Abstract
We study the effects of Internet development on structural
transformation. To guide empirical work, we develop a basic model where the
effect of Internet development on industrial development depends on the
improvement of production technology of enterprises. We test the predictions of
the model by studying the application of e-commerce, the sales revenue of basic
software products and the number of computers used in China, which formed the
basis of Internet development. We find that technical change and development in
Internet was strongly labor-saving and led to industrial transformation, as
predicted by the model.
JEL classification numbers: J21, O14, O33, L86
Keywords: Internet Development, Structural Transformation