Effect of the ICT Ecosystem Structure on the Sustainable Growth of ICT Firms: A Metafrontier Analysis on China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan

Kyoungsun Lee, Yuri Park and Daeho Lee
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Kyoungsun Lee: Department of ICT Strategy Research, Korea Information Society Development Institute, 18 Jeongtong-ro, Deoksan-myeon, Jincheon-gun, Chungchengbuk-do 27872, Korea
Yuri Park: Department of ICT Strategy Research, Korea Information Society Development Institute, 18 Jeongtong-ro, Deoksan-myeon, Jincheon-gun, Chungchengbuk-do 27872, Korea
Daeho Lee: Department of Interaction Science, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03063, Korea

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: We study how the information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem affects the sustainable growth of ICT firms. For our study, we analyze the efficiencies of ICT firms in China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan, which are the current leaders in the global ICT industry, each with different ICT ecosystem structures. We use metafrontier analysis (MFA) to compare the efficiencies among countries with different structures, and then use Tobit regression to identify the causes of the efficiency gaps. Our results reveal that the US has the highest efficiency, followed by Japan, South Korea, and China, in that order, and the countries with more balanced ICT ecosystems across sub-industries—manufacturing, software and IT services, content, and telecommunications—have more efficient ICT industries. This suggests that a more balanced industrial development is important to enhancing the overall competitiveness of the ICT industry.

Keywords: stochastic frontier analysis; metafrontier analysis; information and communication technology; efficiency comparison; ICT ecosystem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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