The Role of e-Commerce on the Competitiveness and Productivity of the Textile and Apparel Industries in Iran

Implementation of rehabilitation programs of the textile machinery of Iran in the beginning of 2000s is not led to increase the competitiveness of those industries. e-Commerce as a new technology has a significant role in increasing the aforementioned competitiveness in different industrial sectors. This paper aims to estimate the relationship between investment in e-Commerce development and total factor productivity in the textile and garment industries in Iran over the period 1996-2006. Panel data co integration as well as Granger causality test are employed to examine this relationship. The results of this paper indicate that there is no statistically significant relationship between investment in e-Commerce and total factor productivity in the textile and garment industries in Iran