Does ICT adoption and trade affect human development Evidence from the EU transition economies

Abstract

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been researched primarily in terms of its contributions to a country's economic growth. ICT may enhance many areas of human life quality. According to the human development paradigm, the increase in income resulting from ICT usage and trade is only a resource helping people to meet their economic needs. This study investigates the impact of ICT adoption and trade on human development in 11 EU transition economies over the 2000-2019 period employing the panel FMOLS approach. The empirical analysis disclosed that the use of the Internet and the share of ICT goods import in total import have a significant positive impact on human development. In contrast, the link between the share of ICT goods export in total export and human development is not statistically significant. The interesting result of this research is that mobile usage has a statistically significant negative impact on human development.