Research seminar: Jonathan Timmis (World Bank)

We would like to invite you to a research seminar by Jonathan Timmis (World Bank).

Paper: Do Capital Incentives Distort Technology Diffusion? Evidence on Cloud, Big Data and AI

Authors: Timothy DeStefano (Georgetown University), Nick Johnstone (International Energy Agency), Richard Kneller (University of Nottingham), Jonathan Timmis (World Bank)

Abstract: The arrival of cloud computing has provided firms a way to access new digital technologies as digital services. Yet, capital incentive policies in OECD countries are still targeted towards investments in IT capital. If cloud services are partial substitutes for IT investments, the presence of capital incentive policies may unintentionally discourage the adoption of cloud and technologies that rely on the cloud, such as AI and big data analytics. This paper exploits a UK tax incentive for capital investment as a quasi-natural experiment to examine the impact on firm adoption of cloud computing, big data analytics and AI. Our empirical results show that the policy increased investment in IT capital as one would expect; but it slowed the adoption of cloud, big data and AI. These adverse effects are particularly pronounced for small firms.

The seminar will take place on Thursday, May 16, in Room 105 at 14:00.

The paper is attached. 

If you need a discussion slot with Dr. Timmis, please write to Matěj Bajgar, and he will try to find a suitable time.

The list of all research seminars at IES (past and forthcoming) is available at: https://ies.fsv.cuni.cz/en/research/research-seminars