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ICT and economic resilience: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

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  • Papaioannou, Sotiris K.

Abstract

This paper highlights the role of ICT in advancing a country's economic resilience. By looking at the cyclical component of GDP, I examine if European countries with higher ICT intensity reacted differentially to the adverse shock brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Difference in differences estimates show that the economic losses brought by the pandemic were not equal across countries. Countries with higher ICT intensity witnessed lower output losses in terms of cyclical GDP. Several robustness and sensitivity checks confirm that cyclical output shrank unevenly more in countries with lower adoption of ICT.

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  • Papaioannou, Sotiris K., 2023. "ICT and economic resilience: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:128:y:2023:i:c:s0264999323003127
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106500
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Information and communication technology; Economic resilience; Business cycles; Difference in differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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