The Internet and E-Commerce Diffusion in European Countries (Modeling at the Example of Austria, Poland and Ukraine)

Abstract

This article analyzes the influence of Internet and e-commerce diffusion in the development of European countries. Conclusions about the faster spread of Internet technologies in the modern world, especially in developing countries, due to the achievement of so-called “saturation points” by developed countries of the world (e-commerce markets in Ukraine and Poland are at the stage of formation and active growth) have been made. The purpose of this article is to construct an economic and mathematical toolkit for investigating the impact of the Internet and e-commerce on indicators of economic development of the country. The methods of scientific analysis, description and synthesis, modeling and statistical analysis are used in the research. Models of technologies diffusion have been considered, and as a basis, the distribution of the Internet in Poland, Austria and Ukraine is forecasted. Findings suggest that Internet technology spread has a significant impact on the development of e-commerce, and Internet development in different countries of the world. This study uses the classification of countries according to the World Bank Country Classification, which, since 2005, has ranked countries by GDP per capita into four groups: 1) low-income; 2) lower-middle-income; 3) upper-middle-income; 4) high-income. It has been found that the pace of Internet technology and broadband Internet access spread is a lot higher in low-income countries due to the later beginning of the diffusion process, while in the high-income countries, the peak of Internet development has passed and the technology spread has slowed down.