Internet Diffusion Among Italian Firms: Key Factors Determining the Digital Divide

Our study analyzes the spread of Internet among Italian firms utilizing the number of domain names registered under the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) ".it" as a metric. We took into consideration domain names (names that are associated to IP addresses in the net) because, today it is very important for a firm to have a domain name, as through this name it can exploit the above mentioned direct and/or indirect advantages. Moreover, it is helpful for a firm to register a domain name not only to have its own web site, but also to benefit from the advantages related to on-line means of communications (for example e-mails, FTP and so on). In this paper we analyze the factors contributing to the existence of a digital divide in Italy, taking into consideration not only economic variables, but also educational, cultural, demographic and technological variables.