Title: Role of education human capital in ICT-trade relationship

Authors: Md. Shariful Islam; Md. Ziaul Haque; Syed Nazrul Islam; Abir Hassan; Md. Mahbubul Alam

Addresses: Department of Economics, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Bangladesh ' Department of Management Information Systems, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali-3814, Bangladesh ' Bangladesh Bank, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh ' Department of Economics, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Bangladesh ' Department of Economics, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Bangladesh

Abstract: The study investigates how ICT affects trade because of prior effect of education human capital on ICT using gravity panel model for the period 2000-2018 including 130 countries. First, we find positive and significant relationship between ICT use and bilateral merchandise exports flows. Second, the findings indicate that higher ICT use by both the exporting and importing country has a positive impact on exports of countries with higher education human capital. The effects of interaction between ICT and human capital on exports flows from low-and middle-income to high income countries as well as trade between low and middle-income countries are positive and significant for the exporter country. The interaction terms on trade flows involving high-income countries as exporters, in contrast, are negatively significant. For importers, interaction has positive and significant effects except trade flows from high-income to low-and middle-income countries, where it asserts positive but insignificant effect.

Keywords: education human capital; ICT; gravity model; panel data; bilateral exports; high-income countries; low and middle-income countries; Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood; interaction effects.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2024.139300

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2024 Vol.15 No.3, pp.299 - 316

Received: 02 Jul 2022
Accepted: 20 Sep 2022
Published online: 01 Jul 2024 *

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