Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank

Despite the popular view that, with the advent of digital technologies, the world has become flat, geography still plays a key role in the economy. COVID-19 has brought even more awareness of this. This paper studies the impact of security measures...

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Main Authors:	Fratto, Chiara, Giannone, Elisa
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:	INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INTERNET ACCESS INPUT-OUTPUT MARKET ACCESS MOBILITY RESTRICTIONS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/419851601990166168/Market-Access-and-Development-of-the-ICT-Sector-in-the-West-Bank http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34597

id	okr-10986-34597
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-345972022-09-20T00:11:07Z Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank Fratto, Chiara Giannone, Elisa INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INTERNET ACCESS INPUT-OUTPUT MARKET ACCESS MOBILITY RESTRICTIONS Despite the popular view that, with the advent of digital technologies, the world has become flat, geography still plays a key role in the economy. COVID-19 has brought even more awareness of this. This paper studies the impact of security measures that have reduced the mobility of people and goods on the industrial composition of the West Bank economy, and, in particular, on the development of the information and communications technology sector. The paper identifies different channels through which changes in market access due to the introduction of mobility restrictions can differentially affect industries. A newly designed survey instrument is used to identify and disentangle these mechanisms separately. This novel data set contains information on more than 500 establishments that are representative of different sectors of the economy, including information and communications technology, manufacturing, and retail trade. The analysis finds that the mobility restrictions involved a reallocation of resources toward the information and communications technology sector, as the industry was relatively less affected by the restrictions. Yet, the key role of the input-output linkages, strong dependence on local clients and suppliers, and deep interconnectedness of the information and communications technology sector with other domestic industries severely limit the extent to which the sector can benefit from the reduction in opportunity cost. An industrial strategy focusing on the harmonious development of the entire economy is advised, rather than targeting a specific industry in isolation from the rest. 2020-10-08T14:29:34Z 2020-10-08T14:29:34Z 2020-10 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/419851601990166168/Market-Access-and-Development-of-the-ICT-Sector-in-the-West-Bank http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34597 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9426 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Middle East and North Africa West Bank and Gaza
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INTERNET ACCESS INPUT-OUTPUT MARKET ACCESS MOBILITY RESTRICTIONS
spellingShingle	INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INTERNET ACCESS INPUT-OUTPUT MARKET ACCESS MOBILITY RESTRICTIONS Fratto, Chiara Giannone, Elisa Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank
geographic_facet	Middle East and North Africa West Bank and Gaza
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9426
description	Despite the popular view that, with the advent of digital technologies, the world has become flat, geography still plays a key role in the economy. COVID-19 has brought even more awareness of this. This paper studies the impact of security measures that have reduced the mobility of people and goods on the industrial composition of the West Bank economy, and, in particular, on the development of the information and communications technology sector. The paper identifies different channels through which changes in market access due to the introduction of mobility restrictions can differentially affect industries. A newly designed survey instrument is used to identify and disentangle these mechanisms separately. This novel data set contains information on more than 500 establishments that are representative of different sectors of the economy, including information and communications technology, manufacturing, and retail trade. The analysis finds that the mobility restrictions involved a reallocation of resources toward the information and communications technology sector, as the industry was relatively less affected by the restrictions. Yet, the key role of the input-output linkages, strong dependence on local clients and suppliers, and deep interconnectedness of the information and communications technology sector with other domestic industries severely limit the extent to which the sector can benefit from the reduction in opportunity cost. An industrial strategy focusing on the harmonious development of the entire economy is advised, rather than targeting a specific industry in isolation from the rest.
format	Working Paper
author	Fratto, Chiara Giannone, Elisa
author_facet	Fratto, Chiara Giannone, Elisa
author_sort	Fratto, Chiara
title	Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank
title_short	Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank
title_full	Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank
title_fullStr	Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank
title_full_unstemmed	Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank
title_sort	market access and development of the ict sector in the west bank
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2020
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/419851601990166168/Market-Access-and-Development-of-the-ICT-Sector-in-the-West-Bank http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34597
_version_	1764481242990903296

Market Access and Development of the ICT Sector in the West Bank

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