On the Direct and Indirect Effects of ICT on SMEs Export Performance: Evidence from Colombian Manufacturing

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of ICT on the performance of Colombian manufacturing SMEs in export markets. In doing so, we explore the direct effect of ICT on exports and propose a new indirect effect that operates through imports: purchasing foreign intermediates incentivise ICT use, and ICT experience on imports exerts a positive impact on exports. To perform our empirical analysis, we estimate a dynamic generalised linear model (GLM) that accounts for the fact that export intensity is a proportion and corrects for sample selection. The dataset we use is the result of merging three databases: the Annual Manufacturing Survey (EAM); the Innovation and Technological Development Survey (EDIT), and the Annual ICT Manufacturing Survey (EAM-TIC), published by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) in six waves since 2013 to 2018. Our main results uncover that the impacts of different ICT components on export intensity are always positive (direct effect). Further, there is also evidence that previous experience in ICT use on import activity affects the firm’s current export performance (indirect effect). Other results show persistence in export performance or self-selection to continue exporting, among others.