Intra-Firm Diffusion of Innovation: Evidence from Tunisian SMEs Regarding Information and Communication Technologies

Adel Ben Youssef, Walid Hadhri and Hatem M’Henni
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Hatem M'HENNI

Middle East Development Journal, 2011, vol. 3, issue 1, 75-97

Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold: first, we want to explore the intra-firm diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) within Tunisian firms and to characterize its general trends regarding adoption and usage. Second, we want to emphasize the rank and epidemic effects highlighted by the disequilibrium models of intra-firm diffusion of innovation following the traditional view of Mansfield (1963a) and Antonelli (1985). Based on a face-to-face questionnaire of a random sample of 175 firms, our article shows that:(i) Three technological waves of ICT adoption are well characterized in the Tunisian manufacturing sector. This dynamic of adoption is linked to the age of the technologies. Time is the main explanatory variable for intra-firm diffusion of these technologies.(ii) A positive correlation between the size of the firm, seniority and the depth of adoption is found. This econometric estimation shows that the rank effect is well characterized within the Tunisian firms.(iii) A positive correlation between technological absorptive capacity building and intensity of ICT usage is found. This correlation confirms the epidemic effect.Our results show that disequilibrium model explanations of intra-firm diffusion of innovation are valid within the Tunisian manufacturing sector and seem more appropriate than the equilibrium theory for developing countries.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1142/S1793812011000338 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rmdjxx:v:3:y:2011:i:1:p:75-97

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rmdj20

DOI: 10.1142/S1793812011000338

Access Statistics for this article

Middle East Development Journal is currently edited by Raimundo Soto

More articles in Middle East Development Journal from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().