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Assessing the Productivity of Information Technology Equipment in U.S. Manufacturing Industries

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Author Info
Catherine J. Morrison
Ernst R. Berndt

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Abstract

In this paper we report results of an empirical assessment of the cost reducing impacts of recent dramatic increases in stocks of "high-tech" office and information technology equipment (0) using annual data from various two digit US manufacturing industries over the 1952-1986 time period. While there are exceptions, on balance we find that in 1986, estimated marginal benefits of investments in this 0 equipment are less than marginal costs, implying over investment in 0 capital in 1986. The sign of the estimated elasticity of demand for labor with respect to changes in the stock of 0 capital is evenly divided in the fourteen industries, but whether positive or negative, in all industries this elasticity increases in absolute magnitude over time, indicating ever greater impacts of 0 capital on the demand for aggregate labor. Finally, our estimates of the elasticity of technical progress with respect to 0-capital are very small in magnitude implying that increases in o capital have only a small impact on technical progress.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 3582.

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Date of creation: Jan 1991
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3582

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  1. Gunnarsson, Gudmundur & Mellanden, Erik & Savvidou, Eleni, 2004. "Human capital is the key to the IT productivity paradox," Working Paper Series 2004:13, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ronald H. Schmidt, 1993. "Computers and productivity," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue May 14. [Downloadable!]
  3. Brynjolfsson, Erik. & Hitt, Lorin M., 1994. "Information technology as a factor of production : the role of differences among firms," Working papers 3715-94. CCSTR ; #173., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Ernst R. Berndt & Catherine J. Morrison & Larry S. Rosenblum, 1992. "High-Tech Capital Formation and Labor Composition in U.S. Manufacturing Industries: An Exploratory Analysis," NBER Working Papers 4010, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Mellander, Erik & Savvidiou, Eleni & Gunnarsson, Gudmundur, 2001. "Is Human Capital the Key to the IT Productivity Paradox?," Working Paper Series 551, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Bugamelli, M. & Pagano, P. & Paterno, F. & Pozzolo, A.F. & Rossi, S. & Schivardi, F., 2003. "Ingredients for The New Economy: How Much Does Finance Matter?," EIFC - Technology and Finance Working Papers 31, United Nations University, Institute for New Technologies. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Elena Ketteni & Theofanis P. Mamuneas & Thanasis Stengos, 2007. "Nonlinearities in Economic Growth: A Semiparametric Approach applied to Information Technology data," Working Papers 0701, University of Guelph, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Shane M. Greenstein, 1994. "Did Computer Technology Diffuse Quickly?: Best and Average Practice in Mainframe Computers, 1968-1983," NBER Working Papers 4647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Frank R. Lichtenberg, 1996. "The Output Contributions of Computer Equipment and Personnel: A Firm- Level Analysis," NBER Working Papers 4540, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Gianfranco Enrico Atzeni & Oliviero Antonio Carboni, 2005. "ICT productivity and firm propensity to innovative investment: learning effect evidence from italina micro data," Industrial Organization 0503012, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Sharon M. Oster, 1998. "Tools or Toys? The Impact of High Technology on Scholarly Productivity," NBER Working Papers 6761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Aekapol Chongvilaivan, 2008. "Learning by Exporting and High-tech Capital Deepening in Singapore Manufacturing Industries, 1974-2006," SCAPE Policy Research Working Paper Series 0804, National University of Singapore, Department of Economics, SCAPE. [Downloadable!]
  13. Atreya Chakraborty & Mark Kazarosian, 1999. "Product Differentiation and the Use of Information Technology: New Evidence from the Trucking Industry," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 433, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Timothy Dunne & John Haltiwanger & Lucia Foster, 2000. "Wage and Productivity Dispersion in U.S. Manufacturing: The Role of Computer Investment," NBER Working Papers 7465, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Falk, Martin, 2001. "The impact of office machinery and computer capital on the demand for heterogeneous labor," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-66, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Brynjolfsson, Erik & Hitt, Lorin M., 2004. "Computing Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence," Working papers 4210-01, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Baba Prasad & Patrick T. Harker, 1997. "Examining the Contribution of Information Technology Toward Productivity and Profitability in U.S. Retail Banking," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 97-09, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
  18. Yasuo Nakanishi, 2005. "Empirical evidence of externalities of IT capital in Japan," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 15(18), pages 1-11. [Downloadable!]
  19. Savvidou, Eleni, 2003. "The Relationship Between Skilled Labor and Technical Change," Working Paper Series 2003:27, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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