Does the use of Information and Communication Technologies increase the firm’s productivity? Empirical evidence in Ecuador in 2019

Abstract

A growing number of studies have focused on the analysis of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and how they contribute to achieving greater productivity in the firms that implement it. Until now, in a context of globalization, it has been shown that ICTs drive the achievement of innovations and higher productivity for developed countries. The evidence is less for developing countries like the Ecuadorian case. The research seeks to identify whether the implementation of ICTs increases the value added per employee of Ecuadorian companies in 2019. For this, the business structural survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses is used, aimed at large and medium-sized companies, and implements an extended Cobb Douglas production function. The results show that the use of ICTs positively influences the value added per employee, showing heterogeneous effects according to the process for which the tool was used, by sector, size of the firm and by quantiles of the distribution.