The determinants of investment in information and communication technologies

In this paper, we assess the determinants of information and communication technology (ICT) investment at the macro-level, for a panel of 10 advanced countries, in the period 1992–2005. We investigate the idea that, since ICTs are general purpose technologies, the decision to invest in these technologies is strongly affected by the general business environment in which the investment takes place. The empirical results are consistent with this idea: facilitating factors such as changes in market regulation, amount of human capital, expenditure on R&D, and the share of the dynamic services sector in the economy, positively influence investment in ICT.     

The impacts of advanced information and communication technologies on international actors and the international system

New infomation and communication technologies have the potential to play a significant role in changing today's major international actors and in shaping the international system that is emerging after the end of the Cold War. This paper assesses the impacts that secen different information and communication technologies may have on specific types of actors in the international system, including states international governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations. The paper then assesses the impact that these technologies might be expected to have on the international system itself.     

Impact of information and communication technologies on fertilizer and pesticide use efficiency of China's grain production

Based on a panel data from National Rural Fixed Point Survey (NRFP), this study explored the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the fertilizer and pesticide use efficiency of China's grain production and the mechanisms using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and two-way fixed-effects model with two-stage least square (2SLS) estimation. The results show that the average fertilizer use efficiency (FE), pesticide use efficiency (PE) and comprehensive fertilizer and pesticide use efficiency (CFPE) of grain production were 0.286, 0.404, and 0.364 respectively during 2003–2011. It should be noted that the CFPE decreased by 48.39% during 2003–2011 and showed a descending trend in all regions. ICTs had significant positive effects on FE, PE, and CPFE which could be explained by providing farmers more sustainable knowledge and hence shifting farming practices from overusing fertilizer towards using farmyard manure as a substitute. ICTs' positive effects were more pronounced for farmers with higher-level education and in central region. Additionally, ICTs had significant spillover effects, extending from users to nonusers within the villages. These results suggest that ICTs could be considered as an effective way to increase the fertilizer and pesticide use efficiency and promote the sustainable development of agriculture in China.     

A framework for implementing information and communication technologies in agricultural development in India

Knowledge is an increasingly significant factor of production in modern agriculture. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can accelerate agricultural development by facilitating knowledge management. Based on an evaluation of several ICT initiatives in rural India, a framework to guide policy and implementation of ICTs in Indian agriculture is proposed. In this framework, agricultural development is visualized from two perspectives, a rural incomes and livelihoods perspective at the farm level, and a sustainability perspective at the regional level. The implementation of ICTs is proposed in three unique institutional environments: (i) closed vertical supply chain network for agribusiness enterprises, (ii) an open chain network with dynamically evolving partners and supply chain situations for the public, non-governmental and multilateral organizations, and (iii) a spatial data services network to address natural resources management and sustainability concerns. Each environment is assessed to identify its appropriate business models centered around ICTs, required technologies, scope for up-scaling the models, and required institutional and policy initiatives. In the future, as ICT infrastructure grows and connectivity and hardware costs decline, the critical constraints are likely to be the development of appropriate policy and institutional environments for the creation and delivery of information and knowledge to the end users. Significant policy, institutional networking and capacity building initiatives will be required at various levels to overcome the constraints and effectively integrate ICTs into the agricultural development process in India.     

Creative capital,information and communication technologies,and economic growth in smart cities

ABSTRACT

We study aspects of economic growth in a stylized smart city with two distinct features. First, the modeled inhabitants of this city are smart because they possess skills. Using the language of Richard Florida, these inhabitants comprise the city’s creative class and hence they possess creative capital. Second, the city is smart because it uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) and we model one specific kind of ICT use. In this setting, we first derive expressions for three growth related metrics. Second, we use these metrics to show that the economy of smart city A converges to a balanced growth path (BGP). Third, we compute the growth rate of output per effective creative capital unit on this BGP. Fourth, we study how heterogeneity in initial conditions affects outcomes on the BGP by introducing a second smart city B into the analysis. At time t?=?0 two key savings rates in city A are twice as large as in city B. We compute the ratio of the BGP value of income per effective creative capital unit in city A to its value in city B. Finally, we compute the ratio of the BGP value of skills per effective creative capital unit in city A to its value in city B.     

Impact of the adoption of information and communication technologies on firm efficiency in the Tunisian manufacturing sector

This paper aims at measuring the impact of information and communication technology use on the efficiency of the Tunisian manufacturing sector at the firm level within a simple theoretical framework. We are using a firm-level panel data for the manufacturing sector in Tunisia to investigate whether adoption of ICT influences efficiency in factor use. The analysis is conducted through the use of a parametric method to measure technical efficiency. We estimate a stochastic production frontier and the relationship aims to explain technical efficiency differentials in a single stage as suggested by Battese and Coelli [Battesse, G.E, Coelli, T.J. (1995). A model for technical inefficiency in a stochastic frontier production function for panel data. Empirical Economics, 20, 325–332].The results have confirmed the presence of positive returns to ICT capital. We have found that the impact of ICT on efficiency is strong. Our results also suggest that it is important to carefully control for human capital related characteristics of employment when studying the effect of ICT. The evidence shows that achieving benefits from investment in ICT requires complementary investments and changes in human capital. This means that the combined use of ICT and human capital in a firm would enhance its efficiency beyond the direct effects of these factors taken alone.     

