E-commerce and Exports in Europe: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach

ABSTRACT

In this article, we investigate if the greater development of e-commerce affects exports. Furthermore, we consider how other aspects of information and communication technology, including e-government and the prevalence of internet use in the workforce, affect exports on the sector level. The system generalized method of moments was applied to estimate a dynamic exports model using panel data on 32 European countries in the period of 2009 to 2017. Our findings indicate that only e-commerce positively affects exports, particularly in the service and manufacturing sectors. The results imply that e-commerce development could be used as an export-enhancing policy instrument.

KEYWORDS:

• e-commerce
• e-government
• information and communication technology (ICT)
• trade
• exports
• system GMM

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08853908.2022.2125460