Pub Date : 2025-10-04DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.10.001
Jie Ji
In the era of global digital transformation, trade openness is vital for advancing digital servitization. This study employs microdata from China to investigate the effects of trade liberalization on the digital servitization of manufacturing firms. The findings are as follows: (1) The baseline results show that reducing trade barriers can enhance firms' digital servitization level. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that trade liberalization promotes digital servitization by increasing digital service sales and decreasing other business sales, fostering product diversification and improving profits without leading to the "service paradox". (3) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that capital-intensive and technology-intensive firms are more likely to engage in digital servitization as a result of trade liberalization. (4) Further analysis shows that the combination of border and behind-the-border measures can further facilitate digital servitization. This study offers theoretical support for manufacturing firms aiming to implement digital servitization strategies in an open environment.
{"title":"Trade liberalization and digital servitization: A study based on microdata from chinese manufacturing firms","authors":"Jie Ji","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the era of global digital transformation, trade openness is vital for advancing digital servitization. This study employs microdata from China to investigate the effects of trade liberalization on the digital servitization of manufacturing firms. The findings are as follows: (1) The baseline results show that reducing trade barriers can enhance firms' digital servitization level. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that trade liberalization promotes digital servitization by increasing digital service sales and decreasing other business sales, fostering product diversification and improving profits without leading to the \"service paradox\". (3) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that capital-intensive and technology-intensive firms are more likely to engage in digital servitization as a result of trade liberalization. (4) Further analysis shows that the combination of border and behind-the-border measures can further facilitate digital servitization. This study offers theoretical support for manufacturing firms aiming to implement digital servitization strategies in an open environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 654-675"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145332506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.007
Yao Ouyang , Min Lu , Zisheng Ouyang
Based on the theoretical connotation of economic resilience, this article constructs an evaluation system of 21 basic indicators-including economic development level, territorial area, and total grain output-to assess economic resilience. Using the entropy method, we calculated the economic resilience, resistance resilience, and recovery resilience of 47 countries from 2006 to 2022, and conducted an in-depth analysis of the development trends of economic resilience across countries of different scales. Furthermore, the TVP-VAR model was employed to investigate the impact of economic resilience on economic development under the shocks of international crises in the 21st century. The results indicate that although global economic resilience was impacted by multiple crises, it generally showed a fluctuating upward trend. The 2008 global financial crisis and the 2014–2016 El Niño event primarily affected resistance resilience. However, the former led to a decrease in the average level of global economic resilience, while the latter only slowed its rate of improvement. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a global production halt, resulting in significant declines in both resistance and recovery resilience. National scale factors—such as governance capacity, population size, territorial area, gross domestic product, global economic influence, and income level—significantly influence economic resilience. Large countries can leverage their scale advantages to demonstrate strong resilience. International crises have triggered imbalances in global economic resilience and significantly impacted national economic development, with varying effects depending on the scale of the economy. Large countries experienced shorter shock durations and quicker recoveries, whereas small economies faced longer and more unstable recovery processes.
{"title":"International crises, national scale, and economic resilience in the 21st century","authors":"Yao Ouyang , Min Lu , Zisheng Ouyang","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on the theoretical connotation of economic resilience, this article constructs an evaluation system of 21 basic indicators-including economic development level, territorial area, and total grain output-to assess economic resilience. Using the entropy method, we calculated the economic resilience, resistance resilience, and recovery resilience of 47 countries from 2006 to 2022, and conducted an in-depth analysis of the development trends of economic resilience across countries of different scales. Furthermore, the TVP-VAR model was employed to investigate the impact of economic resilience on economic development under the shocks of international crises in the 21st century. The results indicate that although global economic resilience was impacted by multiple crises, it generally showed a fluctuating upward trend. The 2008 global financial crisis and the 2014–2016 El Niño event primarily affected resistance resilience. However, the former led to a decrease in the average level of global economic resilience, while the latter only slowed its rate of improvement. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a global production halt, resulting in significant declines in both resistance and recovery resilience. National scale factors—such as governance capacity, population size, territorial area, gross domestic product, global economic influence, and income level—significantly influence economic resilience. Large countries can leverage their scale advantages to demonstrate strong resilience. International crises have triggered imbalances in global economic resilience and significantly impacted national economic development, with varying effects depending on the scale of the economy. Large countries experienced shorter shock durations and quicker recoveries, whereas small economies faced longer and more unstable recovery processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 618-637"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.006
Shufen Dai , Chen Wang , Fei Meng , Wei Gu , Jian Tian
This study addresses the challenge of incentivizing carbon reductions in supply chains under carbon pricing mechanisms. Focusing on upstream raw materials, we propose a cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessment (LCA)-based carbon accounting model and a cooperative game model to optimize the fair allocation of carbon responsibility across a multi-level, multi-agent supply chain. Using a steel-construction supply chain case, we validate the model and uncover key insights: 1) High-performance products, with high production emissions but lower use-phase emissions, face unfair responsibility allocation when only production-stage emissions are considered; 2) Focusing on production-stage reductions leads to emission responsibility transfer from downstream to upstream and from larger to smaller companies; 3) Factors such as material-saving rates, product lifespan, and recycling have a greater impact on life cycle emissions than production-stage reductions alone. Based on these findings, we recommend enhancing the carbon labeling system and optimizing responsibility allocation to balance production and use-phase emissions.
