ICT Demand Behaviour: an International Comparison

Gilbert Cette (1) , Jimmy Lopez (2)

1 Centre de recherche de la Banque de France
2 LEG - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion

This study aims to provide some empirical explanations for the gaps in ICT diffusion between industrialized countries and especially between European countries and the United States. National macroeconomic panel data are mobilized for eleven OECD countries over the 1981-2005 period. The analysis is based on factor demand estimates. It provides some original results: (i) The impact on ICT diffusion is positive for the level of education and negative for market rigidities, and both increased over time (in absolute terms) until the middle of the 1990s; (ii) In each country, the price-elasticity of demand for ICT decreased (in absolute terms) over time, from 2 at the beginning of the 1980s to 1 in the middle of the 2000s.

Mots clés: ICT; investment; factor demand; productivity; education; regulation

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Economies et finances

Gilbert Cette, Jimmy Lopez. ICT Demand Behaviour: an International Comparison. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 2012, 21 (4), pp.397-410. ⟨halshs-01226444⟩