Advanced Digital Technologies and International Activities: Evidence on EU-27 SMEs (Premi Final de Màster edició 2024)

Hopgood, Charles. Tutor/a: Añón Higón,María Dolores.

This paper provides evidence on the impact of Advanced Digital Technology (ADT) adoption on firms' trade activities. Using survey data of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we estimate static Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Probit, and Negative Binomial models to assess the relationship between ADT adoption and trade behavior at the firm level. Our findings show that firms utilizing ADTs are more productive, more likely to be exporters, more engaged in Global Value Chains (GVCs), and tend to export to a greater number of destinations. However, not all ADTs have the same impact on trade activities. While adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) positively correlates with the...

This paper provides evidence on the impact of Advanced Digital Technology (ADT) adoption on firms' trade activities. Using survey data of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we estimate static Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Probit, and Negative Binomial models to assess the relationship between ADT adoption and trade behavior at the firm level. Our findings show that firms utilizing ADTs are more productive, more likely to be exporters, more engaged in Global Value Chains (GVCs), and tend to export to a greater number of destinations. However, not all ADTs have the same impact on trade activities. While adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) positively correlates with the probability of exporting, it has no significant effect on GVC participation or on the number of export destinations. Furthermore, the effects of an ADT vary by a firm’s sector. These results highlight the need for more comprehensive digital transformation strategies that foster international trade, particularly for SMEs that have yet to fully capitalize on ADTs.