The impact of the actual use of the ICT on the technical efficiency of the spanish firms

A large number of studies about the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) impact on the productivity of firms have discovered that the mere investment in IT doesn't suffice. Additional investments, organizational and human resource management practices, etc. are necessary. This study shows how the simple usage of IT has no relevant effect on firms productivity, but the frequency of the usage in the communications with clients and providers increases significantly the performance of the firms. This performance is evaluated as the technical efficiency in the process of transformation from inputs to outputs in the firm. The calculus of this efficiency has been done by a Data Envelopment Analysis model. This is an standard methodology in empirical studies about productivity but has rarely became a tool of choice when analysing the impact of the IT on firm performance.