B2B or Not to Be: Does B2B E‐Commerce Increase Labour Productivity? |
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| Authors: | Irene Bertschek Helmut Fryges Ulrich Kaiser |
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| Affiliation: | 1. ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research), Mannheim, and Centre for Industrial Economics, University of Copenhagen ,;2. ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research), Department of Industrial Economics and International Management , P.O. Box 103443, D‐68034 Mannheim, Germany E-mail: fryges@zew.de;3. University of Southern Denmark at Odense, Department of Business and Economics , Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark E-mail: uka@sam.sdu.dk |
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| Abstract: | We implement an endogeneous switching‐regression model for labour productivity and firms’ decisions to use business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐commerce. Our approach allows B2B usage to affect any parameter of the labour productivity equation and to properly take account of strategic complementarities between the input factors and B2B usage. Empirical evidence from 1,460 German firms shows that there is a simultaneous relationship between labour productivity and the adoption of B2B. Firms deciding to use B2B e‐commerce employ their input factors more efficiently than non‐B2B users. Conversely, firms refrain from engaging in B2B probably because they expect the cost of B2B adoption will not be sufficiently compensated by productivity gains. |
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| Keywords: | Business‐to‐Business E‐Commerce Labour Productivity Endogenous Switching Regression Model Survey Data |
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