A Comprehensive Survey on the Economic Effects of Information and Communication Technology in Hungary

As the author could not find a reassuring mathematical and statistical method for studying the effect of the information communication technology on businesses in the literature, the author proposed a new research and analysis method that he also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. The question of what factors have an effect on their net income is essential for enterprises. First, the author studied the potential indicators related to economic sectors, then the indicators were compared to the net income of the surveyed enterprises. The data resulting from the comparison showed that the growing penetration of electronic marketplaces contributed to the change of the net income of enterprises in various economic sectors to the extent of 37%. Among all the potential indicators, only the indicator of electronic marketplaces has a direct influence on the net income of enterprises. It was practical to determine two clusters based on the potential indicators. With the help of the compound indicator and the financial data of the studied economic sectors, the author made an attempt to find a connection between the development level of ICT and the profitability. Profitability and productivity are influenced by a lot of other factors as well. As it seemed to be impossible to measure and show the effect of those other factors, the results are not full but informative. The highest increment of specific Gross Value Added was produced by the fields of Manufacturing, Electricity, gas and water supply, Transport, storage and communication and Financial intermediation. With the exception of Electricity, gas and water supply, all economic sectors belong to the group of underdeveloped branches (below 50 percent). High (but not reaching the developed status)compound indicators were shown by Mining and quarrying and Wholesale and retail trade and repair work, as they produced an increment of Gross Value Added below the average, these economic sectors can be found in the lower right part of the coordinate system. Construction, Health and social work and Hotels and restaurants can be seen laggards, so they got into the lower left part of the coordinate system. Agriculture, hunting and forestry can also be classified as a laggard economic sector, but as the effect of the compound indicator on the increment of Gross Value Added was less significant, it can be found in the upper left part of the coordinate system. Drawing a trend line on the points, it is clear that the line shows a positive gradient, that is, the higher the usage of ICT devices, the higher improvement can be detected in the specific Gross Value Added.