IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Digitalisation is a key catalyst which transforms international trade by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, expanding market access and unlocking new opportunities, significantly boosting export performance. Understanding this interplay is essential for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Afr...

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Main Authors: Marida Nach, Ronney Ncwadi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics 2025-06-01
Series:Acta Economica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ae.ef.unibl.org/index.php/ae/article/view/528
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author Marida Nach
Ronney Ncwadi
author_facet Marida Nach
Ronney Ncwadi
author_sort Marida Nach
collection DOAJ
description Digitalisation is a key catalyst which transforms international trade by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, expanding market access and unlocking new opportunities, significantly boosting export performance. Understanding this interplay is essential for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries, major players in global trade. This study examines the digitalisation-exports relationship in BRICS, specifically how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) catalyses exports. Using a combination of panel and country-specific autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models, this method captures country heterogeneity and both short-term and long-term dynamics. Panel autoregressive distributed lag identifies common BRICS trends, while country-specific autoregressive distributed lag highlights distinctive country effects, strengthening the analysis. Results show that, in the short term, Information and Communication Technology’s effect on exports varies across models. However, in the long term, Information and Communication Technology consistently exerts a statistically significant effect. Findings emphasise digitalisation’s pivotal role in enhancing BRICS exports, particularly long term. Yet, effectiveness differs across countries. Disparities in digital infrastructure, digital literacy and institutional quality suggest digitalisation alone is insufficient. Addressing these challenges enables BRICS to leverage digitalisation and strengthen their position as prominent emerging export countries. This study contributes to the digital economy discourse with empirical evidence-based policy implications.
format Article
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institution Matheson Library
issn 1512-858X
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language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics
record_format Article
series Acta Economica
spelling doaj-art-01f4d9ccd67c42d5be7fec6cc28b9f152025-08-04T15:12:48ZengUniversity of Banja Luka, Faculty of EconomicsActa Economica1512-858X2232-738X2025-06-01234210.63356/ace.2025.006IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSISMarida Nach0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2452-6464Ronney Ncwadi1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7865-6996School of Economics, Development and Tourism, Faculty of Business and Economics Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, South AfricaSchool of Economics, Development and Tourism, Faculty of Business and Economics Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa Digitalisation is a key catalyst which transforms international trade by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, expanding market access and unlocking new opportunities, significantly boosting export performance. Understanding this interplay is essential for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries, major players in global trade. This study examines the digitalisation-exports relationship in BRICS, specifically how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) catalyses exports. Using a combination of panel and country-specific autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models, this method captures country heterogeneity and both short-term and long-term dynamics. Panel autoregressive distributed lag identifies common BRICS trends, while country-specific autoregressive distributed lag highlights distinctive country effects, strengthening the analysis. Results show that, in the short term, Information and Communication Technology’s effect on exports varies across models. However, in the long term, Information and Communication Technology consistently exerts a statistically significant effect. Findings emphasise digitalisation’s pivotal role in enhancing BRICS exports, particularly long term. Yet, effectiveness differs across countries. Disparities in digital infrastructure, digital literacy and institutional quality suggest digitalisation alone is insufficient. Addressing these challenges enables BRICS to leverage digitalisation and strengthen their position as prominent emerging export countries. This study contributes to the digital economy discourse with empirical evidence-based policy implications. https://ae.ef.unibl.org/index.php/ae/article/view/528digitalisationexportsBRICSglobal tradeICTtechnology adoption
spellingShingle Marida Nach
Ronney Ncwadi
IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
Acta Economica
digitalisation
exports
BRICS
global trade
ICT
technology adoption
title IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
title_full IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
title_fullStr IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
title_full_unstemmed IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
title_short IS DIGITALISATION A CATALYST FOR BRICS COUNTRIES’ EXPORTS? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
title_sort is digitalisation a catalyst for brics countries exports an empirical analysis
topic digitalisation
exports
BRICS
global trade
ICT
technology adoption
url https://ae.ef.unibl.org/index.php/ae/article/view/528
work_keys_str_mv AT maridanach isdigitalisationacatalystforbricscountriesexportsanempiricalanalysis
AT ronneyncwadi isdigitalisationacatalystforbricscountriesexportsanempiricalanalysis