E‐commerce and efficiency at the firm level

This paper addresses the effect of Internet use on efficiency heterogeneity among firms. It uses a rich dataset for Spanish manufacturing firms in the period 2000–2005. The empirical framework is based on the simultaneous specification of stochastic frontier and inefficiency effects. The results suggest that, after controlling for additional sources of heterogeneity, e‐buying process has a positive influence on firm efficiency. However, it becomes non‐significant in the case of e‐selling. These results are compared with those obtained in previous empirical papers.