Kategorien
Peer-reviewed publication

Digitalisation and resilience of industry sectors: a descriptive analysis of the COVID-19 crisis in Germany

By Stefanie Kunkel, Simon Terhorst and Grischa Beier

Digitalisation is widely believed to aid societies and economies in managing crises, for instance by facilitating remote work. However, there is limited evidence of the extent to which digitalisation has improved social and economic performance of industry in the COVID-19 crisis. This paper examines correlations between three socio-economic indicators of resilience, and digital intensity of industry sectors in Germany between 2020 and previous years. We find that sectors with higher digital intensity experienced greater stock market volatility, but also a faster recovery, in 2020. However, less digitalised sectors seem to have performed better in terms of sectoral value added and employment. Thus our descriptive analysis challenges the prevailing positive framing of the impact of digitalisation and raises the hypothesis that less digitalised sectors may carry benefits for resilience in the economy. Our analysis also emphasises the crucial role of the public sector and public funding in promoting resilience. We conclude with recommendations on how to design industrial and digital policies for green and socio-economically resilient economies.

Industry sector mapping and sectors‘ corresponding digital intensity according to Calvino et al. 2018
Labour market development (2015–2020, index: 2015 = 100%), low and medium-low digital intensity sectors. Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany, details see article.
Labour market development (2015–2020, index: 2015 = 100%), high and medium-high digital intensity sectors.

Read more (article available upon request):

Kunkel, S., Terhorst, S., Beier, G. (2023). Digitalization and resilience of industry sectors: A descriptive analysis of the Covid-19 crisis in Germany. International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 15(1), 1.