The effects of international telecommunication investment: Wireline and wireless technologies, 1993-1998

In the 1990s, nations in the world from Singapore and Egypt to France and the United States poured billions of dollars into investments in information and telecommunication technologies. This article examines the effects of telecommunications investments from 1993 to 1998 using a model, which suggests that a delay in learning and adjustment is realized before the benefit and that it is (1) the transfer of information and knowledge and (2) the experience with telecommunications technology that contribute to economic performance of a nation. The research addresses the use of both traditional wireline and emerging wireless telecommunications and a nation's investments in telecommunications. The article concludes with a discussion of the results as well as the implications of the proposed learning model.