Information and Communication Technologies: Their Use and Short and Long Run Effects

International audienceThis paper examines the links between the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the firm's performance using a sample of Luxembourgian manufacturing and services firms (2 183 firms). The data used is the 2008 Survey on ICT Usage and e-Commerce in Enterprises in the case of Luxembourg (STATEC, 2006, 2007). We found four original results. First, the use of the latest generation of ICT increases firms' revenues (short term returns) if the ICT use serves to customize their products. Second, the use of the latest generation of ICT enables long run returns if they are used for several purposes such as setting a catalogue online, developing e-commerce solutions and customizing the website. Third, while ICT seems to need dedicated human capital and technological absorptive capacity for increasing revenue, this is not valid for reaching new customers. Finally, we found also that “belonging to a group” has no impact on increasing the revenue of the firm when it uses ICT, while it has a negative effect on capturing new customers