IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v45y2021i8s0308596121001191.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does digitalization promote net job creation? Empirical evidence from WAEMU countries

Author

Listed:
  • Avom, Désiré
  • Dadegnon, Aimé Kocou
  • Igue, Charlemagne Babatoundé

Abstract

This article aims to study the impact of the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in terms of net job creation, from the countries of the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). In other words, do ICTs create more than they destroy jobs? To answer this question, this study focuses on a panel data econometrics technique covering the period from 2000 to 2017. The results indicate that ICT destroys 0.03% of low and medium-skilled jobs on the one hand and driving demand and creating 0.05% of high-skilled jobs on the other hand. The total effect of ICT on jobs is therefore positive and concludes in net creation. We therefore suggest to the leaders of concerned countries to accentuate policies to match training and employment with particular emphasis on training in electronics, telecommunications and especially digitalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Avom, Désiré & Dadegnon, Aimé Kocou & Igue, Charlemagne Babatoundé, 2021. "Does digitalization promote net job creation? Empirical evidence from WAEMU countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:45:y:2021:i:8:s0308596121001191
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102215
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596121001191
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102215?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cristiano Antonelli, 2009. "The economics of innovation: from the classical legacies to the economics of complexity," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(7), pages 611-646.
    2. Guy Michaels & Ashwini Natraj & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Has ICT Polarized Skill Demand? Evidence from Eleven Countries over 25 Years," CEP Discussion Papers dp0987, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Anders Akerman & Ingvil Gaarder & Magne Mogstad, 2015. "The Skill Complementarity of Broadband Internet," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1781-1824.
    4. Xavier Cirera & Leonard Sabetti, 2019. "The effects of innovation on employment in developing countries: evidence from enterprise surveys," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 161-176.
    5. Sabourin, David Baldwin, John R. Smith, David, 2003. "Effet de l'utilisation des technologies de pointe sur le rendement des entreprises du secteur canadien de la transformation des aliments," Série de documents de recherche sur l'analyse économique (AE) 2003012f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    6. Jacques Mairesse & Gilbert Cette & Yussuf Kocoglu, 2000. "Les technologies de l'information et de la communication en France : diffusion et contribution à la croissance," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 339(1), pages 117-146.
    7. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2019. "Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 3-30, Spring.
    8. Utterback, James M. & Suarez, Fernando F., 1993. "Innovation, competition, and industry structure," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-21, February.
    9. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(8), pages 706-716, August.
    10. Hasbi, Maude & Dubus, Antoine, 2020. "Determinants of mobile broadband use in developing economies: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5).
    11. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211.
    12. Gustavo Crespi & Ezequiel Tacsir & Mariano Pereira, 2019. "Effects of innovation on employment in Latin America," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 139-159.
    13. Asongu, Simplice A. & Biekpe, Nicholas & Cassimon, Danny, 2020. "Understanding the greater diffusion of mobile money innovations in Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8).
    14. Nathalie Greenan, 1996. "Progrès technique et changements organisationnels : leur impact sur l'emploi et les qualifications," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 298(1), pages 35-44.
    15. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2006. "The Polarization of the U.S. Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 189-194, May.
    16. BEN YOUSSEF, Adel & M'HENNI, Hatem, 2003. "Les effets des technologies de l'information et de communication sur la croissance économique; le cas de la Tunisie [ICT contribution to growth; the case of tunisia]," MPRA Paper 27537, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Frey, Carl Benedikt & Osborne, Michael A., 2017. "The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 254-280.
    18. Mark Doms & Timothy Dunne & Kenneth R. Troske, 1997. "Workers, Wages, and Technology," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 253-290.
    19. Dale W. Jorgenson, 2001. "Information Technology and the U.S. Economy," Higher School of Economics Economic Journal Экономический журнал Высшей школы экономики, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики», vol. 5(1), pages 3-34.
