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Information Technology, Organization, and Productivity in the Public Sector: Evidence from Police Departments

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  • Luis Garicano
  • Paul Heaton

Abstract

We examine how information technology (IT) contributes to organizational change, labor demand, and improved productivity in the public sector using a new panel data set of police departments covering 1987-2003. While IT adoption is associated with increased administrative and organizational complexity and use of more highly educated officers, IT itself does not appear to enhance crimefighting effectiveness. These results are robust to various methods for controlling for agency-level characteristics and the endogeneity of IT use. IT investments do, however, appear to improve police productivity when complemented with particular management practices-in this case, those associated with the Compstat program.

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  • Luis Garicano & Paul Heaton, 2007. "Information Technology, Organization, and Productivity in the Public Sector: Evidence from Police Departments," CEP Discussion Papers dp0826, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0826
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    information technology; management practices; skills; productivity; police;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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