{"title":"Optimizing carbon responsibility allocation in the steel supply chain: A cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessment approach","authors":"Shufen Dai , Chen Wang , Fei Meng , Wei Gu , Jian Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study addresses the challenge of incentivizing carbon reductions in supply chains under carbon pricing mechanisms. Focusing on upstream raw materials, we propose a cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessment (LCA)-based carbon accounting model and a cooperative game model to optimize the fair allocation of carbon responsibility across a multi-level, multi-agent supply chain. Using a steel-construction supply chain case, we validate the model and uncover key insights: 1) High-performance products, with high production emissions but lower use-phase emissions, face unfair responsibility allocation when only production-stage emissions are considered; 2) Focusing on production-stage reductions leads to emission responsibility transfer from downstream to upstream and from larger to smaller companies; 3) Factors such as material-saving rates, product lifespan, and recycling have a greater impact on life cycle emissions than production-stage reductions alone. Based on these findings, we recommend enhancing the carbon labeling system and optimizing responsibility allocation to balance production and use-phase emissions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 590-605"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.012
Linus Nyiwul , Zhining Hu , Niraj P. Koirala
The ‘resource curse’ literature has predominantly focused on identifying causes and channels of the ‘curse’, while literature on how to mitigate it remains largely at the theoretical or analytical level. In this paper, we examine the role of fiscal policy in mitigating the negative effect of natural resource dependence on economic growth. Using a sample of 150 countries for the period of 1990-2021, we apply a panel instrumental variable (IV) estimation to identify the nature of the relationship between economic growth, resource dependence, and fiscal policy. We then apply a panel structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model to examine the dynamics of this relationship. Our results yield a nuanced picture: while expansionary fiscal policy can mitigate the negative effect of resource dependence, it also entails adverse consequences, particularly a reduction in economic growth, which partially offset its benefits. These findings are robust across five different measurements of natural resource dependence and are further corroborated by the panel SVAR analysis.
{"title":"Natural resource curse: Mediating effects of fiscal policy","authors":"Linus Nyiwul , Zhining Hu , Niraj P. Koirala","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The ‘resource curse’ literature has predominantly focused on identifying causes and channels of the ‘curse’, while literature on how to mitigate it remains largely at the theoretical or analytical level. In this paper, we examine the role of fiscal policy in mitigating the negative effect of natural resource dependence on economic growth. Using a sample of 150 countries for the period of 1990-2021, we apply a panel instrumental variable (IV) estimation to identify the nature of the relationship between economic growth, resource dependence, and fiscal policy. We then apply a panel structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model to examine the dynamics of this relationship. Our results yield a nuanced picture: while expansionary fiscal policy can mitigate the negative effect of resource dependence, it also entails adverse consequences, particularly a reduction in economic growth, which partially offset its benefits. These findings are robust across five different measurements of natural resource dependence and are further corroborated by the panel SVAR analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 568-589"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.003
Anne Jurkat , Rainer Klump , Florian Schneider
Given the mixed empirical evidence, our meta-study aims to uncover the effect of industrial robots on wages and to identify the drivers of heterogeneity in the primary literature. We collected 55 papers containing 2,468 estimates through systematic literature research. The overall effect of industrial robots on wages is close to zero and statistically insignificant. We observe little evidence of a publication selection bias in general. However, we find evidence of a preferential selection of negative results when authors focus on the USA. Our multivariate meta-regression analysis suggests that the heterogeneity among primary estimations is mainly driven by the selection of countries and control variables, aggregation level, and functional form. Nevertheless, we do not find any economically significant wage effect for specific country groups, aggregation levels, or subsamples of workers.
