THE ROLE OF ICT IN THE PRODUCTIVITY OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISON

This paper analyses stage of transition to knowledge economy in CEE countries and reveals a considerable gap between CEE and EU countries in human capital level, infrastructure, innovation capacity and quality of institutions. Results of a panel data model for 21 countries over the period of 1993-2011 confirm the importance of complementarities to ICT use and investment in explaining productivity levels. Another conclusion is a change of productivity sources during the years of crisis and significance of trade openness. Analysis of this area bridges the gap of insufficient academic research about CEE countries and enriches the existing research on ICT usage and its impact.