Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/228252 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2019-22
Publisher: 
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Abstract: 
We document a strong negative link between self-employment and the rate of digital adoption by firms in developing and emerging economies. No link between digital adoption and the unemployment rate is found, however. To explain this evidence, we build a general equilibrium search-and-matching model with endogenous labor force participation, self-employment, endogenous firm entry, and information-and-communications technology adoption. The main finding is that changes in the cost of technology adoption per se cannot rationalize the evidence. Instead, changes in firms' barriers to entry directly linked to the cost of technology adoption are key to explain the data.
Subjects: 
Information-and-telecommunications-technology capital (ICT)
digital adoption
automation
labor search frictions
unemployment
self-employment
endogenous firm entry
developing and emerging economies
JEL: 
E24
J23
J24
J64
O14
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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