The diffusion of new information technologies and productivity growth

This paper investigates the effects of the rates of diffusion of the cluster of new information technologies on the growth of output and total factor productivity in the main OCED and industrializing countries in the late eighties. This diffusion approach contrasts the technology production function framework. It predicts that the rates of generation of new technologies are much less effective than the rates of diffusion and the investment efforts in determining the growth of labor productivity especially when capital-intensive technologies which command high levels of investments are considered. The results make it possible to elaborate and assess empirically the notion of key-technologies that provide positive externalities to the rest of the system.A preliminary version of this paper has been presented at the European Conference of the International Telecommunications Society held at the Stenungsbaden Yacht Club.     

Diversity and intensity of information and communication technologies use and product innovation: evidence from Chilean micro-data

This study uses data from two waves of the Encuesta Longitudinal de Empresas (ELE) to examine the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICT) use and product innovation in Chilean firms. Our findings sustain the hypothesis that ICT act as enablers of innovation. However, the impacts of ICT on product innovation depend on the type of application considered. In particular, we find positive and significant association between production-integrating ICT, i.e. administrative and industry-specific software, and product innovation, while this is not the case for market-oriented ICT such as e-commerce or client relationship manager software. Finally, the results show that not every ICT combination is beneficial for innovation: firms that show a basic use of ICT are not associated with a better likelihood of introducing innovation, while firms with an advanced use of ICT are those with the more likelihood of innovating.     

The structure of information networks

We develop a strategic model of information acquisition in networks where agents pay for all the pieces of information they acquire, including those through indirect links. The cost of information depends on the distance it traverses in the network. We consider two possibilities in this context: (1) costs increasing with distance, and (2) costs decreasing with distance. The paper also examines situations where it is more expensive to acquire information of higher value. We show that there is almost no divergence between the efficient and Nash equilibrium information architectures. We then study the effect of decay in networks where information through longer paths is cheaper. Finally, we also examine a model with costly link formation that combines both types of cost related assumptionsWe are grateful to Hans Haller, Rob Gilles, Susanne Maria Schmidt, Sumit Joshi, Georg Erber, Beth Allen, Mark Machina, Bob Martin, Johanna Francis, Cheryl Long, Raja Kali, Kaz Miyagiwa, Micheal Kosfeld, Bibhudutta Panda and two anonymous referees for helpful suggestions. The paper has further benefited from the comments of participants at Game Theory and Applications Mumbai 2003, Royal Economic Society Meetings 2003, SED 2004 and GAMES 2004. Sudipta Sarangi acknowledges the hospitality of DIW Berlin where a part of this research was carried out. Rajgopal Kannan acknowledges the support of NSF grants IIS-0329738 and IIS-0312632     

Technological innovation and knowledge network in Asia: Evidence from comparison of information and communication technologies among six countries

South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and India have become much larger force in the world economy. Due to the enormous contribution of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in economic growth, this study investigates four main issues related to technological innovation and knowledge network in ICT among six countries. First, indicators of technological innovation were evaluated and used to compare capability of technological innovation in ICT between the six countries. Secondly, differences in innovation configurations among six countries were manifested. Thirdly, relative innovation strengths of these six countries were examined in five sub-technological fields. Finally, this study consists of analyzing the interactions into knowledge network among them; moreover, this study manifests the difference of knowledge network in five sub-technological field of ICT. The empirical findings of this study, based on analysis of a patent and citation dataset comprised of all patents granted by the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) to assignees in six countries from 1976 to 2006, are helpful to understand the comparative development of technological innovation of ICT in six countries.     

Technology clustering based on evolutionary patterns: The case of information and communications technologies

Technology trend analysis anticipates the direction and rate of technology changes, and thus supports strategic decision-making for innovation. As technological convergence and diversification are regarded as emerging trends, it is important to compare the growth patterns of various technologies in a particular industry to help understand the industry characteristics and analyse the technology innovation process. However, despite the potential value of this approach, conventional approaches have focused on individual technologies and paid little attention to synthesising and comparing multiple technologies. We therefore propose a new approach for clustering technologies based on their growth patterns. After technologies with similar patterns are identified, the underlying factors that lead to the patterns can be analysed. For that purpose, we analysed patent data using a Hidden Markov model, followed by clustering analysis, and tested the validity of the proposed approach by applying it to the ICT industry. Our approach provides insights into the basic nature of technologies in an industry, and facilitates the analysis and forecasting of their evolution.     

