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54 WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2016
Figure 1.4 Higher-productivity firms are more likely to use the internet, 2010–14
55
a. Website
28
b. e-commerce
Percent of firms
45
35
25
Percent of firms
24
20
16
12
8
15
1. Qtl 2. Qtl 3. Qtl 4. Qtl 5. Qtl
Distribution of firm productivity
1. Qtl 2. Qtl 3. Qtl 4. Qtl 5. Qtl
Low-income countries Lower-middle-income countries Upper-middle-income countries
Source: Hussain (2015) based on World Bank Enterprise Surveys, various years. Data at http://bit.do/WDR2016-Fig1_4.
Note: The figures show the share of firms that have a website or use e-commerce among the different labor productivity quintiles across country income
groups. “Qtl” refers to log labor productivity quintiles. The data, pooled for all years between 2006 and 2014, cover firms with at least five employees.
4
Distribution of firm productivity
Figure 1.5 African firms using the
internet are more productive, 2014
Distribution of sales per worker
Firms not using the internet
1
.8
.6
.4
.2
0
0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1
Internet users
Source: Cirera, Lage, and Sabetti 2015. Data at http://bit.do/WDR2016-Fig1_5.
Note: The figure shows the relative distribution of productivity for firms that
use the internet and firms that do not. Productivity is measured by sales per
worker, estimated at the sector level. Results are similar using value added
instead of sales. Observations on the 45-degree line indicate that firms in
both groups have the same productivity. Firms not using the internet are less
productive (above the 45-degree line) throughout the distribution of labor
productivity. For instance, the median productivity firm among nonusers has
about the same productivity as the 20th percentile firm of the productivity
distribution among internet users. The surveys are representative of all firms
with at least five employees in six African countries: the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Firms that use digital technologies intensively
also share other characteristics of high-productivity
firms. They tend to be larger, fast-growing, skillintensive,
export-intensive, and located in the capital
city. 7 Larger firms use the internet more intensively
across all country income groups (figure 1.6),
and 65 percent of large firms but only 21 percent
of small firms use broadband internet in lowincome
countries. The differences are comparable
for firms that use the internet for more demanding
business activities: 17 percent of small firms deliver
goods or services using the internet in lowermiddle-income
countries, compared with 43 percent
of large firms.
Census and detailed survey data from Mexico,
Turkey, and Vietnam confirm the positive correlation
between internet use and the characteristics of
high-productivity firms. Firms in Turkey using the
web for online orders or reservations are 11 percent
more productive, 25 percent larger, and twice as
likely to export. 8 Those having a website are twice
as productive, twice as large, and more than twice as
likely to export as firms that do not have a website.
In Mexico and Vietnam, firms are more productive
if they have more computers per worker, conduct
e-commerce, or have a higher share of workers using
the internet. 9