Publication: A Spiky Digital Business Landscape: What Can Developing Countries Do?
Loading...
Files
488 downloads
347 downloads
Published
2022-10
ISSN
Date
2023-02-15
2023-03-06
2023-03-06
Editor(s)
Abstract
Digital technologies hold the promise of bridging wealth gaps through innovation-driven growth, but the “winners-take-most” dynamic of digital business models calls into question the net growth effect and the global footprint of this sector. Digital transformation is driven by a set of digital technologies that have led to a rapid and steep decline in the costs of data storage, computation, and transmission. These technologies hold promise for bridging the wealth gap between nations by allowing developing countries to catch up with generations of previous technologies. At the same time, characteristics inherent to these technologies have the potential to result in a “winner-takes-most” dynamic, by creating market entry barriers and leading to high levels of concentration and potential market dominance. For the first time, this report provides novel evidence of the characteristics of digital business and markets in 190 countries. The report defines digital businesses as digital solution providers that develop and manufacture digital technology products or digital services; a subset of these can also use platform-based and/or data-intensive network effect business models. The report draws on the World Bank’s newly assembled firm-level database of 200,000 digital businesses in 190 countries, to provide unique evidence on the current global digital business landscape.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Zhu, Tingting Juni; Grinsted, Philip; Song, Hangyul; Velamuri, Malathi. 2022. A Spiky Digital Business Landscape: What Can Developing Countries Do?. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39437 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Developing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Digital Businesses and Beyond(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-10-18)An entrepreneurial ecosystem is characterized by the structure and interactions of organizations, firms, institutions, and individuals in a specific locale that is conducive to entrepreneurship. It can be defined as a set of interdependent actors and factors that are governed in such a way that they enable productive entrepreneurship in a particular territory. The World Bank has developed a new toolkit, Developing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for Digital Businesses and Beyond, for entrepreneurial ecosystem assessments, including dedicated methodologies and data sets, to nurture digital entrepreneurship. This toolkit builds on the World Bank’s expertise in collecting and analyzing firm-level data, assessing the quality and efficiency of policies that support innovation and small and medium enterprises, and deriving insights from spatial economics to inform subnational analysis. The toolkit consists of six modules: cross-country context analysis, assessing local entrepreneurial ecosystems, digital entrepreneurship and tech start-ups, mapping public programs and intermediary organizations, digital market regulations, and policy options to support entrepreneurial ecosystems.Publication Determinants of a Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Spatial Econometric Analysis of Cell Phone Coverage(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-02)Most discussions of the digital divide treat it as a "North-South" issue, but the conventional dichotomy doesn't apply to cell phones in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although almost all Sub-Saharan countries are poor by international standards, they exhibit great disparities in coverage by cell telephone systems. Buys, Dasgupta, Thomas and Wheeler investigate the determinants of these disparities with a spatially-disaggregated model that employs locational information for cell-phone towers across over 990,000 4.6-km grid squares in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using probit techniques, a probability model with adjustments for spatial autocorrelation has been estimated that relates the likelihood of cell-tower location within a grid square to potential market size (proximate population); installation and maintenance cost factors related to accessibility (elevation, slope, distance from a main road, distance from the nearest large city); and national competition policy. Probit estimates indicate strong, significant results for the supply-demand variables, and very strong results for the competition policy index. Simulations based on the econometric results suggest that a generalized improvement in competition policy to a level that currently characterizes the best-performing states in Sub-Saharan Africa could lead to huge improvements in cell-phone area coverage for many states currently with poor policy performance, and an overall coverage increase of nearly 100 percent.Publication Authentication and Digital Signatures in E-Law and Security : A Guide for Legislators and Managers(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-12)The concept of authentication has been around for a long time in many forms. For example due diligence in commerce has traditionally been formalized to determine whether the data presented in commercial propositions are accurate and comprehensive. With the emergence of e-commerce the concept of authentication has encompassed new realities that are a feature of the relatively narrow avenues for information and potentially high risks inherent in an online environment. This paper seeks to provide an understanding about the different ways of assuring authentication. These authentication rules and tools including for example public key infrastructure (PKI) are sometimes meant to set a legal and technological framework for trustworthy electronic transactions, promoting e-procurement, e-commerce, e-business, and e-government. The two considerations of business risk and legal validity are both intrinsic to the concept of authentication. This report explores the issues and solutions affecting the concept of authentication in terms of legislation, management and technology. This report finds that for online authentication things is not always what they may seem and that legislation and technology alone cannot build a trust environment and, if misunderstood, may produce a high risk illusion. It is crucial that the limitations and fallibility of the technology be explicit in its commercial applications and that business risks be managed accordingly.Publication Do Digital Technologies Facilitate Illicit Financial Flows?