通信器材管理信息系统探索与实现

装备保障信息化是未来信息化战争发展的必然趋势,也是军队装备现代化建设的重要组成部分.要想赢得战争的胜利,就要正确认识装备在现代战争中的作用,正确认识装备管理现代化对信息化条件下装备战斗力的影响.通信器材保障作为装备保障工作的重要组成部分,担负着保障通信系统发挥正常效能,使装备发挥最大战斗能力,在现代战争中具有重要地位和不可或缺的作用.针对军队通信器材管理现状,对器材管理方面存在的问题进行分析,在现代通信器材管理理论指导下,提出对通信器材进行科学管理的解决方案,并运用软件工程、信息管理、条形码技术、数据库、仓储管理等学科的知识研制“通信器材管理信息系统”,以改善部队的通信器材管理的现状.     

Network technologies,communication externalities and total factor productivity

The main aim of this paper is to determine the factors which enhance or temper firms’ private incentives to use communications technologies that are characterised by network externalities and allow firms to influence their rate of technological change or total factor productivity (TFP). As regards the impact of the network effect on TFP, we find that when the externality parameter is low, a slightly negative effect appears, but this effect is reversed when the externality is higher. This relationship is valid regardless of the number of firms. Our result is particularly interesting because it offers a possible explanation for the Solow productivity paradox. We conclude that, in addition to the degree of network effects, market structure, consumer preferences and the number of users also have a very important influence on TFP and technological change.     

Imported technologies,urban unemployment and the North-South dialogue

This paper extends the Harris-Todaro model with intersectoral capital mobility to include sector specific imported technologies. Technologies are assumed to be embodied in imported capital goods. The small economy in the South, for which the model is defined, can import any amount of these technologies from the North at given royalty rates. We find that if the North agrees to reduce the royalty rate on the industrial technology, both the level and the rate of urban unemployment would rise and the income distribution change against the wage earners, whereas such a reduction for the agricultural technology would have just the opposite effects. A decrease in either royalty rate would increase the national income in the South, although the magnitude of the increase in income would be larger with reduced royalty rate for agricultural rather than industrial technology. The policy implication is that the South should emphasize the import of agricultural technology over the industrial technology.     

Myths of information: the cultural impact of new information technologies

This paper discusses the beliefs that circulate in contemporary culture about new communication technologies. Considered together these beliefs express two mythological narratives about the meaning of the information revolution. (1) that new information technologies will empower individuals and transform both work and leisure; and (2) that such technologies can solve the problems of democracy in a post-industrial age. These myths are neither true nor false; rather they are the way that we make sense of our moment of history and a projection of the hopes we collectively project on to new technologies. In discussing these myths, this paper seeks to identify the signal cultural implications of new communication technologies.     

The value of a stochastic information structure

Upon observing a signal, a Bayesian decision maker updates her probability distribution over the state space, chooses an action, and receives a payoff that depends on the state and the action taken. An information structure determines the set of possible signals and the probability of each signal given a state. For a fixed decision problem, the value of an information structure is the maximal expected utility that the decision maker can get when the observed signals are governed by this structure. Thus, every decision problem induces a preference order over information structures according to their value. We characterize preference orders that can be obtained in this way. We also characterize the functions defined over information structures that measure their value.     

A look into the future of wireless mobile communication technologies

The number of wireless mobile communication service subscribers reached 4.6 billion worldwide in 2009, and mobile revenues are expected to be over US$1 trillion around 2012 according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). A significant number of studies have been made to forecast the growing market and evaluate the new generation technology, the ‘beyond 3rd generation’ (B3G). However, there is no study that forecasts when any of these new technologies will be commercialised. This paper presents a technical framework for forecasting the commercialisation timeline of B3G technologies and provides insight on technology trajectories from 1G to 4G. The results show that a combination of technical parameters can explain heterogeneous wireless mobile communication technologies. Three parameters selected include channel bandwidth, channel bit rate and data capacity for technical framework.     

Mobile communication networks and Internet technologies as drivers of technical efficiency improvement

Empirical research on the determinants of technical efficiency (TE) is essential for policy formulation, in particular in low-income countries.     

The art of conversation: eliciting information from experts through multi-stage communication

We examine the strategic interaction between an informed expert and an uninformed decision maker, extending the analysis of Crawford and Sobel (Econometrica 50 (1982) 1431). We modify their model to allow for more extensive communication between the two parties and show that face-to-face communication between the expert and the uninformed decision maker followed by a written report from the expert leads to improved information transmission. In (almost) all cases, there exists an equilibrium in our modified model that ex ante Pareto dominates all of the equilibria identified by Crawford and Sobel. This remains true even if the expert's bias is so great that in their model no information would be disclosed.