Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang

Information and Communication Technologies and Broad-Based Development : A Partial Review of the Evidence

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly seen as integral to the development process. This paper reviews some of the evidence for the link between telecommunications and the Internet and economic growth, the likely impact of the new ICTs on income inequality and anecdotal evidence regarding the role of the Internet in improving government services and governance. It looks at methods to maximize access to the new ICTs, and improve their development impact both in promoting income generation and the provision of quality services.

China's Information Revolution: Managing the Economic and Social Transformation

This report presents a comprehensive overview of the information, communication and technological sector in China, and the role it has played during economic and social transformation in the past decade. It provides guidance on the kind of reforms policy makers in China may wish to consider in pursuing the countrys quest for continued ICT development. It also combines local perspectives with international experiences on how issues in areas such as legal and regulatory environment, telecommunications infrastructures, and IT industry have been addressed by other countries.

Networking for foreign direct investment: the telecommunications industry and its effect on investment

Abstract It is increasingly recognized that the level and quality of infrastructure may have an important causal relationship with inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). In recent literature, information infrastructure has been singled out as a potentially significant source of productivity increases and economic growth, in part through its role in attracting investment and increasing the returns to that investment. This paper examines the empirical relationship between FDI flows and the level of telecommunications infrastructure present in host countries, and finds preliminary evidence of a significant link.

Rural informatization in China

Chinas recent economic growth has expanded industrialization and urbanization, upgraded consumption, increased social mobility, and initiated a shift from an economy based on agriculture to one based on industry and services. Still more than half of Chinas people still live in rural areas where average income per capita is less than a third of the urban average, a gap that is among the largest in the world. Reducing these differences is critical to building a harmonious, inclusive society. This report draws from background research conducted by the advisory committee for state informatization, and attempts to provide an overview of Chinas rural information and communications technology (ICT) development primarily in the past 15 years. The report first describes the status of Chinas rural informatization infrastructure. It then reviews existing rural ICT initiatives in China and summarizes them by organizational models. International examples are included to draw lessons from. Finally, the challenges of rural informatization are examined, and policy recommendations identified to address them.

The global opportunity in IT-based services : assessing and enhancing country competitiveness

This book aims to help policy makers take advantage of the opportunities presented by increased cross-border trade in information technology (IT) services and IT-enabled services (ITES). It begins by defining the two industries and estimating the potential global market opportunities for trade in each. Then it discusses economic and other benefits for countries that succeed in these areas, along with factors crucial to the competitiveness of a country or location, including skills, cost advantages, infrastructure, and a hospitable business environment, and examines the potential competitiveness of small countries and of least developed countries specifically. The volume also discusses policy options for enabling growth in the IT services and ITES industries. Appendix A introduces the Location Readiness Index (LRI), a modeling tool to help countries assess their IT and ITES industries. Finally, appendix B presents an analysis of the IT and ITES industries in Indonesia and Kenya as an illustrative application of the LRI.

Regulatory Reforms in the Telecommunications Sector in Developing Countries: The Role of Democracy and Private Interests

We investigate the determinants of regulatory reforms between 1990 and 1998 in 50 developing countries. We find that the reforms are attributable to differences in the configurations of interest groups and in the political structure - in particular, the decision-making mechanisms and the ideology of the legislature. Regulatory reforms are more likely in countries with strong pro-reform interest groups (a larger financial sector and a greater proportion of urban consumers) and less likely in countries where incumbent operators have already made large investments and hence have strong incentives to oppose the reforms. Democracy facilitates the actions of interest groups.

The Internet as a general-purpose technology: Firm-level evidence from around the world

This paper uses firm-level data to assess whether telecommunication services are general-purpose technologies (technologies that benefit a large segment of the economy and have long-lasting effect). It finds that only Internet services are so: firm growth and productivity are much higher when Internet access is greater and when firms use the Internet more intensively; and Internet access benefits firms in high- and low-tech industries, firms of all sizes, and exporter and non-exporter firms. Small firms appear to benefit more from the Internet than large firms do. In contrast, fixed-line and cellular services are not robustly linked to firm performance.

The Impact of Investment Policy in a Changing Global Economy: a Review of the Literature

Evidence shows that foreign direct investment can provide many benefits to host countries, including productivity improvements, better jobs, and knowledge transfer. Further, it can serve as a vehicle for transformation of domestic production and better integration with global value chains. Nonetheless, these benefits are not automatic. Investment policies are required to maximize the potential gains of foreign direct investment. One challenge is that there are different kinds of foreign direct investment, and each may have different economic, social, and environmental impacts. However, the literature analyzing foreign direct investment often tends to swing from an extremely case-specific focus — analyzing experiences in one particular country in a single sector during a given period — to lumping together the analysis as if it was a homogenous phenomenon. Investment policy formulation requires a framework sophisticated enough to differentiate between the various kinds of foreign direct investment, as well as potential challenges and benefits for development. It must also be simple enough to enable governments to organize and prioritize the multiple and complex variables affecting the maximization of investment benefits. This paper presents an overview of the literature on the impact of foreign direct investment. The paper argues that a logical framework is needed to organize existing evidence from research to fill gaps in the literature and make existing evidence more useful in targeting policy making.