Regional Informatization and Economic Growth in Japan: An Empirical Study Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis
1
Business School, Beijing Normal University, No.19 XinjiekouWai Street, Beijing 100875, China
2
Oberlin University, 3758 Tokiwa-machi, Machida-shi, Tokyo 194-0294, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2014, 6(10), 7121-7141; https://doi.org/10.3390/su6107121
Received: 25 April 2014
/
Revised: 26 September 2014
/
Accepted: 30 September 2014
/
Published: 16 October 2014
(This article belongs to the Section Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability)
Research opinion on informatization is divided between two opposite poles—that it promotes or inhibits the spillover of regional economies. These conflicting viewpoints are called “the paradoxical geographies of the digital economy”. Information-based investment and diffusion of informatization contribute to breaking the economic space constraints caused by distance, leading to interregional spillover effects, according to the results of the Durbin model of spatial lag applied to Japanese regional data. Clearly, the local direct effects and the perimeter region’s indirect effects of informatization are both positive. This proves the existence of network externality, which causes increasing returns to scale. Extensive diffusion of information technology plays a significant role in the process, in addition to rapid accumulation and infiltration of information resources, which strengthens the information-based investment spillover effect. In this empirical analysis, evidence seems to support the view that informatization promotes economic development in Japan.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
Japan; regional informatization; economic growth; digital economy paradox; spatial econometric model
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Sun, C.; Jiao, H.; Ren, Y. Regional Informatization and Economic Growth in Japan: An Empirical Study Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis. Sustainability 2014, 6, 7121-7141. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6107121
AMA Style
Sun C, Jiao H, Ren Y. Regional Informatization and Economic Growth in Japan: An Empirical Study Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis. Sustainability. 2014; 6(10):7121-7141. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6107121
Chicago/Turabian StyleSun, Chuan, Hao Jiao, and Yun Ren. 2014. "Regional Informatization and Economic Growth in Japan: An Empirical Study Based on Spatial Econometric Analysis" Sustainability 6, no. 10: 7121-7141. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6107121
Find Other Styles
