IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/metroe/v58y2007i3p368-395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measures Of Technical Change And Structural Change In Services In The Usa: Was There A Resurgence Of Productivity Growth In Services?

Author

Listed:
  • Edward N. Wolff

Abstract

Traditional measures of productivity growth show very low gains made by most service industries since 1980s in the USA. However, other indices of ‘technological activity’, such as computerization, education, and occupational change, show that service industries were more technologically active than goods producers over this period. I first distinguish among three types of services: standardized like communications, customized like recreation, and hybrid like retailing. Using output, employment, and capital stock data for 43 industries over 1960–2000, I find that in terms of productivity standardized services behave like goods producers, customized services have had virtually zero productivity growth, and hybrid services fall in between. These results show up in historical data as well as in econometric analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward N. Wolff, 2007. "Measures Of Technical Change And Structural Change In Services In The Usa: Was There A Resurgence Of Productivity Growth In Services?," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 368-395, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:metroe:v:58:y:2007:i:3:p:368-395
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-999X.2007.00274.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-999X.2007.00274.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-999X.2007.00274.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376.
    2. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Introduction to "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings"," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 1-4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mansfield, Edwin, 1980. "Basic Research and Productivity Increase in Manufacturing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 863-873, December.
    4. Edward N Wolff, 1991. "Productivity Growth, Capital Intensity, and Skill Levels, in the U. S. Insurance Industry, 1948–86," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 16(2), pages 173-190, April.
    5. 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.
    6. Kevin J. Stiroh, 2002. "Are ICT Spillovers Driving the New Economy?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 48(1), pages 33-57, March.
    7. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Palan, Nicole & Schmiedeberg, Claudia, 2010. "Structural convergence of European countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 85-100, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jung, Hyun-Joon & Na, Kyoung-Youn & Yoon, Chang-Ho, 2013. "The role of ICT in Korea’s economic growth: Productivity changes across industries since the 1990s," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 292-310.
    2. Carmichael, Fiona & Ercolani, Marco & Kang, Lili & Maimaiti, Yasheng & O'Mahony, Mary & Peng, Fei & Robinson, Catherine, 2009. "Training, education and productivity," MPRA Paper 39899, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Falck, Oliver & Heimisch-Roecker, Alexandra & Wiederhold, Simon, 2021. "Returns to ICT skills," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    4. Aissaoui, Najeh & Ben Hassen, Lobna, 2015. "Skill-biased Technological Change, E-skills and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Tunisia," MPRA Paper 76551, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 29 Jun 2015.
    5. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Anant Nyshadham & Jorge A. Tamayo, 2019. "Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 25852, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Backman, Mikaela & Gabe, Todd & Mellander, Charlotta, 2016. "Effects of Human Capital on the Growth and Survival of Swedish Businesses," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 46(1).
    7. Damiani, Mirella & Ricci, Andrea, 2013. "Entrepreneurs’ education and different variable pay schemes in Italian firms," MPRA Paper 46163, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Wolff, Edward N., 2009. "Are computers driving real wages down?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 211-228, August.
    9. Stefan Jestl & Sandra M. Leitner & Sebastian Leitner, 2022. "The relative impact of different forces of globalization on wage inequality: A fresh look at the EU experience," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1003-1037, September.
    10. Frosch, Katharina & Tivig, Thusnelda, 2007. "Age, human capital and the geography of innovation," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 71, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    11. Ganna Vakhitova & Christopher R. Bollinger, 2011. "Labor Market Return to Computer Skills: Using Microsoft Certification to Measure Computer Skills," Discussion Papers 46, Kyiv School of Economics.
    12. Mirella Damiani & Andrea Ricci, 2012. "The role of education of entrepreneurs on adoption of different contingent pay schemes: evidence from Italian firms," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 116/2013, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    13. de Grip, A. & Sieben, I.J.P., 2003. "The Effects of Human Resource Management on workers' wages and firms' productivity," ROA Research Memorandum 9E, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    14. José Miguel Benavente & David Bravo & Rodrigo Montero, 2011. "Wages And Workplace Computer Use In Chile," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 49(4), pages 382-403, December.
    15. W. Bentley MacLeod & Miguel Urquiola, 2018. "Is Education Consumption or Investment? Implications for the Effect of School Competition," NBER Working Papers 25117, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Nour, Samia, 2011. "Assessment of industrial performance and the relationship between skill, technology and input-output indicators in Sudan," MERIT Working Papers 2011-030, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    17. Rajeev Darolia & Cory Koedel & Paco Martorell & Katie Wilson & Francisco Perez‐Arce, 2015. "Do Employers Prefer Workers Who Attend For‐Profit Colleges? Evidence from a Field Experiment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 881-903, September.
    18. Paul W. Miller & Barry R. Chiswick, 2002. "Immigrant earnings: Language skills, linguistic concentrations and the business cycle," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 31-57.
    19. Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim, 2012. "Education and Earnings nexus in Zimbabwe after the 2005-2008 hyper-inflationary period: An empirical analysis," MPRA Paper 75112, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Boikos, Spyridon & Bucci, Alberto & Stengos, Thanasis, 2013. "Non-monotonicity of fertility in human capital accumulation and economic growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PA), pages 44-59.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:metroe:v:58:y:2007:i:3:p:368-395. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0026-1386 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.