The effect of information communication technologies on the economic growth of provinces: Panel data analysis

The study aims to reveal the effect of information and communication technologies on economic growth on the basis of provinces. The effect of ICT on economic growth has been examined at the level of 81 provinces for the 2011-2019 periods by using the panel data analysis method (Driscol Kraay estimator). Five models were created in the study. Model I refers to the MRW (1992) model on which the study is based. Models II, III, IV and V are extended versions of the MRW model by adding ICT variables (fixed phone use, mobile phone use, internet use, and the index variable which is the author's own calculation from these variables using the principal components analysis technique). The findings are as follows: In the MRW model, which is used as control variables included are significant in all models analyzed and are consistent with the theoretical expectation. On the other hand, although the coefficients of "fixed phone use, mobile phone use, internet use and index" variables used for information and communication technologies, which constitute the aim of the study, are compatible with theoretical expectations, however they are not found statistically significant. The study is expected to contribute to the emprical literature since the effect of ICT on economic growth on the basis of provinces has not been analyzed using existing data before.