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The Impact of ICTs and Digitalization on Productivity and Labor Share: Evidence from French firms

Author

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  • Cette Gilbert
  • Nevoux Sandra
  • Py Loriane

Abstract

Taking advantage of an original firm-level survey carried out by the Banque de France, we empirically investigate how the employment of ICT specialists (in-house and external) and the use of digital technologies (cloud and big data) have an impact on firm productivity and labor share. Our analysis relies on the survey responses in 2018 of 1,065 French firms belonging to the manufacturing sector and with at least 20 employees. To tackle potential endogeneity issues, we adopt an instrumental variable approach as proposed by Bartik (1991). The results of our crosssection estimations point to a large effect: ceteris paribus, the employment of ICT specialists and the use of digital technologies improve a firm’s labor productivity by about 23% and its total factor productivity by about 17%. Conversely, the employment of in-house ICT specialists and the use of big data both have a detrimental impact on labor share, of about 2.5 percentage points respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Cette Gilbert & Nevoux Sandra & Py Loriane, 2020. "The Impact of ICTs and Digitalization on Productivity and Labor Share: Evidence from French firms," Working papers 785, Banque de France.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfr:banfra:785
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Shi, Zheng, 2023. "The impact of regional ICT development on job quality of the employee in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    2. Giorgio Cutuli & Alessio Tomelleri, 2023. "Returns to ICT Skills Use and Labour Market Institutions," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2023-02, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    3. Vincenzo Scafarto & Tamanna Dalwai & Federica Ricci & Gaetano della Corte, 2023. "Digitalization and Firm Financial Performance in Healthcare: The Mediating Role of Intellectual Capital Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, February.
    4. João Amador & Cátia Silva, 2023. "The impact of ICT adoption on productivity: Evidence from Portuguese firm-level data," Working Papers w202307, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    5. Schiersch, Alexander & Bertschek, Irene & Niebel, Thomas, 2023. "Diversify or not? The link between global sourcing of ICT goods and firm performance," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-025, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Antonelli, Cristiano & Tubiana, Matteo, 2023. "The rate and direction of technological change and wealth and income inequalities in advanced countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    7. Chenyang Liu & Xiuyi Shi & Cuixia Li, 2023. "Digital Technology, Factor Allocation and Environmental Efficiency of Dairy Farms in China: Based on Carbon Emission Constraint Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Cao, Yuqiang & Hu, Yong & Liu, Qian & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2023. "Job creation or disruption? Unraveling the effects of smart city construction on corporate employment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    9. Abidi, Nordine & El Herradi, Mehdi & Sakha, Sahra, 2023. "Digitalization and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).
    10. Giorgio Cutuli & Alessio Tomelleri, 2023. "Returns to digital skills use, temporary employment, and trade unions in European labour markets," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 29(4), pages 393-413, December.
    11. Chiara Franco & Filomena Pietrovito, 2024. "Drivers of firms’ digital activities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 14(3), pages 695-726, September.
    12. Gopalan, Sasidaran & Reddy, Ketan & Sasidharan, Subash, 2022. "Does digitalization spur global value chain participation? Firm-level evidence from emerging markets," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    13. Liting Fang & Zhaohua Li, 2024. "Corporate digitalization and green innovation: Evidence from textual analysis of firm annual reports and corporate green patent data in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 3936-3964, July.
    14. Flavio Calvino & Luca Fontanelli, 2023. "Artificial intelligence, complementary assets and productivity: evidence from French firms," LEM Papers Series 2023/35, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    15. Han Bu & Zhou Xun & Sha Cai, 2024. "Big data and inter-firm wage disparities: theory and evidence from China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1-36, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity; ICT; digitalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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