    20. Avom, Désiré & Nkengfack, Hilaire & Fotio, Hervé Kaffo & Totouom, Armand, 2020. "ICT and environmental quality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Effects and transmission channels," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    21. Freeman, Christopher & Soete, Luc, 2009. "Developing science, technology and innovation indicators: What we can learn from the past," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 583-589, May.
    22. Jun Hou & Can Huang & Georg Licht & Jacques Mairesse & Pierre Mohnen & Benoît Mulkay & Bettina Peters & Yilin Wu & Yanyun Zhao & Feng Zhen, 2019. "Does innovation stimulate employment? Evidence from China, France, Germany, and The Netherlands," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 28(1), pages 109-121.
    23. Joël Cariolle & Maelan Le Goff & Olicier Santoni, 2019. "Digital vulnerability and performance of firms in developing countries," Working papers 709, Banque de France.
    24. Evelyn WAMBOYE & Abel ADEKOLA & Bruno SERGI, 2016. "ICTs and labour productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 155(2), pages 231-252, June.
    25. Dosi, Giovanni, 1993. "Technological paradigms and technological trajectories : A suggested interpretation of the determinants and directions of technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 102-103, April.
    26. Önder Nomaler & Bart Verspagen, 2020. "Perpetual growth, the labor share, and robots," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 540-558, July.
    27. Nakamura, Alice & Nakamura, Masao, 1981. "On the Relationships among Several Specification Error Tests Presented by Durbin, Wu, and Hausman," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1583-1588, November.
    28. Dunne, Timothy & Troske, Kenneth, 2004. "Technology Adoption and Workforce Skill in U.S. Manufacturing Plants," IZA Discussion Papers 1427, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    29. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2016. "The Race Between Machine and Man: Implications of Technology for Growth, Factor Shares and Employment," NBER Working Papers 22252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Jonas Hjort & Jonas Poulsen, 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(3), pages 1032-1079, March.
    31. Joel Cariolle, 2018. "Boom de l’économie numérique en Afrique Subsaharienne : quelles perspectives pour l’emploi ?," Post-Print hal-01938390, HAL.
    32. Guy Michaels & Ashwini Natraj & John Van Reenen, 2014. "Has ICT Polarized Skill Demand? Evidence from Eleven Countries over Twenty-Five Years," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(1), pages 60-77, March.
    33. Evelyn Wamboye & Kiril Tochkov & Bruno S Sergi, 2015. "Technology Adoption and Growth in sub-Saharan African Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 57(1), pages 136-167, March.
    34. Eleonora Bartoloni & Maurizio Baussola, 2020. "Is there a profit premium for market-oriented firms? A panel data investigation," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 501-521, July.
    35. Baek, Hyunmi & Jang, Moonkyoung & Kim, Seongcheol, 2020. "Does rule change cause activity change? An empirical study of online news comments in Korea," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8).
    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. Nikolai I. Berzon & Maksim M. Novikov & Elena L. Pozharskaya & Yulia I. Bakhturina, 2022. "Monitoring the Modern Experience of Financial Risk Management in Russia Based on Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Awuni, Evans Tindana & Kemmerling, Achim, 2024. "Taking Gerschenkron to the Field: Attitudes towards Digitalization Hopes and Fears about the Future of Work in Ghana," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2).
    3. Talla Fokam, Dieu Ne Dort & Kamga, Benjamin Fomba & Nchofoung, Tii N., 2023. "Information and communication technologies and employment in developing countries: Effects and transmission channels," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8).
    4. Yuan, Sai & Zhou, Ran & Li, Mengna & Lv, Chengchao, 2023. "Investigating the influence of digital technology application on employee compensation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. Balgobin, Yann & Dubus, Antoine, 2022. "Mobile phones, mobile Internet, and employment in Uganda," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    6. Houxi Zhou & Xuebiao Zhang & Candi Ge & Jingyi Wang & Xiaolong Sun, 2023. "Does Internet Use Boost the Sustainable Subjective Well-Being of Rural Residents? Evidence from Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Peng Wang & Cong Cen & Xiaoyan Lin, 2023. "Internet development and the spatial optimization of regional productivity: Evidence from China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 912-939, December.
    8. Santos, Anabela Marques & Barbero, Javier & Salotti, Simone & Conte, Andrea, 2023. "Job creation and destruction in the digital age: Assessing heterogeneous effects across European Union countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Yann Balgobin & Antoine Dubus, 2022. "Mobile Phones, Mobile Internet, and Employment in Uganda," Working Papers hal-03617001, HAL.
    10. Richard Kofi Asravor & Frank Gyimah Sackey, 2023. "Impact of Technology on Macro-Level Employment and the Workforce: What are the Implications for Job Creation and Job Destruction in Ghana?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 207-225, August.

