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The Swedish ICT miracle: myth or reality?

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Author Info
Edquist, Harald (Groningen University)

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Abstract

This paper investigates the relative labor productivity level for total manufacturing in Germany, Sweden and the US for the period 1980-2001. The paper also presents estimates of labor productivity levels for 18 different manufacturing industries for the period 1993-2000. The results show that the Swedish manufacturing productivity caught up with German and US productivity in the 1990s, overtaking the German level in 1995 and coming very close to the US level by the end of the 1990s. It has been argued that much of the Swedish surge in labor productivity during the second half of the 1990s was due to the spectacular growth of the Radio, television and communication equipment (RTC) (ISIC 32) industry. However, this paper shows that since 1998 Swedish RTC productivity has been declining relative to the corresponding industry in Germany and the US. Moreover, it is shown that the productivity growth of the ICT-producing industries is very sensitive to the value added price deflators that are used to calculate real value added growth rates. Unlike Sweden, the US uses hedonic price indexes for semiconductors and microprocessors. Therefore estimates based on the US intermediate input price deflators for semiconductors and microprocessors suggest that the productivity growth of the Swedish RTC industry during the 1990s is partly a statistical artefact. This implies that the productivity growth of total manufacturing also has been overestimated.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen in its series GGDC Research Memorandum with number 200472.

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Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:rugggd:200472

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Edquist, Harald & Henrekson, Magnus, 2002. "Kommer IKT-revolutionen även att lyfta Europas ekonomier?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 497, Stockholm School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. van Ark, Bart, 1998. "Productivity," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 171-174, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Stefano Scarpetta & Andrea Bassanini & Dirk Pilat & Paul Schreyer, 2000. "Economic Growth in the OECD Area: Recent Trends at the Aggregate and Sectoral Level," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 248, OECD, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
  4. Paul Schreyer, 2001. "The OECD Productivity Manual: A Guide to the Measurement of Industry-Level and Aggregate Productivity," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 2, pages 37-51, Spring. [Downloadable!]
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Edquist, Harald, 2005. "Do hedonic price indexes change history? The case of electrification," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 586, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 28 Feb 2005. [Downloadable!]
  2. Henrekson, Magnus & Edquist, Harald, 2006. "Technological Breakthroughs and Productivity Growth," Working Paper Series 665, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Gabriel Moser & Wolfgang Pointner & Gerhard Reitschuler, 2004. "Economic Growth in Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom since the Start of Monetary Union," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 4, pages 53-66, December. [Downloadable!]
  4. Edquist, Harald, 2008. "Does Hedonic Price Indexing Change Our Interpretation of Economic History? Evidence from Swedish Electrification," Working Paper Series 742, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 03 Sep 2009. [Downloadable!]
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