Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of transaction costs on economic welfare and development, and the role of information technology (IT) in reducing transaction costs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper extends the static model of Romer, in which transaction...

This paper explores potential channels through which information technology (IT) affects economic development. The channel emphasized here is the reduction of transaction costs through the use of information technology. We discuss the nature of transaction costs, their possible impacts on...

This paper examines the impact of transaction costs on economic welfare and development. We extend the static model of Romer (1994), in which transaction costs reduce welfare by the reducing the equilibrium number of intermediate goods, and estimate the welfare losses in the case of domestic...

This paper explores potential channels through which information technology (IT) affects economic development. The channel emphasized here is the reduction of transaction costs through the use of information technology. We discuss the nature of transaction costs, their possible impacts on...

How can information technology (IT) contribute to rural development? What are the channels through which impacts can be realized, and what are the practical means for realizing potential benefits? This paper examines several ongoing projects that aim to provide IT-based services to rural...

In this paper, we survey some of the developments in India's IT sector, and prospects for broad-based growth led by this sector. We examine the IT sector, discussing the role of software versus hardware, the growth pattern of the software industry and software exports, and the potential problems...