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Is IT Driving the U.S. Productivity Revival?

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  • Kevin J. Stiroh

Abstract

Since 1995, productivity growth has accelerated significantly in the United States. Information technology has always been thought to be the driving force behind this development. In this article by Kevin Stiroh of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides strong empirical support for this view. Stiroh finds that the industries that made the largest investments in information technology (IT) in the early 1990s show the largest productivity gains in the late 1990s and that IT capital investment has a large impact of productivity gains. His evidence also supports the view that the U.S. productivity revival is not cyclical in nature, but a long-term or structural phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin J. Stiroh, 2001. "Is IT Driving the U.S. Productivity Revival?," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 2, pages 31-36, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:2:y:2001:4
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    File URL: http://www.csls.ca/ipm/2/stiroh-f.pdf
    File Function: version en francais, pp:33-39
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dale W. Jorgenson & Kevin J. Stiroh, 2000. "Raising the Speed Limit: U.S. Economic Growth in the Information Age," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 31(1), pages 125-236.
    2. Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2000. "Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 23-48, Fall.
    3. William D. Nordhaus, 2002. "Productivity Growth and the New Economy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 33(2), pages 211-265.
    4. Karl Whelan, 2002. "Computers, Obsolescence, And Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 445-461, August.
    5. No authors listed, 2001. "New Economy," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 27(1), pages 1-1.
    6. Michael T. Kiley, 1999. "Computers and growth with costs of adjustment: will the future look like the past?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1999-36, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. Erik Brynjolfsson & Shinkyu Yang, 1997. "Information Technology and Productivity: A Review of the Literature," Working Paper Series 202, MIT Center for Coordination Science.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Florentine Schwark & Andreas Tryphonides, 2024. "The Effects of Digitalization on Production," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 02-2024, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    2. Andrew Sharpe, 2007. "Lessons for Canada from International Productivity Experience," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 14, pages 20-37, Spring.
    3. Pascal Petit, 2002. "The Roots of the New Economy: An Institutional Perspective," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 4, pages 39-54, Spring.
    4. Nadiri, M. Ishaq & Nandi, Banani & Akoz, Kemal Kivanc, 2018. "Impact of modern communication infrastructure on productivity, production structure and factor demands of US industries: Impact revisited," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 433-451.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity; Productivity Growth; United States; Investment; IT; ICT; 1990s; Cyclical; Structural; Sectors; Labor Productivity; Labour; Capital Accumulation; Linkages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O51 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - U.S.; Canada
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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