Abstract:
The last decade has seen a fundamental shift in the way firms access technology, from physical hardware towards cloud computing. This shift not only significantly reduces the cost of such technologies but also allows for the possibility of remote and simultaneous access. This column presents evidence on the impact of cloud adoption by firms using firm level data from the UK. There are marked differences in the effects on young and incumbent firms, where cloud adoption largely impacts the growth of young firms while it affects the geography of incumbent firms.