    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. Jasmine Mondolo, 2022. "The composite link between technological change and employment: A survey of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1027-1068, September.
    2. Janssen, Simon & Mohrenweiser, Jens, 2018. "The Shelf Life of Incumbent Workers during Accelerating Technological Change: Evidence from a Training Regulation Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 11312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. David J. Deming, 2017. "The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 1593-1640.
    4. Georg Graetz & Guy Michaels, 2018. "Robots at Work," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 753-768, December.
    5. Cortes, Guido Matias & Salvatori, Andrea, 2019. "Delving into the demand side: Changes in workplace specialization and job polarization," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 164-176.
    6. Gravina, Antonio Francesco & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2020. "Automation, globalisation and relative wages: An empirical analysis of winners and losers," MERIT Working Papers 2020-040, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    7. Niu, Meng & Wang, Zhenguo & Zhang, Yabin, 2022. "How information and communication technology drives (routine and non-routine) jobs: Structural path and decomposition analysis for China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1).
    8. Cirillo, Valeria & Evangelista, Rinaldo & Guarascio, Dario & Sostero, Matteo, 2021. "Digitalization, routineness and employment: An exploration on Italian task-based data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    9. Juthathip Jongwanich & Archanun Kohpaiboon & Ayako Obashi, 2020. "Technological Advancement, Import Penetration, and Labour Markets: Evidence from Thai Manufacturing," Working Papers DP-2020-09, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    10. Dauth, Wolfgang & Findeisen, Sebastian & Südekum, Jens & Wößner, Nicole, 2017. "German robots - the impact of industrial robots on workers," IAB-Discussion Paper 201730, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Du Yuhong & Wei Xiahai, 2020. "Task content routinisation, technological change and labour turnover: Evidence from China," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(3), pages 324-346, September.
    12. Juthathip Jongwanich & Archanun Kohpaiboon & Ayako Obashi, 2020. "Technological Advancement, Import Penetration, and Labour Markets: Evidence from Thai Manufacturing," Working Papers ERIA-DP-2020-09, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    13. Loebbing, Jonas, 2018. "An Elementary Theory of Endogenous Technical Change and Wage Inequality," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181603, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Barth, Erling & Davis, James C. & Freeman, Richard B. & McElheran, Kristina, 2023. "Twisting the demand curve: Digitalization and the older workforce," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 443-467.
    15. T. Gries & R. Grundmann & I. Palnau & M. Redlin, 2017. "Innovations, growth and participation in advanced economies - a review of major concepts and findings," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 293-351, April.
    16. Bárány, Zsófia L. & Siegel, Christian, 2020. "Biased technological change and employment reallocation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    17. Carlos Bianchi & Hugo Laguna, 2020. "Firm’s innovation strategies and employment: new evidence from Uruguay," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 20-06, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    18. Cortes, Matias & Lerche, Adrian & Schönberg, Uta & Tschopp, Jeanne, 2023. "Technological Change, Firm Heterogeneity and Wage Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 16070, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Usabiaga, Carlos & Núñez, Fernando & Arendt, Lukasz & Gałecka-Burdziak, Ewa & Pater, Robert, 2022. "Skill requirements and labour polarisation: An association analysis based on Polish online job offers," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    20. David Autor & Caroline Chin & Anna M. Salomons & Bryan Seegmiller, 2022. "New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940–2018," NBER Working Papers 30389, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ICT; Jobs; Creation/destruction effect; Professional qualifications; WAEMU;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:telpol:v:45:y:2021:i:8:s0308596121001191. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    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.