IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v26y2009i5p961-967.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Ayed Mouelhi, Rim Ben

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayed Mouelhi, Rim Ben, 2009. "Impact of the adoption of information and communication technologies on firm efficiency in the Tunisian manufacturing sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 961-967, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:26:y:2009:i:5:p:961-967
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264-9993(09)00048-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Bank, 2006. "2006 Information and Communications for Development : Global Trends and Policies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6967.
    2. Sabourin, David & Baldwin, John R., 2001. "Impact of the Adoption of Advanced Information and Communication Technologies on Firm Performance in the Canadian Manufacturing Sector," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2001174e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    3. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    4. Igbekele A. Ajibefun, 2008. "Technical Efficiency Analysis of Micro-enterprises: Theoretical and Methodological Approach of the Stochastic Frontier Production Functions Applied to Nigerian Data," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 17(2), pages 161-206, March.
    5. Pitt, Mark M. & Lee, Lung-Fei, 1981. "The measurement and sources of technical inefficiency in the Indonesian weaving industry," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 43-64, August.
    6. Pilat, Dirk, 2004. "The Economic Impacts of ICT : A European Perspective," IIR Working Paper 05-07, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    8. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fındık, Derya & Tansel, Aysit, 2013. "Resources on the stage: a firm level analysis of the ict adoption in Turkey," MPRA Paper 65956, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Aug 2014.
    2. Fındık, Derya & Tansel, Aysit, 2013. "Intangible investment and technical efficiency: The case of software-intensive manufacturing firms in Turkey," MPRA Paper 65955, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Aug 2014.
    3. Wang Zhang, 2023. "The Impact of the Platform Economy on Urban–Rural Integration Development: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Xinyi Du & Kangqi Jiang & Xian Zheng, 2024. "Reducing asymmetric cost behaviors: Evidence from digital innovation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Amin Vafadarnikjoo & Hadi Badri Ahmadi & James J. H. Liou & Tiago Botelho & Konstantinos Chalvatzis, 2023. "Analyzing blockchain adoption barriers in manufacturing supply chains by the neutrosophic analytic hierarchy process," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(1), pages 129-156, August.
    6. Asante, Bright Owusu & Villano, Renato A. & Battese, George E., 2014. "The effect of the adoption of yam minisett technology on the technical efficiency of yam farmers in the forest-savanna transition zone of Ghana," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(2), pages 1-16, April.
    7. Castiglione, Concetta & Infante, Davide, 2014. "ICTs and time-span in technical efficiency gains. A stochastic frontier approach over a panel of Italian manufacturing firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 55-65.
    8. Castiglione, Concetta & Infante, Davide, 2012. "ICTs and lags in technical efficiency gains. A stochastic frontier approach over a panel of Italian manufacturing firms," MPRA Paper 51071, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Mohamed Amara & AbdelRahmen El Lahga, 2015. "A note on MAR and Jacobs externalities in the Tunisian manufacturing industries," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 151-167, July.
    10. Edward Yeboah & Kwame Owusu Kwateng & Clement Oppong, 2014. "Information Systems And Accounting Practices In Ghanaian Public Institutions," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 6(1), pages 121-132.
    11. Izak Atiyas, 2011. "Firm-Level Data In The Mena Region: Research Questions, Data Requirements And Possibilities," Middle East Development Journal (MEDJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 159-190.
    12. Gangopadhyay, Partha & Nilakantan, Rahul, 2021. "Peer effects and social learning in banks’ investments in information technology," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 456-463.
    13. Khanna, Rupika & Sharma, Chandan, 2022. "Impact of information technology on firm performance: New evidence from Indian manufacturing," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Derya Findik & Aysit Tansel, 2015. "​ Intangible Investment and Technical Efficiency: The Case of Software-Intensive Manufacturing Firms in Turkey," Working Papers 2015/11, Turkish Economic Association.
    15. Mohamed Kossaï & Patrick Piget, 2012. "Utilisation des technologies de l'information et des communications (TIC) et performance économique des PME Tunisiennes :une étude économétrique," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 55(3), pages 305-328.
    16. Fındık, Derya & Tansel, Aysit, 2013. "Resources on the stage: a firm level analysis of the ict adoption in Turkey," MPRA Paper 65956, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Aug 2014.
    17. Won-Sik Hwang & Ho-Sung Kim, 2022. "Does the adoption of emerging technologies improve technical efficiency? Evidence from Korean manufacturing SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 627-643, August.
