Purpose This study examines the causal relationship between information communication technology (ICT) and economic growth in high-income and middle-income Asian countries. Design/methodology/approach This study utilises a high-quality data from 25 Asian countries from 2000 to 2018. This study presents the robustness results by employing panel cointegration and estimation procedures to account for the endogeneity and cross-sectional dependence issues. Findings The results illustrate that high-income Asian countries have achieved positive and significant economic development from high Internet penetration. Additionally, the middle-income countries have started to benefit from ICT Internet. The findings show that the telephone line and mobile phone penetration is highly capable of promoting economic growth in middle-income Asian countries. Practical implications In high-income Asia countries, an appropriate ICT infrastructure policy will support feasible ICT penetration, which may drive the processes of economic development and innovation that contribute to economic growth. Moreover, in middle-income Asian countries, the establishment of better-quality ICT service and infrastructure is more critical. Policymakers should accommodate sufficient support to establish the ICT infrastructure and expand ICT penetration. Originality/value This study reveals that high-income Asian countries have been more proactive and effective than middle-income countries in embracing ICT to foster economic growth. Examining the case of high-income and middle-income Asian countries provides comprehensive insight for policymakers regarding the relevance of ICT in boosting economic growth through the advantages of technology expansion.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate benefits to debt reduction by using the natural experiment provided by the debt relief programs: the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative launched by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 1996 and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative extension in 2005. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a time-shifted difference-in-differences strategy to evaluate the effects of this intervention. The date of each country’s decision to participate in the program is used as one treatment point while the date of the completion of the debt relief program is used as another treatment point. The exercise compares different economic outcomes such as domestic and foreign investment, schooling, and employment of the treated observations to the counterfactual of untreated country-years. The period between the decision and completion points is a short run while the period after the completion point is considered a long run. Findings – The authors found that debt relief increased capital investment as much as 1.63 percent in the short run and 5.79 percent in the long run. However, there was no effect on foreign direct investment suggesting that debt overhang does not affect incentives of foreign investors. Output and schooling enrollment increased both in the short and long run. Originality/value – This paper exploits a natural experiment of debt relief in a number of developing countries to shed light on the possible benefits to debt reduction. The authors are able to separate the short- and long-run effects of debt reduction. The finding that domestic but not foreign investment responds to debt reduction is suggestive of the differences in incentives across these two sources of investment.