Digital Technology Uses among Informal Micro-Sized Firms
This paper explores the use of digital technologies among informal micro-sized firms in Senegal, their association with productivity, sales, exports and jobs, and the role of age and gender dimensions of enterprise owners. The study uses a new national sample of over 500 firms, of which over 90 percent are not fully formal and over 95 percent are micro-sized, employing five or fewer full-time employees. The analysis finds that using a 2G mobile phone is significantly positively correlated both with productivity and sales, and using a smartphone is associated with an additional premium relative to using a 2G. The largest statistically significant conditional correlate of productivity, sales and jobs is a more specialized internal-to-the-firm management technology proxying for management capabilities more generally, namely inventory control/point of sales (POS) software. Use of digital technologies to facilitate external-to-the-firm transactions, namely using mobile money to pay suppliers and to receive payments from customers are also statistically significant conditional correlates of productivity and sales. Using a smartphone is also positively correlated with exporting (while using only a 2G phone is not). Finally, there are significant digital divides in the use of digital technologies across age and gender groupings.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021-03
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| Subjects: | INTERNET ACCESS, MICROENTERPRISES, FIRM PRODUCTIVITY, EMPLOYMENT, DIGITAL ECONOMY, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, SMARTPHONE, INCLUSION, INFORMALITY, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/687571615321246974/Digital-Technology-Uses-among-Informal-Micro-Sized-Firms-Productivity-and-Jobs-Outcomes-in-Senegal https://hdl.handle.net/10986/35251 |
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| Summary: | This paper explores the use of digital
technologies among informal micro-sized firms in Senegal,
their association with productivity, sales, exports and
jobs, and the role of age and gender dimensions of
enterprise owners. The study uses a new national sample of
over 500 firms, of which over 90 percent are not fully
formal and over 95 percent are micro-sized, employing five
or fewer full-time employees. The analysis finds that using
a 2G mobile phone is significantly positively correlated
both with productivity and sales, and using a smartphone is
associated with an additional premium relative to using a
2G. The largest statistically significant conditional
correlate of productivity, sales and jobs is a more
specialized internal-to-the-firm management technology
proxying for management capabilities more generally, namely
inventory control/point of sales (POS) software. Use of
digital technologies to facilitate external-to-the-firm
transactions, namely using mobile money to pay suppliers and
to receive payments from customers are also statistically
significant conditional correlates of productivity and
sales. Using a smartphone is also positively correlated with
exporting (while using only a 2G phone is not). Finally,
there are significant digital divides in the use of digital
technologies across age and gender groupings. |
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