Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/312176 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 24-057
Publisher: 
ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, Mannheim
Abstract: 
This study investigates how crises affect firms' adoption of frontier technologies using the Covid-19 pandemic as a case study. The analysis tracks the nature, timing, and pandemic-related motivations of investments among German firms, using longitudinal survey data linked with administrative worker-firm records. We find clear evidence for a shift toward remote work technologies that helped firms mitigate negative employment effects. Overall, however, the pandemic slowed down the diffusion of new technologies. This procyclical pattern of technology adoption is particularly striking since the pandemic created strong incentives to experiment with new technologies.
Subjects: 
Firm-level technology investments
cyclicality of technology adoption
Covid-19 crisis
JEL: 
O33
E22
E32
J23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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