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This paper investigates the role of digitialization in improving economic resilience. Using balance sheet data from 24,000 firms in 75 countries, and a difference-in-differences approach, we find that firms in industries that are more digitalized experience lower revenue losses following recessions. Early data since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic suggest an even larger effect during the resulting recessions. These results are robust across a wide range of digitalization measures—such as ICT input and employment shares, robot usage, online sales, intangible assets and digital skills listed on online profiles—and several alternative specifications.

Macroeconomics --- Economics: General --- Industries: Information Technololgy --- Diseases: Contagious --- Investment --- Capital --- Intangible Capital --- Capacity --- Business Fluctuations --- Cycles --- Technological Change: Choices and Consequences --- Diffusion Processes --- Health Behavior --- Innovation --- Research and Development --- Technological Change --- Intellectual Property Rights: General --- Economic & financial crises & disasters --- Economics of specific sectors --- Information technology industries --- Economic growth --- Infectious & contagious diseases --- Technology --- general issues --- Digitalization --- Economic recession --- COVID-19 --- Health --- Currency crises --- Informal sector --- Economics --- Information technology --- Recessions --- Communicable diseases

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This paper investigates the role of digitialization in improving economic resilience. Using balance sheet data from 24,000 firms in 75 countries, and a difference-in-differences approach, we find that firms in industries that are more digitalized experience lower revenue losses following recessions. Early data since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic suggest an even larger effect during the resulting recessions. These results are robust across a wide range of digitalization measures—such as ICT input and employment shares, robot usage, online sales, intangible assets and digital skills listed on online profiles—and several alternative specifications.

Macroeconomics --- Economics: General --- Industries: Information Technololgy --- Diseases: Contagious --- Investment --- Capital --- Intangible Capital --- Capacity --- Business Fluctuations --- Cycles --- Technological Change: Choices and Consequences --- Diffusion Processes --- Health Behavior --- Innovation --- Research and Development --- Technological Change --- Intellectual Property Rights: General --- Economic & financial crises & disasters --- Economics of specific sectors --- Information technology industries --- Economic growth --- Infectious & contagious diseases --- Technology --- general issues --- Digitalization --- Economic recession --- COVID-19 --- Health --- Currency crises --- Informal sector --- Economics --- Information technology --- Recessions --- Communicable diseases --- Covid-19 --- General issues

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Digitalization encompasses a wide range of new applications of information technology in business models and products that are transforming the economy and social interactions. Digitalization is both an enabler and a disruptor of businesses. The lack of a generally agreed definition of the “digital economy” or “digital sector” and the lack of industry and product classification for Internet platforms and associated services are hurdles to measuring the digital economy. This paper distinguishes between the “digital sector” and the increasingly digitalized modern economy, often called the “digital economy,” and focuses on the measurement of the digital sector. The digital sector covers the core activities of digitalization, ICT goods and services, online platforms, and platform-enabled activities such as the sharing economy.

Electronic commerce --- Finance --- Mathematical models. --- Statistics. --- Business innovation --- Choice of Technology --- Cooperation --- Crowdfunding --- Deflation --- Diffusion Processes --- Digital economy --- Digital or internet economics --- Digitalization --- Economic sectors --- General Aggregative Models: General --- Government and the Monetary System --- Industrialization --- Industries: Information Technololgy --- Inflation --- Information technology industries --- Information technology --- Macroeconomics --- Manufacturing and Service Industries --- Monetary Systems --- National accounts --- National income --- Payment Systems --- Price indexes --- Price Level --- Prices --- Regimes --- Sharing economy --- Standards --- Technological Change: Choices and Consequences --- Technology --- United States

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The need for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to diversify their economies is more urgent than ever. However, despite its established economic benefits, several challenges have precluded diversification in SSA. Against this backdrop, interesting initiatives to further adopt digital technologies, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggest that digitalization is a promising avenue to overcome barriers to diversification. Fast-paced advances in the diffusion of digital technologies and knowledge have the potential to transform SSA economies through several channels. By connecting people and facilitating the rapid diffusion of information, digitalization also promises to reshape the industrial structure of activities in new and unprecedented ways. Therefore, digitalization has the potential to promote diversification and growth in SSA by acting both as an enabler and driver of economic activities, helping support resilience. Yet, while the empirical literature on SSA suggests that digitalization can provide new opportunities for growth, employment, productivity, and inclusion, the impact on diversification has not been studied. This paper aims to fill this important gap in the literature. It also aims to strengthen IMF engagement with SSA policy makers by providing a conceptual policy framework, encompassing both horizontal and sectoral policies, on how to leverage digitalization to support diversification and boost resilience in a post-COVID world.

Diffusion Processes --- Digital economy --- Digital or internet economics --- Digitalization --- Economic Development: General --- Economic growth --- Economic sectors --- Electronic commerce --- General issues --- Government and the Monetary System --- Human Capital --- Human capital --- Income economics --- Industries: Information Technololgy --- Information technology industries --- Information technology --- Innovation --- Intellectual Property Rights: General --- Labor Productivity --- Labor --- Labour --- Macroeconomics --- Monetary Systems --- Occupational Choice --- Payment Systems --- Regimes --- Research and Development --- Skills --- Standards --- Technological Change --- Technological Change: Choices and Consequences --- Technological Change: Government Policy --- Technology

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This Selected Issues paper assesses Cyprus’s export competitiveness and understands factors that could explain export developments, particularly in the services sector. Although Cyprus has been able to leverage its strategic location to diversity its markets for goods exports, as a small island economy, opportunities for diversifying its products mix is more limited. Services exports have performed better in the post-crisis period buoyed by the recovery in Europe and the impact of technological advances on global Information and Communication Technologies-enabled trade. Policies to support greater market diversification, enhance competition and efficiency and strengthen technological adoption would help exports growth. Studies have established the relationship between price and cost competitiveness with trade performance. Cyprus has performed reasonably well with strong service exports over the past few years, aided by improvements in cost competitiveness and a recovery in the European export markets. Policymakers should exploit opportunities brought by the digital transformation while addressing the accompanied risks.

Cyprus--Economic conditions. --- Cyprus --- History. --- Banking --- Banks and Banking --- Banks and banking --- Banks --- Competition --- Computer applications in industry & technology --- Depository Institutions --- Diffusion Processes --- Digitalization --- Export performance --- Exports and Imports --- Exports --- Finance --- Finance: General --- Financial services industry --- Fintech --- General Financial Markets: General (includes Measurement and Data) --- General issues --- Government and the Monetary System --- Imports --- Industries: Financial Services --- Industries: Information Technololgy --- Information technology industries --- Information technology --- Innovation --- Intellectual Property Rights: General --- International economics --- International trade --- Micro Finance Institutions --- Monetary Systems --- Mortgages --- Payment Systems --- Regimes --- Research and Development --- Service exports --- Standards --- Technological Change --- Technological Change: Choices and Consequences --- Technological innovations --- Technology --- Trade: General