Fact of the Week: Manufacturing Firms in EU-27 Countries Using Cloud Computing Are More Likely To Export

Source: Joachim Wagner, "Cloud Computing and Extensive Margins of Exports: Evidence for Manufacturing Firms from 27 EU Countries " (KCG Working Paper, N. 34, Kiel Centre for Globalization (KCG), Kiel, 2024).

Commentary: The use of cloud computing by firms has been proven to increase productivity and innovation and to lower costs. A working paper by Joachim Wagner considers whether these positive effects of cloud computing also impact export activities. The report uses data from the 2020 Flash Eurobarometer 486 survey, a survey conducted by the European Commission on small and medium sized enterprises, to assess if cloud computing is correlated with whether or not a firm exports and how many countries it exports to. Wagner finds that manufacturing firms that use cloud computing are more likely to be exporters than firms that do not. Additionally, cloud computing firms export to more countries than non-cloud computing firms. Though these results are not causational, the estimated correlation is large.