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Productivity, Computerization, and Skill Change

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Edward N. Wolff

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Abstract

Using pooled cross-section, time-series data for 44 industries over the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in the United States, I find no econometric evidence that computer investment is positively linked to TFP growth (over and above its inclusion in the TFP measure). However, computerization is positively associated with occupational restructuring and changes in the composition of intermediate inputs and capital coefficients. There is modest evidence that the growth of worker skills is positively related to industry productivity growth. The effects are very modest -- adding at most 0.07 percentage points to annual labor productivity growth.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8743.

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Date of creation: Jan 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8743

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Capital and Total Factor Productivity; Capacity
O30 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - General

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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. Charles Steindel, 1992. "Manufacturing productivity and high-tech investment," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Sum, pages 39-47.
  2. David, P.A., 1989. "Computer And Dynamo: The Modern Productivity Paradox In A Not-Too Distant Mirror," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 339, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
  3. Arrow, Kenneth J., 1973. "Higher education as a filter," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 193-216, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. 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)
  5. Donald Siegel & Zvi Griliches, 1991. "Purchased Services, Outsourcing, Computers, and Productivity in Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 3678, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Zvi Griliches, 1970. "Notes On The Role Of Education In Production Functions And Growth Accounting," NBER Chapters, in: Education, Income, and Human Capital, pages 71-128 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  7. Dale W. Jorgenson & Kevin J. Stiroh, 1999. "Information Technology and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 109-115, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Stiroh, Kevin J, 1998. "Computers, Productivity, and Input Substitution," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(2), pages 175-91, April.
  9. 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)
  10. Atreya Chakraborty & Mark Kazarosian, 1999. "Product Differentiation and the Use of Information Technology: New Evidence from the Trucking Industry," NBER Working Papers 7222, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Stephen D. Oliner & Daniel E. Sichel, 1994. "Computers and Output Growth Revisited: How Big Is the Puzzle?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 25(1994-2), pages 273-334. [Downloadable!]
  12. Thomas N. Hubbard, 2001. "Information, Decisions, and Productivity: On-Board Computers and Capacity Utilization in Trucking," NBER Working Papers 8525, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Martin Neil Baily & Robert J. Gordon, 1988. "The Productivity Slowdown, Measurement Issues, and the Explosion of Computer Power," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1988-2), pages 347-432. [Downloadable!]
  14. Theodore W. Schultz, 1960. "Capital Formation by Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68, pages 571. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Spence, A Michael, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 87(3), pages 355-74, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Mirko Draca & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2006. "Productivity and ICT: A Review of the Evidence," CEP Discussion Papers dp0749, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  2. 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:
  3. Hofer, Helmut & Riedel, Monika, 2003. "Computer Use and the Wage Structure in Austria," Economics Series 147, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
  4. Danny Leung, 2004. "The Effect of Adjustment Costs and Organizational Change on Productivity in Canada: Evidence from Aggregate Data," Working Papers 04-1, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
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