical Relationships between Digitalisation and Sustainable Competitiveness: A Cross-Country Configurational Analysis," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1317-1337, September.
    14. Ekundayo Peter Mesagan & Xuan Vinh Vo & Precious Muhammed Emmanuel, 2023. "The technological role in the growth-enhancing financial development: evidence from African nations," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 657-680, February.
    15. Ngozi Adeleye & Chiamaka Eboagu, 2019. "Evaluation of ICT development and economic growth in Africa," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 31-53, April.
    16. Mohammad Soltani Delgosha & Tahereh Saheb & Nastaran Hajiheydari, 0. "Modelling the Asymmetrical Relationships between Digitalisation and Sustainable Competitiveness: A Cross-Country Configurational Analysis," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-21.
    17. Sepehrdoust, Hamid & Zamani Shabkhaneh, Saber, 2018. "How knowledge base factors change natural resource curse to economic growth?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 149-154.
    18. AFAWUBO, Komivi & NOGLO, Yawo Agbényégan, 2022. "ICT and entrepreneurship: A comparative analysis of developing, emerging and developed countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    19. Myovella, Godwin & Karacuka, Mehmet & Haucap, Justus, 2020. "Digitalization and economic growth: A comparative analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa and OECD economies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2).
    20. Ajoy Ketan Sarangi & Rudra Prakash Pradhan, 2020. "ICT infrastructure and economic growth: a critical assessment and some policy implications," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 47(4), pages 363-383, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8471-:d:859991. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.