The digital revolution is radically changing how modern business is conducted, leading to several transformations at the firm-level, and capturing the attention of practitioners, policymakers, and academics alike. Considering the ever-changing nature of digital technologies, the aim of this article is to provide an up-to-date review that describes the state of the art on this literature. Research suggests that the drivers linked to digital adoption can be classified into 5 groups: individual, organizational, environmental, technological, and economic factors. Intra-firm diffusion can be associated to the socalled rank, epidemic, location, stock and order effects. Firms’ digitalization processes are associated with several transformations that take place through four main channels: lower communication costs, data analysis, operational transformations, and lower entry barriers. These changes are associated with firm performance gains in terms of innovation, cost reduction and new revenue opportunities, from which productivity gains and new business models arise. The bulk of empirical estimates at the firm-level support the positive impact of digitalization on business performance. However, these results are not necessarily unanimous, as some research has not been able to verify these positive effects.
Documento
Gómez-Bengoechea, G., Jung, J. (2022). “A literature review on firm digitalization: drivers and impacts ” FEDEA, Estudios sobre la Economía Española, no. 2022-20. Madrid.