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-01)The emerging concept of illicit financial flows has become a crosscutting issue on the international agenda in recent years. This umbrella term refers to money illegally earned, transferred, or used. With the development of digital technologies, the use of information and communications networks as a tool for facilitating illicit financial flows is rising as one of the key challenges in tackling the problem of the movement of illegal funds. Digital technologies facilitate illicit financial flows at each stage, be it earning money illegally, transferring illegal funds, or using them. There are several areas where clear links between technology and illicit financial flows can be established. Part one defines illicit financial flows to establish the scope of the problem and provide the context for further analysis. Part two focuses on the issue of digital technologies in the process of earning money illegally and transferring illicit funds, and analyzes how technology can help in the process of acquisition, transfers, and integration of illicit finds. Part three discusses the role of technology in fighting illicit financial flows. Part four concludes with suggestions for further areas of research in this field and ways to tackle the problem more effectively.Publication Managing Records and Information for Transparent, Accountable, and Inclusive Governance in the Digital Environment(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06)This set of three case studies explores the intersection of openness, digital governance, andhigh quality information in Estonia,1 Finland, and Norway with the aim of identifying lessonsthat will support the same objectives in lower resource countries. Openness, a key aspect ofthe international agenda for increasing transparency and accountability, for reducing public sectorcorruption, and for strengthening economic performance, rests on the principle that citizenshave a right to know what their governments are doing and to benefit from using governmentinformation. Goals for open, accountable, and inclusive governance rest on the assumption thattrustworthy information is available and can be shared meaningfully through strategies for digitalgovernance. This assumption needs to be examined. Does reliable and complete informationexist across lower resource countries? Can it be accessed readily? Will it survive through time?
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication Using Immunization Coverage Rates for Monitoring Health Sector Performance : Measurement and Interpretation Issues(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-08)Immunization against childhood diseases such as diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio and measles is one of the most important means of preventing childhood morbidity and mortality. Despite the low cost of basic childhood immunizations, nearly 3 million children still die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. Achieving and maintaining high levels of immunization coverage must therefore be a priority for all health systems. In order to monitor progress in achieving this objective, immunization coverage data can serve as an indicator of a health system's capacity to deliver essential services to the most vulnerable members of a population. This note discusses the use of trends in immunization coverage data, and argues that immunization is a health output with a strong impact on child morbidity, child mortality and permanent disability. This note discusses measurement and interpretation issues for coverage data collected through surveys and administrative records.Publication The Container Port Performance Index 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-18)The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) measures the time container ships spend in port, making it an important point of reference for stakeholders in the global economy. These stakeholders include port authorities and operators, national governments, supranational organizations, development agencies, and other public and private players in trade and logistics. The index highlights where vessel time in container ports could be improved. Streamlining these processes would benefit all parties involved, including shipping lines, national governments, and consumers. This fourth edition of the CPPI relies on data from 405 container ports with at least 24 container ship port calls in the calendar year 2023. As in earlier editions of the CPPI, the ranking employs two different methodological approaches: an administrative (technical) approach and a statistical approach (using matrix factorization). Combining these two approaches ensures that the overall ranking of container ports reflects actual port performance as closely as possible while also being statistically robust. The CPPI methodology assesses the sequential steps of a container ship port call. ‘Total port hours’ refers to the total time elapsed from the moment a ship arrives at the port until the vessel leaves the berth after completing its cargo operations. The CPPI uses time as an indicator because time is very important to shipping lines, ports, and the entire logistics chain. However, time, as captured by the CPPI, is not the only way to measure port efficiency, so it does not tell the entire story of a port’s performance. Factors that can influence the time vessels spend in ports can be location-specific and under the port’s control (endogenous) or external and beyond the control of the port (exogenous). The CPPI measures time spent in container ports, strictly based on quantitative data only, which do not reveal the underlying factors or root causes of extended port times. A detailed port-specific diagnostic would be required to assess the contribution of underlying factors to the time a vessel spends in port. A very low ranking or a significant change in ranking may warrant special attention, for which the World Bank generally recommends a detailed diagnostic.