Does value chain participation facilitate the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies in developing countries?
Michele Delera, Carlo Pietrobelli, Elisa Calza & Alejandro Lavopa
#2020-046
The adoption of new technology is a key driver of firm performance and
economic development. In this paper, we develop a framework for the
firm-level analysis of the adoption of digital technology in developing
economies. We investigate whether firms' participation to global value
chains (GVCs) can facilitate the adoption of digital technologies. Using
a novel database on the adoption of different generations of technology
by manufacturing firms in Ghana, Vietnam, and Thailand, we document that
the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies remains extremely limited. We
also find that firms' participation to GVCs is an important driver of
digital technology adoption, and that adoption is positively associated
with firm-level performance.
Keywords: GVCs, Industry 4.0, Technology adoption, Economic development,
Capabilities
JEL Classification: O12, O14, O33