The impact of doing business regulations on investments in ICT [WP]

Abstract

Using industry-level data from 14 OECD countries and doing business indicators of the World Bank, we analyze how country-level regulations of business activities affect investments in information and communication technologies (ICT). We find that investments in ICT decrease with the costs of starting and operating a business and registering property. Investments increase with the strength of legal rights. We also find that higher minimum capital requirement reduces investments in software and the extent of director liability reduces investments in communication technologies.