The moderator effect of training in the adoption of ICT in microenterprises

Abstract

This research aims to study two determinant factors of the ICT adoption and use in the Spanish micro-enterprise’s framework. Furthermore, this article analyses the combined influence of the age and the training experience of the entrepreneur according to the use of ICT in the company. Previous research has considered that the age of the entrepreneur has a negative effect while the level of education of the entrepreneur always have a positive effect in the use of ICT. However, any previous research has found the analysis of the combined effects of both variables together: the age and training, since the combined effects may be different from the effects of each variable separately. On this basis it has analysed a sample of 148 Spanish firms with fewer than 10 employees. The survey results seem to conclude that the specific training of entrepreneurs on issues related to ICT, (rather than the overall level of their training), moderates the negative effect caused by the increasing age the employer in the use of ICT.

Keywords

• ICT adoption
• ICT_Knowledge
• age
• training
• education
• microenterprise