IMF Working Papers

ICT Equipment Investment and Growth in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries

Author/Editor:

Markus Haacker

Publication Date:

March 1, 2010

Electronic Access:

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Summary:

While production of ICT equipment plays a subordinate role for economic growth in most of these countries, they do benefit from capital deepening arising from falling prices of ICT equipment. Adapting established growth accounting approaches to the data environment of low-income countries, we quantify the growth impacts of absorption of ICT equipment, finding that ICT-related capital deepening contributed 0.2 percentage points to growth in low-income countries, and 0.3 percentage points in low-middle-income countries. The latter is about half the level typically found for industrialized countries.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2010/066

Subject:

Capital accumulation Capital productivity Communications in revenue administration Information technology in revenue administration National accounts