Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Calza, Elisa
Author-Email: calza@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and United Nations
	 Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Author-Name: Lavopa, Alejandro
Author-Email: lavopa@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and United Nations
	 Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Author-Name: Ligia Zagato
Author-Email: lz15@soas.ac.uk
Author-Workplace-Name: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO),
	 and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
Title: Advanced digital technologies and industrial resilience during the COVID-19 
	 pandemic: A firm-level perspective 
Abstract: The advanced digital production (ADP) technologies of the fourth
	 industrial revolution (4IR) are expected to reshape the way industrial
	 production takes place. These technologies offer new windows of
	 opportunities for developing countries to catch up with the world
	 technological frontier, but, at the same time, they pose new challenges
	 and risks. This paper uses a novel firm-level data set collected by
	 UNIDO and partners around the world to investigate the extent to which
	 these technologies are diffused in developing countries, the main
	 factors supporting their adoption and the role played by these
	 technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three key findings emerge
	 from the analysis: (1) the diffusion of these technologies is still very
	 limited to a handful of firms; (2) large firms, firms operating within
	 global value chains and firms with existing innovative capabilities are
	 more likely to adopt ADP technologies; and (3) advanced digitalization
	 has contributed to the robustness of firms as they address the COVID-19
	 crisis and supported their readiness to act and respond quickly and
	 adapt to the new context. The findings of the paper are expected to
	 inform policymakers in the design of industrial recovery policies that
	 can strengthen future industrial resilience in developing and emerging
	 economies.
Classification-JEL: O12, O14, O33
Keywords: Industrial development, digital technologies, resilience; fourth
	 industrial revolution, firm-level analysis, COVID-19
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 20220217
Number: 2022-008
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2022/wp2022-008.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2022008