The worldwide development of information and communication technology (ICT), commonly called ICT revolution, has accelerated dramatically since the second half of twenty century. The main characteristic of this revolution is the rapidly increasing computing power of new ICT products. Varying results achieved by different countries and regions fuel the debate over exactly how much influence ICT has on economic growth. We provide an insight of results from past studies carried out to confirm the productive relationship between the two, ICT and economic growth.
The focus of this paper is to examine the impact of ICT on economic growth in OPEC countries using panel data over the period 1998-2004. Based on the literature, a Cobb-Douglas production function is specified to include ICT indicators. The results of estimates show that ICT contributed significantly to economic growth of OPEC countries over the period under study