ABSTRACT
This research contributes to the knowledge in the field of the role of digital technologies in developing countries by tracing the strength of digital technologies diffusion impact on economic growth and examining changes in cross-country inequality changes related to ICT and growth. Our sample covers 40 low-income and lower-middle-income economies; the time span of analysis is set from 1990 to 2019. To examine the role of ICT in the process of economic growth, we chose two ICT indicators: mobile cellular telephony and Internet users. As explanatory variables for economic growth, we use high-tech-related export activities, gross fixed capital formation, school enrolment, expenditure on education, wage, and salaried workers. All data are extracted from World Development Indicators 2021 and World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators databases. Our results suggest that the digitalization process affects positively economic growth; growing digitalization and economic growth are accompanied by dropping cross-country inequalities. Our panel regressions results indicate positive significant relations between gross national income per capita and Internet users, mobile cellular telephony, tertiary school enrolment and wage, and salaried workers explanatory variables across 40 countries.
