The Determinants of Technology Adoption in Italian Manufacturing Industries

Byline: Eleonora Bartoloni (1), Maurizio Baussola (2) Keywords: Innovation; logit models; technological diffusion Abstract: The adoption of new technologies in Italian manufacturing industries is analysed using data for 13,334 firms selected from the 1990--92 Community Innovation Survey. The determinants of technology adoption are analysed in an econometric framework (logit model) which is a general test of different theoretical explanations of technological diffusion. We particularly refer to the rank, epidemic and information effects which significantly affect the use of new technology in Italian manufacturing industries. We use a set of explanatory variables which enables us to set up a well specified empirical model and to use odds ratios to determine the effect of their changes on the adoption probability, thus giving a more precise picture of the determinants of technology adoption. Author Affiliation: (1) National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), Milano, Italy (2) Department of Economic and Social Sciences, Catholic University, Piacenza Article History: Registration Date: 03/10/2004