Nuova industria o nuova economia? L'impatto dell'informatica sulla produttività dei settori manifatturieri in Italia (New Industry or New Economy? The Impact of the Information Technology on the Productivity of the Italian Manufacturing Sectors)

Abstract

This paper employs a sample of 3,525 manufacturing firms in Italy to estimate the impact of investments in Information & Communication Technology (ICT) on firms' productivity. The results, which are confirmed by separate estimations for individual industries or groups thereof, support the hypothesis that the ICTs are a general-purpose technology, or a new technological paradigm. This is because, like with electricity, they influence the productivity of firms in many industries, including traditional ones. Moreover, the firms with higher investments in ICTs show higher employment growth. Our results also indicate that there are differences among firms in the propensity to invest in the ICTs, irrespective of their industry. JEL Codes: L60, D24, L86, G31 Keywords: Firm, Investment, Manufacturing, Productivity

Keywords

• Firm
• Investment
• Manufacturing
• Productivity