This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Human capital is the key to the IT productivity paradox

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Gunnarsson, Gudmundur () (Mälardalen University, Dept of Business Adminstration and Information Systems)
Mellanden, Erik () (IFAU - Insitute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation)
Savvidou, Eleni () (Uppsala University, Dept of Economics)
Abstract

Unlike previous analysis, we consider (i) possible externalities in the use of IT and (ii) IT and human capital interactions. Examining, hypothetically, the statistical consequences of erroneously disregarding (i) and (ii) we shed light on the small or negative growth effects found in early studies of the effects of IT on productivity growth, as well as the positive impacts reported more recently. Our empirical analysis uses a 14-industry panel for Swedish manufacturing 1986–95. We find that human capital developments made the average effect of IT essentially zero in 1986 and steadily increasing thereafter, and, also, generated large differences in growth effects across industries.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.ifau.se/upload/pdf/se/2004/wp04-13.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation in its series Working Paper Series with number 2004:13.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 60 pages
Date of creation: 04 Oct 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2004_013

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Labour Market Policy Evaluation, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Phone: (+46) 18 - 471 70 70
Fax: (+46) 18 - 471 70 71
Email:
Web page: http://www.ifau.se/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Margareta Wicklander).

Related research
Keywords: IT productivity paradox; applied econometrics;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
O33 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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. Trajtenberg, M. & Bresnahan, T.F., 1992. "General Purpose Technologies: "Engines of Growth"," Papers 16-92, Tel Aviv.
    Other versions:
  2. David, Paul A, 1990. "The Dynamo and the Computer: An Historical Perspective on the Modern Productivity Paradox," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 355-61, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Lindbeck, Assar & Snower, Dennis J, 2000. "Multitask Learning and the Reorganization of Work: From Tayloristic to Holistic Organization," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 353-76, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Gordon, Robert J, 2000. "Does the 'New Economy' Measure up to the Great Inventions of the Past?," CEPR Discussion Papers 2607, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Griliches, Zvi, 1969. "Capital-Skill Complementarity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(4), pages 465-68, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Susanto Basu & John G. Fernald & Nicholas Oulton & Sylaja Srinivasan, 2003. "The case of the missing productivity growth: or, does information technology explain why productivity accelerated in the United States but not the United Kingdom?," Working Paper Series WP-03-08, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Catherine J. Morrison, 2000. "Assessing The Productivity Of Information Technology Equipment In U.S. Manufacturing Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(3), pages 471-481, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Benhabib, Jess & Spiegel, Mark M., 1994. "The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 143-173, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Kaiser, Ulrich, 2003. "Strategic complementarities between different types of ICT-expenditures," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-46, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  11. Jones, Charles I, 1995. "R&D-Based Models of Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(4), pages 759-84, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Mellander, Erik & Skedinger, Per, 1998. "Corporate Job Ladders in Europe: Wage Premia for University vs. High School Level Positions," Working Paper Series 495, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 25 Aug 1999. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, And The Demand For Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Donald Siegel, 1997. "The Impact Of Computers On Manufacturing Productivity Growth: A Multiple-Indicators, Multiple-Causes Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(1), pages 68-78, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. James A. Kahn & Jong-Soo Lim, 1998. "Skilled Labor-Augmenting Technical Progress In U.S. Manufacturing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1281-1308, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Lam, David & Schoeni, Robert F, 1993. "Effects of Family Background on Earnings and Returns to Schooling: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(4), pages 710-40, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. Ernst R. Berndt & Neal J. Rappaport, 2001. "Price and Quality of Desktop and Mobile Personal Computers: A Quarter-Century Historical Overview," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 268-273, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Elhanan Helpman & Manuel Trajtenberg, 1994. "A Time to Sow and a Time to Reap: Growth Based on General Purpose Technologies," NBER Working Papers 4854, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Kevin J. Stiroh, 2002. "Information Technology and the U.S. Productivity Revival: What Do the Industry Data Say?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1559-1576, December. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  20. Berman, Eli & Bound, John & Griliches, Zvi, 1994. "Changes in the Demand for Skilled Labor within U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence from the Annual Survey of Manufactures," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 367-97, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed The Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  22. Dale W. Jorgenson, 2001. "Information Technology and the U.S. Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 1-32, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Growth: With or Without Scale Effects?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 139-144, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  24. Jack E. Triplett, 1999. "The Solow productivity paradox: what do computers do to productivity?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(2), pages 309-334, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. James A. Kahn & Jong-Soo Lim, 1998. "Skilled labor-augmenting technical progress in U.S. manufacturing," Staff Reports 47, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  26. Robert J. Barro & Paul Romer, 1993. "Economic Growth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number barr93-1.
    Other versions:
    • Robert J. Barro & Paul M. Romer, 1991. "Economic Growth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number barr91-1.
  27. Davidson, Russell & MacKinnon, James G, 1981. "Several Tests for Model Specification in the Presence of Alternative Hypotheses," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(3), pages 781-93, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  28. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1990. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 92-96, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Christensen, Laurits R & Jorgenson, Dale W & Lau, Lawrence J, 1973. "Transcendental Logarithmic Production Frontiers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 55(1), pages 28-45, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  30. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 1992. "A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 323-51, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  31. Dale W. Jorgenson, 2001. "Information Technology and the U. S. Economy," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1911, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  32. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(2), pages 503-30, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  33. Pesaran, M. H. & Hall, A. D., 1988. "Tests of non-nested linear regression models subject to linear restrictions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 341-348. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  34. James Feyrer, 2007. "Demographics and Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(1), pages 100-109, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Berndt, Ernst R. & Morrison, Catherine J., 1995. "High-tech capital formation and economic performance in U.S. manufacturing industries An exploratory analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 9-43, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(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. Gomes, Orlando, 2006. "Too much of a good thing: endogenous business cycles generated by bounded technological progress," MPRA Paper 2845, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Söderström, Martin & Uusitalo, Roope, 2005. "School choice and segregation: evidence from an admission reform," Working Paper Series 2005:7, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? All the bibliographic data shown here has been contributed by volunteers, thereby helping to keep this service free.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-17.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.