Path dependence in the digital adoption process: a cross-section analysis of Italian firms with a special focus on the Apulia region

Santiago José Gahn ()
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Santiago José Gahn: Niccolò Cusano University

Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 2025, vol. 52, issue 4, No 5, 967-987

Abstract: Abstract The increasing incorporation of ‘digital’ technologies has been a stylised fact since the 1940s. However, the study of the impact of ‘digitalization’ on the economic sphere (and potential feedbacks) is relatively recent. This paper aims to distinguish in a descriptive way which are the main variables that might explain the adoption of digital technologies in Italian firms with a special focus on the Apulia region. I find that the adoption of digital technologies is path-dependent. Once a firm has introduced a technology (in the last 3 years), expectations to continue investing in that technology are persistent. Finally, geographical location is of paramount importance, leading to the support of the local economies of scale hypothesis.

Keywords: Italy; Technological change; Income distribution; Digitalisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 E12 O14 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s40812-025-00345-4

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