Publication: Firm-Level Adoption of Technologies in Senegal
Date
2021-05
ISSN
Published
2021-05
Author(s)
Abstract
Technology is key to boost productivity
and generate more and better quality jobs in Senegal. This
paper uses a novel approach to measure technology adoption
at the firm level and applies it to a representative sample
of firms in Senegal. It provides new measures of technology
adoption at the firm level, which identify the purposes for
which technologies are used and analyzes some of the key
barriers to improving technology adoption at the firm level
in Senegal. First, the adoption of general-purpose
information and communications technologies, such as
computers, the internet, and cloud computing for business
purpose, is low but very heterogeneous and positively
associated with size and formal status. Second, most firms
still rely on pre-digital technologies to perform general
business functions, such as business administration,
production planning, supply chain management, marketing,
sales, and payment. Third, most firms, including large and
formal firms, still rely on manual methods or manually
operated machines to perform critical pro duction tasks that
are sector specific, such as harvesting in agriculture or
packaging in food processing. The paper presents evidence of
three main challenges to improve technology adoption: access
to finance, information, and knowledge (firm capabilities),
and access to markets and competition.
Citation
“Cirera, Xavier; Comin, Diego; Cruz, Marcio; Lee, Kyung Min. 2021. Firm-Level Adoption of Technologies in Senegal. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9657. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35570 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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