{"title":"Robots and wages: A meta-analysis","authors":"Anne Jurkat , Rainer Klump , Florian Schneider","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Given the mixed empirical evidence, our meta-study aims to uncover the effect of industrial robots on wages and to identify the drivers of heterogeneity in the primary literature. We collected 55 papers containing 2,468 estimates through systematic literature research. The overall effect of industrial robots on wages is close to zero and statistically insignificant. We observe little evidence of a publication selection bias in general. However, we find evidence of a preferential selection of negative results when authors focus on the USA. Our multivariate meta-regression analysis suggests that the heterogeneity among primary estimations is mainly driven by the selection of countries and control variables, aggregation level, and functional form. Nevertheless, we do not find any economically significant wage effect for specific country groups, aggregation levels, or subsamples of workers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 541-567"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-16DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.018
Hiroaki Sasaki, Aya Mizutani
In contemporary Japan, the realization of a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution (i.e., how the “new form of capitalism” should be) has been discussed. To examine the validity of economic policies suggested by the new form of capitalism, we present a Kaleckian model that considers the wage gap among workers and the retained earnings of firms, and investigate the effects of minimum wage, the rate of retained earnings, and managerial profit sharing on growth and distribution. We reveal that a decrease in the rate of retained earnings and an increase in managerial profit sharing do not lead to a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution, whereas a rise in the minimum wage increases the income share of workers and the economic growth rate. However, an increase in the minimum wage has a negative impact on employment, whereas a decline in the rate of retained earnings and an expansion of managerial profit sharing have a positive effect.
{"title":"Do the economic policies of Japan’s “New form of capitalism” create a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution?","authors":"Hiroaki Sasaki, Aya Mizutani","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In contemporary Japan, the realization of a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution (i.e., how the “new form of capitalism” should be) has been discussed. To examine the validity of economic policies suggested by the new form of capitalism, we present a Kaleckian model that considers the wage gap among workers and the retained earnings of firms, and investigate the effects of minimum wage, the rate of retained earnings, and managerial profit sharing on growth and distribution. We reveal that a decrease in the rate of retained earnings and an increase in managerial profit sharing do not lead to a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution, whereas a rise in the minimum wage increases the income share of workers and the economic growth rate. However, an increase in the minimum wage has a negative impact on employment, whereas a decline in the rate of retained earnings and an expansion of managerial profit sharing have a positive effect.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 501-512"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145104466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-16DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.005
Haotian Luo , Jinlei Yu , Tong Mu , Peng Zhou
Drawing on the NEBIC framework, this study constructs a supply chain network using data on China’s A-share listed firms from 2010 to 2021. It examines how the digital transformation of focal firms affects the supply chain carbon emissions. IV-2SLS, DID and System-GMM are used to deal with endogeneity. The analysis reveals that digital transformation significantly reduces supply chain carbon emissions through environmental information spillovers and green innovation spillovers. Moreover, the effects are strengthened by greater environmental regulatory intensity and executives’ environmental awareness. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the reduction impact of digital transformation is more pronounced in the eastern and western regions, and is stronger among high-tech and low-pollution industries. Furthermore, the effect is greater for upstream suppliers than for downstream customers. These findings underscore the broader environmental benefits of digital transformation from a network perspective and offer theoretical support for both government policy design and corporate supply chain decarbonization strategies.
{"title":"Spillover effects of enterprise digital transformation on supply chain carbon emissions: Evidence from China","authors":"Haotian Luo , Jinlei Yu , Tong Mu , Peng Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drawing on the NEBIC framework, this study constructs a supply chain network using data on China’s A-share listed firms from 2010 to 2021. It examines how the digital transformation of focal firms affects the supply chain carbon emissions. IV-2SLS, DID and System-GMM are used to deal with endogeneity. The analysis reveals that digital transformation significantly reduces supply chain carbon emissions through environmental information spillovers and green innovation spillovers. Moreover, the effects are strengthened by greater environmental regulatory intensity and executives’ environmental awareness. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the reduction impact of digital transformation is more pronounced in the eastern and western regions, and is stronger among high-tech and low-pollution industries. Furthermore, the effect is greater for upstream suppliers than for downstream customers. These findings underscore the broader environmental benefits of digital transformation from a network perspective and offer theoretical support for both government policy design and corporate supply chain decarbonization strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 606-617"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145227231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-16DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.004
Isaac K. Ofori , Emmanuel Y. Gbolonyo , Andrea Vezzulli
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is ushering economies into a new era of technological transition, driven primarily by frontier technologies. While the adoption of these technologies is growing rapidly in the Global South, empirical evidence concerning their economic impacts in Africa are hard to find. This study advances the innovation and growth literature in this regard by analysing macro data from 39 African countries. Findings from quantile regression reveal that frontier technology adoption (FTR) has a modest positive effect on growth. Second, democracy amplifies the impact of FTR, but only at higher levels of egalitarianism. Third, although FTR is growth-enhancing across all growth quantiles, its impact diminishes from the 1st to the 9th. However, in the presence of egalitarian democracy, FTR significantly boosts growth from the 1st to the 9th quantiles. We conclude that progress in egalitarianism and investment in frontier technology readiness are essential for sustained economic growth in Africa.
