The global impact of information technology

doi:10.1016/0305-750X(86)90106-3

World Development

Volume 14, Issues 10–11, October–November 1986, Pages 1277-1292

https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(86)90106-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

The paper explores the impact of information technology on the worldwide distribution of income, employment and growth. A review of the empirical literature is used to quantify the impact of information technology on productivity in different sectors and groups of countries. An economic model of the global economy is then used to calculate the possible impact of information technology on international and domestic distribution and employment. A number of alternative possibilities are considered: (i) industrial countries are the most successful in introducing the new technology, (ii) the technology turns out to be capital-saving, rather than labor-displacing, (iii) the rate of diffusion to developing countries increases, (iv) the small-scale and decentralizing potential of information technology is exploited. The calculations suggest that indirect effects arising from international and intersectoral competition are at least as important as direct effects, and that the distribution of gains from information technology depends as much upon what technology is introduced as on where it is introduced.

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^∗: This paper draws on the author's contribution to a book Stacking the Chips — Information Technology and the Global Distribution of Income by John Bessant and Sam Cole published by Francis Pinter, London, 1985. The work described here was supported by the UNITAR Project on the Future. The author is grateful for suggestions from a referee.

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The global impact of information technology

Abstract

Robotics: Applications and Social Implications

Technology and market trends in the production and application of information technology

Stacking the Chips — Information Technology and the Global Distribution of Income

The generalised theory of transfers and welfare: Bilateral transfers in a multilateral world

Blending of New and Traditional Technologies: Case Studies

Changing comparative advantage

IDS Bulletin

A model of technology, distribution and North-South relations

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

Growth of the North and growth of the South — Some results on export led growth with abundant labor supply

The Modelling of Socio-Economic Processes

A micro-processor revolution and the world distribution of income

International Political Science Review

World Apart — Technology and North-South Relations in the Global Economy

Micro-electronics and unemployment in Austria

The multi-country transfer problem

The implications of technical change in Australia to 1990

Unemployment and Technical Innovation: A Study of Long Waves in Economic Development

Information technology and employment: An assessment

The New Service Economy: The Transformation of Employment in Industrialized Societies