ICT AND DEVELOPMENT – TWO READINGS

It’s Not What You Make, It’s How You Use IT: Measuring the Welfare Benefits of the IT Revolution Across Countries
We all know that one gets more per dollar spent on computer hardware and software and telecommunications now than one did five or ten years ago. Tamim Bayoumi and Markus Haacker in this paper use econometric techniques on cross-national data (generally from richer, more wired nations) to examine the implications of this fact. To oversimplify, they find that the benefits from price reductions in ICTs have gone primarily to the countries that consume more ICTs, and that the benefits from technological improvements appear to have gone more to the consumer through price breaks than to producers through increases in profits. The study does not estimate the increases in productivity achieved through the use of ICTs and reengineering to utilize ICT more effectively. IMF Working Paper, July 2002. (PDF)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2002/wp02117.pdf


INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE: The World Bank Group’s Experience
This is a review of the World Bank telecommunications finance experience. The study compares the experience before and after 1993 – periods differentiated by an increased reliance in the latter period on privatization, competition, and regulation. The study reflects the improvements achieved in the latter period, while suggesting areas in which Bank operation could be further improved. By Alain Barbu, Rafael Dominguez and William Melody, 2001. (84 pages, PDF)
http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/OED/OEDDocLib.nsf/DocUNIDViewForJavaSearch/5D12991104BAC1AE85256AA9007279BC/$file/information_infrastructure.pdf