Introduction

The technological revolution originated by the progressive convergence of software and telecommunications and fostered by the advancements in the digital technology is significantly changing the microeconomic and macroeconomic scenario in the industrialized countries. Knowledge products are weightless, expandable and infinitely reproducible. They are generated in a process in which the same consumer is usually involved and create value, by increasing productivity of labour or by adding value to traditional physical products or traditional services. The crucial non-public factor which is responsible for the observed international dispersion in productivity and growth is information and communications technology. Empirical analysis on micro data show that the adoption of Information and Communication technologies crucially depends on managers' education and propensity to risk and also on corporate governance structures. A more dispersed shareholdership without interlocked directories and opaque cross-participation among different companies generates more transparent governance with a clearer focus on shareholder value.