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Drivers of firms' digital activities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic

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  • Franco, Chiara
  • Pietrovito, Filomena

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyse the main internal drivers of the increase and adoption of online activities carried out by firms in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on several different measures of firm level performance has been debated in many papers, not enough effort has been devoted to investigating its digitalization impact, especially with respect to the drivers for firms operating in transition countries. To this end, we explore a very detailed firm-level dataset, drawn from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) combined with the Covid-19-ES Follow-up Survey, for 22 East European and Central-Eastern Asian countries. Our findings reveal that (i) higher online activity is associated with higher digital and technological endowment of the firm and (ii) this relationship is shaped by external factors, such as country-level digital infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Franco, Chiara & Pietrovito, Filomena, 2024. "Drivers of firms' digital activities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic," Economics & Statistics Discussion Papers esdp24096, University of Molise, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:mol:ecsdps:esdp24096
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Takeda, Asami & Truong, Hoa T. & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2022. "The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro, small, and medium enterprises in Asia and their digitalization responses," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Armey, Laura E. & Hosman, Laura, 2016. "The centrality of electricity to ICT use in low-income countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 617-627.
    3. Copestake, Alexander & Estefania-Flores, Julia & Furceri, Davide, 2024. "Digitalization and resilience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    4. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Khan, Zaheer & Wood, Geoffrey & Knight, Gary, 2021. "COVID-19 and digitalization: The great acceleration," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 602-611.
    5. Vu, Khuong M., 2011. "ICT as a source of economic growth in the information age: Empirical evidence from the 1996-2005 period," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 357-372, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    digitalization; technological endowment; transition countries; Covid-19.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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