Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Internet Penetration and Firm Innovation in the Digital Era: A Sectoral Analysis of U.S. Firms
This paper studies the effect of macro-level internet penetration on firm-level innovation in the United States, proxied by research and development expenditure. The IV approach is used to address the problem of potential endogeneity, covering data from 2000 to 2022 across five super industries: con...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Published: |
AUC Knowledge Fountain
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | This paper studies the effect of macro-level internet penetration on firm-level innovation in the United States, proxied by research and development expenditure. The IV approach is used to address the problem of potential endogeneity, covering data from 2000 to 2022 across five super industries: consumer goods and retail, energy and electricity, media and entertainment, financial services, and technology and telecommunications. The results show that internet penetration has a positive effect on the innovative performance of all sectors; however, this effect is more pronounced in the financial service and media sectors. Firm-specific characteristics also influence this relationship, such as debt-to-assets ratio, capital expenditure, and unemployment rate. Given sectoral differences, the study highlights the transformative role of internet accessibility in fostering innovation. While the analysis is limited to macro-level penetration in the U.S. context, the findings underline the importance of policies aimed at improving access to the internet, industry-specific digital transformation, and supporting R&D for sustainable economic growth. |
|---|