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Digital adoption during COVID-19: Cross-country evidence from microdata

Author

Listed:
  • Flavio Calvino
  • Chiara Criscuolo
  • Antonio Ughi

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented global economic downturn, affecting productivity, business dynamics, and digital technology adoption. Using a comprehensive commercial database from Spiceworks Ziff Davis, this study analyses the firm-level drivers of digitalisation during the pandemic across 20 European countries. The findings show that a considerable share of firms introduced new digital technologies during the COVID-19 crisis. Notably, firms that were larger, more digitalised, and more productive before the pandemic were more likely to introduce new digital technologies in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, firms with pre-existing complementary technologies had a higher likelihood of adopting digital applications that gained momentum during the pandemic (such as digital commerce, collaborative software, cloud, and analytics). These patterns may increase polarisation among the best-performing firms and the rest of the business population. Public policy can play a key role in fostering an inclusive digital transformation in the post-pandemic era.

Suggested Citation

  • Flavio Calvino & Chiara Criscuolo & Antonio Ughi, 2024. "Digital adoption during COVID-19: Cross-country evidence from microdata," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2024/03, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2024/03-en
    DOI: 10.1787/f63ca261-en
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Digitalisation; Productivity; Technology adoption;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis

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