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Information technology, organisational change and productivity growth: evidence from UK firms

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  • Crespi, Gustavo
  • Criscuolo, Chiara
  • Haskel, Jonathan

Abstract

We examine the relationships between productivity growth, IT investment and organisational change (∆O) using UK firm data. Consistent with the small number of other micro studies we find (a) IT appears to have high returns in a growth accounting sense when ∆O is omitted; when ∆O is included the IT returns are greatly reduced, (b) IT and ∆O interact in their effect on productivity growth, (c) non-IT investment and ∆O do not interact in their effect on productivity growth. Some new findings are (a) ∆O is affected by competition; (b) US-owned firms are much more likely to introduce ∆O relative to foreign owned firms who are more likely still relative to UK firms; (c) our predicted measured TFP growth slowdown for firms who are not doing ∆O and/or are in the early stages of IT investment compare well with the macro numbers documenting a UK measured TFP growth slowdown.

Suggested Citation

  • Crespi, Gustavo & Criscuolo, Chiara & Haskel, Jonathan, 2007. "Information technology, organisational change and productivity growth: evidence from UK firms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19748, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:19748
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    information technology; productivity growth; organisational change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity

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