Sectoral Determinants and Dynamics of ICT Investment in Italy

36 Pages Posted: 1 Feb 2002

See all articles by Cecilia Jona-Lasinio

Cecilia Jona-Lasinio

Italian Institute of Statistics

Giuseppe De Arcangelis

Sapienza Università di Roma

Stefano Manzocchi

LUISS University; Luiss University - Department of Economics and Finance

Date Written: January 2002

Abstract

Many measures of the impact of Information and Comunication Technology (ICT) on growth have been provided for the United States; much fewer analyses have been proposed for European countries, due also to scarcity of disaggregated data. In this paper we make use of very detailed sectoral data for Italy to study both the aggregate evolution and the sectoral diffusion of ICT investment expenditure during the 1990s. In the aggregate we find that the 1992 recession strongly halted ICT investment, and only in 1999 the Italian economy recovered the same rate of ICT capital formation. Second, mixed evidence on diffusion is shown by the sectoral expenditure on ICT capital goods: although the ICT fraction of total investment has increased in all the relevant macro-sectors (industry, commerce and advances services), the number of total sectors investing in ICT has not risen between 1992 and 2000. Finally, an econometric analysis of sectoral ICT determination shows that, besides capital intensity and interest rates, R&D expenditure is a strong predictor of ICT investment expenditure. Hence, since R&D-intensive sectors are usually associated with the highest growth potential, ICT expenditure by those sectors may trigger a virtuous growth dynamics.

Suggested Citation

Jona-Lasinio, Cecilia and De Arcangelis, Giuseppe and Manzocchi, Stefano and Manzocchi, Stefano, Sectoral Determinants and Dynamics of ICT Investment in Italy (January 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=298408 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.298408

Cecilia Jona-Lasinio (Contact Author)

Italian Institute of Statistics ( email )

via A. Depretis 74/B
Department of National Accounts and Economic Analysis
Rome 00184
Italy
+390646733161 (Phone)
+390646733157 (Fax)

Giuseppe De Arcangelis

Sapienza Università di Roma ( email )

Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali ed Economiche
P.le Aldo Moro 5
Rome, 00185
Italy
+390649910489 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/a/uniroma1.it?pli=1

Stefano Manzocchi

Luiss University - Department of Economics and Finance ( email )

Viale Romania, 32
Rome, 00197
Italy

LUISS University ( email )

Viale Romania, 32
Rome, 00197
Italy

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