Promoting Digitalization through Information Dissemination
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Series
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SpeakersMaria-Teresa Marchica (Alliance Manchester Business School, United Kingdom)
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FieldFinance, Accounting and Finance
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LocationTinbergen Institute Amsterdam, room 1.01
Amsterdam -
Date and time
May 22, 2024
12:45 - 14:00
Abstract
We exploit the heterogeneous regional allocation of funding from a U.K. government program that aimed at helping train and educate small and medium-sized enterprises on the use of digital technologies. Using a novel firm-level dataset of web technologies, our matched difference-in-differences estimation shows that treated SMEs were more likely to enhance their web presence, adopt more advanced web technologies, and expand their operating boundaries through e-commerce following the program. Consequently, firms observed positive effects on performance, labor outcomes, and likelihood of survival. Additionally, the program helped reduce the digital divide between SMEs and large companies, and it enabled digitalization in geographically remote locations. Joint work with Tian Gao and Stefan Petry.