The Adoption of Information Technology by Small and Medium Sized Italian Manufacturing Firms

Our empirical study aims at identifying the determinants of Information Technology (IT) adoption by small and medium sized Italian manufacturing firms (<100 employees). An ordered probit analysis is conducted on a sample of about 17,000 firms surveyed by the Italian statistical institute (Istat), using as a dependent variable an index of IT adoption called Ati. Our results show that firm size, geographical location, functional composition of the workforce, R&D activity, subcontracting, exports and collaboration between firms are all highly significant determinants of IT use. Such results are consistent with most of the predictions advanced in the few studies existing on this topic.