The Impact of Entrepreneurship and ICT on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Selected OECD Countries

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effects of entrepreneurship and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on economic growth in 18 selected OECD countries over the period 2006–2022. Mobile cellular subscriptions are used as a proxy for ICT, while human capital and physical capital are included in the model as control variables. The relationships among the variables are examined using the Mean Group (MG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) estimators. The findings obtained from the MG estimator indicate that entrepreneurship, ICT, human capital, and physical capital have positive and statistically significant effects on economic growth. However, since cross-sectional dependence persists in the MG estimation, the results obtained from the CCEMG estimator, which accounts for cross-sectional dependence, are taken as the primary findings. According to the CCEMG results, among the main independent variables, entrepreneurship has a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth, whereas the effect of ICT is positive but statistically insignificant. Regarding the control variables, physical capital has a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth, while the effect of human capital is negative and statistically insignificant. The findings show that entrepreneurship supports economic growth, whereas ICT has no statistically significant effect.