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The purpose of this paper is to offer a contribution to the empirical literature on the determinants of IT adoption and diffusion at the firm level. This topic is of particular interest because it has been recognized that a greater use of IT by firms enhances their productivity and, when amply diffused, increases the growth rate of the economic system as a whole. Our econometric results for Portuguese firms confirm the importance of key variables tested in prior IT adoption and diffusion studies. Specifically, our findings confirm that technological capacities, IT skills, outsourcing partner usage, perceived obstacles, size and the quality of human resources, played an important role in the intra firm IT diffusion process. The results also indicate that larger firms are more likely to be enhanced users, probably due to greater resources and economies of scale. Nevertheless, small firm adopters may possess certain advantages that allow them to use the Internet more intensively. Other variables did not have a significant impact in intra firm diffusion. Perceived obstacles did not have a significant effect on the extent of IT use by firms. One possible explanation is that perceived obstacles may impact on initial adoption but not the extent of IT use. This result makes sense because firms that have adopted basic technologies (Internet and email), may have already overcome such barriers and so they become less important in distinguishing between a basic and an enhanced user. Additionally, competitive pressure did not have a significant impact on both features of intra firm diffusion. Again, it is possible that competitive pressure has an effect on initial adoption but not on the extent of use after adoption. Our results also suggest that the major constraint for Portuguese firms does not seem to lie in the lack of financial resources but rather on qualified human resources, able to absorb the new IT and make the best use of it.
Keywords:
information technologies, diffusion, adoption, cluster analysis, probit model
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