    18. Domingo Fernández-Uclés & Saida Elfkih & Adoración Mozas-Moral & Enrique Bernal-Jurado & Miguel Jesús Medina-Viruel & Saker Ben Abdallah, 2020. "Economic Efficiency in the Tunisian Olive Oil Sector," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    19. Khanna, Rupika & Sharma, Chandan, 2021. "Do technological investments promote manufacturing productivity? A firm-level analysis for India," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    20. Jing Wang & Yubing Xu, 2021. "Internet Usage, Human Capital and CO 2 Emissions: A Global Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    21. Júlio Vicente Cateia & Maurício Vaz Lobo Bittencourt & Terciane Sabadini Carvalho & Luc Savard, 2024. "The impacts of agricultural productivity on structural transformation, and poverty alleviation in Africa: evidence from Guinea-Bissau," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 305-320, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lundgren, Tommy & Marklund, Per-Olov & Zhang, Shanshan, 2016. "Industrial energy demand and energy efficiency – Evidence from Sweden," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-152.
    2. Dhehibi, Boubaker & Lachaal, Lassaad & Elloumi, Mohamed & Messaoud, Emna B., 2007. "Measurement and Sources of Technical Inefficiency in the Tunisian Citrus Growing Sector," 103rd Seminar, April 23-25, 2007, Barcelona, Spain 9391, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Goyal, S.K. & Suhag, K.S. & Pandey, U.K., 2006. "An Estimation of Technical Efficiency of Paddy Farmers in Haryana State of India," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 1-15.
    4. MAIMOUNA DIAKITE & Jean-François BRUN, 2016. "Tax Potential and Tax Effort: An Empirical Estimation for Non-Resource Tax Revenue and VAT’s Revenue," EcoMod2016 9537, EcoMod.
    5. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo, 2009. "An analysis of cost efficiency in Swiss multi-utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 306-315, March.
    6. Sickles, Robin C. & Song, Wonho & Zelenyuk, Valentin, 2018. "Econometric Analysis of Productivity: Theory and Implementation in R," Working Papers 18-008, Rice University, Department of Economics.
    7. repec:lic:licosd:12302 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Young Hoon Lee, 2009. "Frontier Models and their Application to the Sports Industry," Working Papers 0903, Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, Sogang University (Former Research Institute for Market Economy), revised 2009.
    9. Rodrigo Pereira de Oliveira & Bruno Ferreira Frascaroli, 2019. "Measuring the Efficiency of Tax Collection among Economic Sectors in Paraíba State Northeastern Brazil (2013-2015)," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(7), pages 24-33, July.
    10. Liu, Xiao-Yan & Pollitt, Michael G. & Xie, Bai-Chen & Liu, Li-Qiu, 2019. "Does environmental heterogeneity affect the productive efficiency of grid utilities in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 333-344.
    11. Robert E. Evenson & Ayal Kimhi & Sanjaya DeSilva, 2000. "Supervision and Transaction Costs: Evidence from Rice Farms in Bicol, the Philippines," Working Papers 814, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    12. Kalb, Alexander, 2009. "What determines local governments' technical efficiency? The case of road maintenance," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-047, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Simwaka, Kisu, 2012. "Maximum likelihood estimation of a stochastic frontier model with residual covariance," MPRA Paper 39726, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Manlagnit, Maria Chelo V., 2015. "Basel regulations and banks’ efficiency: The case of the Philippines," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 72-85.
    15. Qin, Chuangjian & Tang, Zhenda & Chen, Jing & Chen, Xiding, 2020. "The impact of soil and water resource conservation on agricultural production- an analysis of the agricultural production performance in Zhejiang, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    16. Martini, Gianmaria & Scotti, Davide & Viola, Domenico & Vittadini, Giorgio, 2020. "Persistent and temporary inefficiency in airport cost function: An application to Italy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 999-1019.
    17. Belotti, Federico & Ilardi, Giuseppe, 2018. "Consistent inference in fixed-effects stochastic frontier models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 202(2), pages 161-177.
    18. Rajesh Raj, Seethamma Natarajan, 2007. "Technical Efficiency in the Informal Manufacturing Enterprises: Firm level evidence from an Indian state," MPRA Paper 7816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Gian Carlo Scarsi, 1999. "Local Electricity Distribution in Italy: Comparative Efficiency Analysis and Methodological Cross-Checking," Working Papers 1999.16, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    20. Cazals Catherine & Dudley Paul & Florens Jean-Pierre & Jones Michael, 2011. "The Effect of Unobserved Heterogeneity in Stochastic Frontier Estimation: Comparison of Cross Section and Panel with Simulated Data for the Postal Sector," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 1-22, September.
    21. William Griffiths & Xiaohui Zhang & Xueyan Zhao, 2014. "Estimation and efficiency measurement in stochastic production frontiers with ordinal outcomes," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 67-84, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:26:y:2009:i:5:p:961-967. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.