سهم فناوری اطلاعات و ارتباطات سرمایه گذاری به رشد اقتصادی یونان: چارچوب حسابداری رشد تحلیلی

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments are the driving force behind the resurgence of growth in the developed countries during recent years. They are also the main reason for the increased growth rates of Total Factor Productivity (TFP). In this paper, we examine whether these relationship also hold for Greece. We use a neoclassical growth accounting model to identify the sources of growth and more specifically the role of ICT investments. We find that the contribution of ICT investments has increased during the period 1988–2003, but that this contribution is still lower than in the United States. During 1996–2003, ICT capital services contributed 0.75 to the total growth rate. We also examine the role of ICT investments at the industry level; we find that ICT investments have most benefited the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services industries, and the Wholesale and Retail Trade industries. Finally, our results show that growth rates of TFP have also risen, a necessary condition to maintain the high growth rates of productivity in the future.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments are the driving force behind the resurgence of growth in the developed countries during recent years. They are also the main reason for the increased growth rates of Total Factor Productivity (TFP). In this paper, we examine whether these relationship also hold for Greece. We use a neoclassical growth accounting model to identify the sources of growth and more specifically the role of ICT investments. We find that the contribution of ICT investments has increased during the period 1988–2003, but that this contribution is still lower than in the United States. During 1996–2003, ICT capital services contributed 0.75 to the total growth rate. We also examine the role of ICT investments at the industry level; we find that ICT investments have most benefited the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services industries, and the Wholesale and Retail Trade industries. Finally, our results show that growth rates of TFP have also risen, a necessary condition to maintain the high growth rates of productivity in the future.

One of the most important reasons for the resurgence of the Greek economy in the last fifteen years has been investments in ICT assets. We estimated that ICT capital services contributed 0.75% to GDP growth and explained 21% of GDP growth during the period 1996–2003. TFP also grew during the same period and contributed 0.72% to GDP growth. The growth rate of Average Labor Productivity was 3.14% during the period 1996–2003 compared to only 0.31% during the period 1989–1995. ICT capital deepening contributed 0.73% and accounted for the 23% of total ALP growth. If we decompose aggregate growth into the main industries, we observe that industries with higher utilization of ICT assets, such as ‘Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services’, and ‘Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurants and Hotels’ have the largest growth rates of ICT capital deepening. The growth rate of industry productivity in the ‘Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services’ industry was negative, which indicates that firms have not yet benefited from the benefits of ICT capital assets.