The Upside of Digital for the Middle East and North Africa : How Digital Technology Adoption Can Accelerate Growth and Create Jobs / Ana Paula Cusolito [and three others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cusolito, Ana Paula, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history.

Technological innovations--Economic aspects.

Technological innovations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (99 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : The World Bank, [2021]

Summary:

The argument that digitalization fosters economic activity has been strengthened by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Because digital technologies are general-purpose technologies that are usable across a wide variety of economic activities, the gains from achieving universal coverage of digital services are likely to be large and shared throughout each economy. However, the Middle East and North Africa region suffers from a "digital paradox†?: the region's population uses social media more than expected for its level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita but uses the internet or other digital tools to make payments less than expected. The Upside of Digital for the Middle East and North Africa: How Digital Technology Adoption Can Accelerate Growth and Create Jobs presents evidence that the socioeconomic gains of digitalizing the economies of the region are huge: GDP per capita could rise by more than 40 percent; manufacturing revenue per unit of factors of production could increase by 37 percent; employment in manufacturing could rise by 7 percent; tourist arrivals could rise by 70 percent, creating jobs in the hospitality sector; long-term unemployment rates could fall to negligible levels; and female labor force participation could double to more than 40 percent. To reap these gains, universal access to digital services is crucial, as is their widespread use for economic purposes. The book explores how fast the region could approach universal coverage, whether targeting the rollout of digital infrastructure services makes a difference, and what is needed to increase the use of digital payment tools. The authors find that targeting underserved populations and areas can accelerate the achievement of universal access, while fostering competition and improving the functioning of financial and telecommunications sectors can encourage the adoption of digital technologies. In addition, building societal trust in the government and in related institutions such as banks and financial services is critical for fostering the increased use of digital payment tools.

Contents:

Front Cover

Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Executive Summary

Abbreviations

1 Introduction

References

2 The Digital Paradox in the Middle East and North Africa and the Upside of Digital Technologies

Notes

3 Framework for Understanding the Upside of the Digital Economy

4 How Digital Technologies Help to Overcome Market Frictions

Overcoming Frictions due to Information Asymmetries on Ride-Hailing Platforms

Overcoming Transport Frictions: IT Sector and Mobility Barriers in West Bank

Tourism Demand: Overcoming Frictions Associated with Geography and Language Barriers

5 The Upside of Digital: Empirical Framework and Results

Lower-Bound Estimates of the Upside of the Digital Economy

Gains in GDP per Capita

Gains in Revenue Productivity and Employment in Manufacturing

Gains in Tourism and Hospitality Industry Jobs

Reductions in Unemployment and Increases in Female Labor Force Participation

Summary of the Upside Impact of Digital Technologies

6 Three Foundational Pillars of the Digital Economy

Digital Infrastructure

Digital Payments

Regulations for E-commerce

7 Addressing Challenges and Mitigating Risks

Liberalization and Competition as Drivers of Mobile Digital Data Technology Adoption

Competition in the Digital Services Market

Risk Associated with Digital Social Media

Data Governance

Data Privacy in Managing the COVID-19 Pandemic

8 Summary and Conclusions

Appendix A: Modeling the Relationship between Digital Payments, Bank Regulation, and Banking System Development

Appendix B: Benchmark Regressions: Graphs and Statistics

Appendix C: Description of New Mobile Data Technology Adoption Rankings

Boxes.

Box 5.1 Empirical Framework for Estimating the Upside of Digital Technologies

Box 7.1 Four Main Data Governance Paradigms

Figures

Figure 2.1 Penetration of Facebook Accounts and Use of Digital Payments, by Region

Figure 2.2 Correlation between Transparency, Trust, and Use of Digital Payments Worldwide

Figure 3.1 Framework for Understanding the Interactions between the Development of Digital Infrastructure, Use of Digital Tools, and Societal Trust in Government

Figure 4.1 Share of Drivers Working Each Week in the Arab Republic of Egypt, by Driver Quality, 2018

Figure 4.2 Volume of Orders for Courier or Delivery Services in Jakarta, Indonesia, by Gender of the Driver, 2020

Figure 4.3 Change in Demand for Tourism Services, by Determinant

Figure 5.1 Simulated Schedules for Diffusion of Digital Technology, 2017-50: Linear, Concave, and Logit Functions

Figure 5.2 The Upside of Digital: Cumulative Gains in GDP per Capita in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2017-45

Figure 5.3 Digital Adoption and Export Complementarities: The Issue of Targeting

Figure 5.4 Cumulative Gains in Revenue Productivity in Formal Manufacturing Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Perfect Targeting and with No Targeting

Figure 5.5 Employment Gains from Website Adoption in the Middle East and North Africa and in ­Sub-Saharan Africa, with Perfect Targeting and with No Targeting

Figure 5.6 Estimated Gains in Tourist Arrivals due to the Adoption of B2C Tools in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2017-47

Figure 5.7 Estimated Gains in Tourism-Related Employment due to B2C Digital Technology Adoption in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2017-47.

Figure 5.8 Decline in Unemployment due to the Diffusion of Digital Payments in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2017-33

Figure 5.9 Correlation between Digital Payments and Female Labor Force Participation, 2017

Figure 5.10 Potential Increase in Female Labor Force Participation Rates from the Diffusion of Digital Payments in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2017-49

Figure 6.1 Benchmarking the Regulatory Framework for E-commerce, by Country Income Level

Figure 7.1 Mobile Technology Adoption Rankings in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1981-2019

Figure 7.2 ICT Regulatory Authority Independence Index in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa and by Country Income Group, 2017

Figure 7.3 Share of Liberalized Countries in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-18

Figure 7.4 Share of Foreign Participation in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-18

Figure B.1 Coverage of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World, by GDP per Capita, 2019

Figure B.2 Facebook and Internet Use in the Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World, by GDP per Capita

Figure B.3 Digital Payments and Online Purchases in the Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World, by GDP per Capita

Figure B.4 Use of Financial Accounts in the Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World, by GDP per Capita, 2017

Figure B.5 Download Speeds in the Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World, by GDP per Capita, 2019

Figure B.6 User Prices of Data in the Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World, by GDP per Capita, 2019.

Figure C.1 Mobile Technology Adoption Rankings in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1981-2019

Figure C.2 ICT Regulatory Authority Independence Index in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa and by Country Income Group, 2017

Figure C.3 Share of Liberalized Countries in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-18

Figure C.4 Share of Foreign Participation in the Middle East and North Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-18

Tables

Table 4.1 Change in Industry Shares of GDP in the Presence of Mobility Restrictions in West Bank, 1995-2017

Table 4.2 Simulated Change in GDP in the Presence of Mobility Restrictions

Table 7.1 Technology Adoption, Liberalization, and Regulatory Independence

Table 7.2 Data Stewardship in a Data Governance Framework

Table 7.3 Regulation on Data Privacy in the Middle East and North Africa

Table A.1 Relationships between Banking Restrictions, Financial Development, and Digital Payments

Table A.2 Description of Variables

Table B.1 ICT Infrastructure Coverage

Table B.2 ICT Adoption-Digital Finance

Table B.3 ICT Adoption-Enterprises and E-commerce

Table B.4 ICT Enablers-E-Government Development Index Subindexes

Table B.5 ICT Enablers-Quality of Institutions.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Other Format:

Print version: Cusolito, Ana Paula The Upside of Digital for the Middle East and North Africa

ISBN:

1-4648-1664-6

OCLC:

1315644557

Publisher Number:

10.1596/978-1-4648-1663-5