Abstract:

This study empirically analyzes the association between the level of ICT-use and interest rates in transition economies. We hypothesized that an increase in ICT penetration level lowers interest rates in an economy. In order to test this hypothesis, we utilize four different proxies for ICT and two distinct indicators for interest rate. The study conducts panel data analysis and uses unbalanced data containing 24 years between 1990 and 2013. The size of samples varies from model to model and the largest sample includes 402 observations of 22 transition economies. After taking into consideration other macroeconomic determinants peculiar to interest rate, our primary finding reveals a strong and statistically significant negative association between ICT-use level and interest rate in these economies. This finding remains valid no matter which indicator is used for ICT penetration and interest rate in the models. Hence our results are robust.

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