IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolin/v52y2025i4d10.1007_s40812-025-00345-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Path dependence in the digital adoption process: a cross-section analysis of Italian firms with a special focus on the Apulia region

Author

Listed:
  • Santiago José Gahn

    (Niccolò Cusano University)

Abstract

The increasing incorporation of ‘digital’ technologies has been a stylised fact since the 1940s. However, the study of the impact of ‘digitalization’ on the economic sphere (and potential feedbacks) is relatively recent. This paper aims to distinguish in a descriptive way which are the main variables that might explain the adoption of digital technologies in Italian firms with a special focus on the Apulia region. I find that the adoption of digital technologies is path-dependent. Once a firm has introduced a technology (in the last 3 years), expectations to continue investing in that technology are persistent. Finally, geographical location is of paramount importance, leading to the support of the local economies of scale hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Santiago José Gahn, 2025. "Path dependence in the digital adoption process: a cross-section analysis of Italian firms with a special focus on the Apulia region," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 52(4), pages 967-987, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:52:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s40812-025-00345-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s40812-025-00345-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40812-025-00345-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40812-025-00345-4?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

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:spr:epolin:v:52:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s40812-025-00345-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.