Open Access Journal Article

Cloud computing and extensive margins of exports: Evidence for manufacturing firms from 27 EU countries

by Joachim Wagner a,* orcid
a
Leuphana University Lueneburg and Kiel Centre for Globalization, Lüneburg, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
JIE  2024, 26; 2(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.58567/jie02010005
Received: 13 March 2024 / Accepted: 4 April 2024 / Published Online: 7 May 2024
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Abstract

The use of cloud computing by firms can be expected to go hand in hand with higher productivity, more innovations, and lower costs, and, therefore, should be positively related to export activities. Empirical evidence on the link between cloud computing and exports, however, is missing. This paper uses firm level data for manufacturing enterprises from the 27 member countries of the European Union taken from the Flash Eurobarometer 486 survey conducted in February – May 2020 to investigate this link. Applying standard parametric econometric models and a new machine-learning estimator, Kernel-Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), we find that firms which use cloud computing do more often export, do more often export to various destinations all over the world, and do export to more different destinations. The estimated cloud computing premium for extensive margins of exports is statistically highly significant after controlling for firm size, firm age, patents, and country. Furthermore, the size of this premium can be considered to be large. Extensive margins of exports and the use of cloud computing are positively related.

Keywords: Cloud computing; exports; firm level data; Flash Eurobarometer 486; kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS);
Copyright: © 2024 by Wagner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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ACS Style
Wagner, J. Cloud computing and extensive margins of exports: Evidence for manufacturing firms from 27 EU countries. Journal of Information Economics, 2024, 2, 26. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie02010005
AMA Style
Wagner J. Cloud computing and extensive margins of exports: Evidence for manufacturing firms from 27 EU countries. Journal of Information Economics; 2024, 2(1):26. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie02010005
Chicago/Turabian Style
Wagner, Joachim 2024. "Cloud computing and extensive margins of exports: Evidence for manufacturing firms from 27 EU countries" Journal of Information Economics 2, no.1:26. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie02010005
APA style
Wagner, J. (2024). Cloud computing and extensive margins of exports: Evidence for manufacturing firms from 27 EU countries. Journal of Information Economics, 2(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.58567/jie02010005

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