The Impact of ICT Investments on GDP in Central and South-East Europe

Abstract

This paper provides a comparative analysis between Central and Southeastern European (SEE) countries, members of the European Union, based on their investment in the ICT sector over a period of 2008-2019. The countries analyzed are as follows: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia. The conclusion of the article is that there is a strong correlation (83%) between the ICT investments indicator and the GDP indicator, and there are negative correlations between the percentage of ICT personnel in total employment, business expenditure on R&D (BERD) in the ICT sector as a percentage of total R&D expenditure by NACE Rev. 2 activity, the R&D personnel in the ICT sector as percent of total R&D personnel by NACE Rev. 2 activity and GDP for the mentioned countries with the 2008-2019. These last three negative correlations were expected due to the focus on the outsourcing activities, inefficient R&D sector for the countries mentioned above from Central and South-East Europe during the 2008-2019 period.

Keywords

• evolution
• value added
• ict sector
• central and south-east europe (see)