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The Role of ICT in Economic Development – A Partial Survey
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5 Conclusion and Research Implications
The spread of ICTs has been heralded as a new tool to help low-income countries achieve
faster growth and development. Too often, however, a highly unlikely array of benefits is
ascribed to their use. To understand why these technologies have generated so much
enthusiasm, this paper examined three issues: first, what are the unique characteristics of these
technologies; second, what are the links through which these technologies are expected to
promote development, and third, how well does the existing empirical evidence support the
claims made for or against the spread of ICTs.
Characteristics unique to ICTs included their capability to promote the separation of
information from its physical repository, their pervasive, economy-wide effects and the
externalities (content and network) generated by their use. The manner in which ICTs might
promote development was examined by considering their effects on the functioning of
organizations, on the enhancement of market efficiency and access and on the promotion of
institutional change. Their potential distributional consequences were examined, and the
empirical evidence available in each of these areas was surveyed.
The empirical evidence from cross-country studies suggested that a minimum threshold
of ICT density was required in order for these technologies to exert an influence on growth. The
evidence from firm-level studies indicated that there might be substantial time lags between ICT
investments and their positive effects. These lags also suggest that re-training of workers and
workplace re-organization may be required in order for these technologies to fulfill their
potential. Studies that have calculated the consumer surplus associated with ICTs have usually
found substantial welfare effects associated with their use. A survey of the effects of ICTs on
wages and employment suggested that, at least at the moment, concerns about potential negative
distributional consequences of ICTs seem unwarranted. Overall, the impression that emerges
from the empirical work is that there may be substantial benefits associated with the spread of
ICTs.
However, it should be noted that a preponderance of the empirical literature surveyed
here is based on data from developed countries. To build a credible body of evidence on
developing countries, the foremost task is to improve the quality and availability of data. With
appropriate data and suitable empirical tools as suggested by this review, careful empirical work
in a variety of areas may be fruitful.
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