INSTITUTE FOR PROSPECTIVE TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES 
         DIGITAL ECONOMY WORKING PAPER 2015/09 
    The Macro-economic Impact  
    of e-Commerce  
    in the EU Digital Single Market 
                                  Melisande Cardona 
                                  Nestor Duch-Brown 
                                  Joseph Francois 
                                  Bertin Martens 
                                  Fan Yang 
                                  2015
           
           
       The Macro-economic Impact  
       of e-Commerce  
       in the EU Digital Single Market 
                                       
           
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
                       This publication is a Working Paper by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. It results from the Digital 
                       Economy Research Programme at the JRC Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, which carries out economic 
                       research on information society and EU Digital Agenda policy issues, with a focus on growth, jobs and innovation in the 
                       Single Market.  The Digital Economy Research Programme is co-financed by the Directorate General Communications 
                       Networks, Content and Technology 
                        
                       It  aims  to  provide  evidence-based  scientific  support  to  the  European  policy-making  process.  The  scientific  output 
                       expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person 
                       acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. 
                        
                       JRC Science Hub 
                       https://ec.europa.eu/jrc 
                        
                        
                       JRC98272 
                        
                        
                        
                       ISSN 1831-9408 (online) 
                        
                        
                        
                       © European Union, 2015 
                        
                       Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 
                        
                        
                       All images © European Union 2015 
                        
                        
                        
                       How to cite:  
                       Melisande Cardona, Nestor Duch-Brown, Joseph Francois, Bertin Martens, Fan Yang (2015). The Macro-economic 
                       Impact of e-Commerce in the EU Digital Single Market. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Digital 
                       Economy Working Paper 2015/09. JRC98272  
            
            
            
                                             
                   
                  Table of Contents  
                  Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3 
                    1.      Introduction .............................................................................................. 4 
                    2.      Online trade in goods in the EU .................................................................... 6 
                    3.      The macro-economic model ......................................................................... 8 
                    4.      The economic impact of e-commerce retail technology ................................... 9 
                    5.      Perceived barriers to cross-border e-commerce in the EU .............................. 11 
                       5.1     Barriers to cross-border online purchases by consumers ........................... 11 
                       5.2     Barriers to cross-border online sales by firms .......................................... 13 
                    6.      The economic impact of removing remaining barriers ................................... 13 
                    7.      Conclusions ............................................................................................. 14 
                    References ...................................................................................................... 17 
                    List of Tables ................................................................................................... 19 
                   
                                                      
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