PRODUCING OR PLAYING? INVESTIGATING INTERNET INFLUENCE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH
Abstract
This paper is focused on determining the effects of increase in the Internet usage on economic development of two groups of countries: OECD and NON-OECD countries. Two separate Vector Autoregression models were used. The hypotheses were inspired by claims that GDP per capita and trade, including trade in services, have a positive correlation with Internet usage growth. The hypotheses were tested on a set of 26 OECD and 21 NON-OECD countries for a period of 20 years, from 1995 to 2015. Results of the paper do not confirm the existence of a direct positive correlation between GDP per capita and Internet users. For all countries, a direct comparison of the chosen variables show a negative correlation. For OECD countries, trade in services has a positive correlation with Internet usage growth, while for NON-OECD countries both trade and trade in services showed a positive correlation with Internet usage growth.References
Bojnec, Š., Fertő, I., (2010). Internet and international food industry trade. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 110(5), 744-761.
Choi, C. (2010). The effect of the Internet on service trade. Economics Letters, 109(2), 102-104.
Clarke, G., Wallsten, S. (2006). Has the Internet Increased Trade? Developed and Developing Country Evidence. Economic Inquiry, 44(3,), 465-484.
Freund, C., Weinhold, D. (2004). The effect of the Internet on International Trade. Journal of International Economics, 62(1), 171-189.
Groshen, E., Moyer, B. Aizcorbe, A., Bradley, R., Friedman, D. (2017), How government statistics adjust for potential biases from quality change and new goods in an age of digital technologies: A view from the trenches, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2): 187–210.
Lin, F. (2015). Estimating the effect of the Internet on international trade. The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 24(1), 409-428.
MacDougald, J. (2011). Internet Use and Economic Development: Evidence and Policy Implication. PhD thesis, University of South Florida.
Mare, M., Motroni, A., Porcelli, F. (2016). Family Ties and Underground Economy. Paper presented at 57th Annual Conference of Italian Economic Society, http://www.siecon.org/online/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/MARE.pdf
McKinsey & Company (2011). Internet matters: The Net's sweeping impact on growth, jobs, and prosperity. McKinsey & Company, Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/internet-matters>.
Meijers, H. (2013). Does the internet generate economic growth, international trade, or both?. International Economics and Economic Policy, 11(1-2), 137-163.
OECD, 2014. Domestic product - GDP long-term forecast. OECD, <https://data.oecd.org/gdp/gdp-long-term-forecast.htm>.
Salahuddin, M., Gow, J. (2016). The effects of Internet usage, financial development and trade openness on economic growth in South Africa: A time series analysis. Telematics and Informatics, 33(4), 1141-1154.
Sassi, S., Goaied, M. (2013). Financial development, ICT diffusion and economic growth: Lessons from MENA region. Telecommunications Policy, 37(4-5), 252-261.
Copyright information
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 - CC BY 3.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
info@iseic.cz, www.iseic.cz, ojs.journals.cz