{"title":"Heterogeneous effects of frontier technology adoption on economic growth in Africa","authors":"Isaac K. Ofori , Emmanuel Y. Gbolonyo , Andrea Vezzulli","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.09.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Fourth Industrial Revolution is ushering economies into a new era of technological transition, driven primarily by frontier technologies. While the adoption of these technologies is growing rapidly in the Global South, empirical evidence concerning their economic impacts in Africa are hard to find. This study advances the innovation and growth literature in this regard by analysing macro data from 39 African countries. Findings from quantile regression reveal that frontier technology adoption (FTR) has a modest positive effect on growth. Second, democracy amplifies the impact of FTR, but only at higher levels of egalitarianism. Third, although FTR is growth-enhancing across all growth quantiles, its impact diminishes from the 1st to the 9th. However, in the presence of egalitarian democracy, FTR significantly boosts growth from the 1st to the 9th quantiles. We conclude that progress in egalitarianism and investment in frontier technology readiness are essential for sustained economic growth in Africa.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 526-540"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145157156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-14DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.016
Laura Heras-Recuero
This paper examines the relationship between the middle class and the pattern of consumption imports in fifteen Latin American economies over the period 1996–2019, which includes the latest commodity boom. The consumption patterns of the middle class, which are likely to be different from those of lower classes, could be reflected in the imports in the case of countries with little diversified productive structures, such as those of Latin America. In the context of highly unequal countries, the middle class may not only consume according to its own preferences, but may also be driven by emulation and status motives. My results show that the middle class has become the main income group driving both aggregate consumption imports and imports disaggregated by product type, including luxury imports. The estimated coefficients are particularly large for the lower-middle class and during the period of the commodity boom, when this income group expanded most rapidly. This finding points to a significant role of the middle class as a determinant of consumption imports and their composition, with implications for the region’s fragile balance of payments dynamics.
{"title":"The rise of the middle class and the pattern of consumption imports in Latin America","authors":"Laura Heras-Recuero","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the relationship between the middle class and the pattern of consumption imports in fifteen Latin American economies over the period 1996–2019, which includes the latest commodity boom. The consumption patterns of the middle class, which are likely to be different from those of lower classes, could be reflected in the imports in the case of countries with little diversified productive structures, such as those of Latin America. In the context of highly unequal countries, the middle class may not only consume according to its own preferences, but may also be driven by emulation and status motives. My results show that the middle class has become the main income group driving both aggregate consumption imports and imports disaggregated by product type, including luxury imports. The estimated coefficients are particularly large for the lower-middle class and during the period of the commodity boom, when this income group expanded most rapidly. This finding points to a significant role of the middle class as a determinant of consumption imports and their composition, with implications for the region’s fragile balance of payments dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 464-485"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145104468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-11DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.007
Dibyendu Maiti, Bhavna Khari
This paper shows that digitalisation does not necessarily reduce the size of informality and would depend on the rule of law and effective judicial systems. We build a simple model with heterogeneous labour markets where the formal sector firms meet the tax required for digitalisation and e-Governance for the informal transactions, avoiding the tax burden. Digitalisation that increases the chances of being caught in informal transactions directly encourages formal activities. However, it demands higher taxation, which works in the opposite direction. The relative strength of these two forces determines the size of informality, suggesting a non-linear relationship. The enforcement of minimum wage or productivity requirements may raise the size of informality. The econometric results from cross-country panel data for around 152 countries from 1990 to 2017 revealed a U-shaped relationship between informality and digitalisation. However, the negative impact gets stronger under the improved judiciary system and rule of law.
{"title":"Digitalisation, e-Governance and the informal sector","authors":"Dibyendu Maiti, Bhavna Khari","doi":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.strueco.2025.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper shows that digitalisation does not necessarily reduce the size of informality and would depend on the rule of law and effective judicial systems. We build a simple model with heterogeneous labour markets where the formal sector firms meet the tax required for digitalisation and e-Governance for the informal transactions, avoiding the tax burden. Digitalisation that increases the chances of being caught in informal transactions directly encourages formal activities. However, it demands higher taxation, which works in the opposite direction. The relative strength of these two forces determines the size of informality, suggesting a non-linear relationship. The enforcement of minimum wage or productivity requirements may raise the size of informality. The econometric results from cross-country panel data for around 152 countries from 1990 to 2017 revealed a U-shaped relationship between informality and digitalisation. However, the negative impact gets stronger under the improved judiciary system and rule of law.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47829,"journal":{"name":"Structural Change and Economic Dynamics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Pages 451-463"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145104467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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