The Impact of ICT Effects on Production in Iran, Spillover and Absorption Capacity Effects

Iran is a semi-industrialized developing country that has made increasing investment in ICT for the past decade. However, the country is lagging behind in many indices for the digital economy and the impacts of ICT investment are not clear. In this paper, we analyze the effect of ICT investment on production in Iran using a panel data of the 4-digit manufacturing industries for the period 2003-2013. In the estimation model, the effects of complementary factors such as education and skill level, as well as the absorption capacity are controlled for. In addition to the direct effect of ICT, we have also estimated the spillover effects within and between industries. The results indicate that ICT investment has contributed to the production growth and the effect has been increasing through time. Furthermore, increases in the labour skills, education levels, and R&D capital have increased the positive impact of ICT on production. The ICT investment in one industry has also had a spillover effect on within and between industries.