The I.C.T. Revolution: Productivity Differences and the Digital Divide

This book is an analysis of the economic effects of the ICT revolution, and answers a few key questions: Did the ICT revolution contribute to the recent divergence in the growth record? And if this is the case, how and why were some countries better equipped to exploit the potential of ICT? It assembles the work of two teams of leading economists, focusing on the role that the ICT revolution has played in advanced countries, and assessing whether or not the digital economy will indeed result in a more competitive and more equal world.

Daniel Cohen is a Research fellow and former co-director of the International macroeconomy programme at the CEPR, and Research fellow at CEPREMAP, Paris. He has been a Consultant at the World Bank (1984-1994) and the IMF (2001 and 2002), and was a Visiting fellow at Harvard University in 1981-82 and 1983-84. Pietro Garibaldi is the Head of Labour Studies at the Fondazione Rdolfo Debenedetti, Research fellow in the Labour Economics programme at the CEPR, Research Fellow at the IZA in Bonn, Research fellow at Igier, Milan, and Consultant on Labour Issues for the Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance. He has been a Consultant at the World Bank (1999; 2002) and the IMF (2000; 2001), and was an Economist at the IMF from 1996 to 1999. Stefano Scarpetta is the Labor Market Adviser at the World Bank, responsible for leading research, policy, and operational support activities in a variety of areas including the setting of a common framework for studying labor market systems, the impact of labor and product market regulations on economic performance and the effectiveness of labor market policies. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was in charge of the OECD Growth project, and prior to this of the OECD Jobs Strategy project.