IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedpwp/17-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Measuring the “Free” Digital Economy Within the GDP and Productivity Accounts

Author

Listed:
  • Leonard I. Nakamura
  • Jon Samuels
  • Rachel Soloveichik

Abstract

We develop an experimental methodology that values ?free? digital content through the lens of a production account and is consistent with the framework of the national accounts. We build upon the work in Nakamura, et al. (2016) by combining marketing- and advertising-supported content and find that the impact of ?free? digital content on U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has accelerated in recent years, particularly since 2005. However, the explosion in ?free? digital content is partially offset by a decrease in ?free? print content like newspapers. Including these, real GDP growth would grow at 1.53 percent a year from 2005 to 2015 rather than the official growth rate of 1.42 percent, a tenth of a percent faster. Thus, there is a substantive impact on 2005 to 2015 real growth, even when we do not measure the full consumer surplus benefits of free goods. In addition, from 1995 to 2005, real GDP growth, including ?free? content, would grow 0.07 percentage point faster, and in the earlier period, from 1929 to 1995, 0.01 percentage point faster. We further find that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and core PCE deflators would have risen about 0.1 percentage point more slowly from 2005 to 2015. To analyze the impact of ?free? content on measured private business total factor productivity (TFP) growth, we account for inputs of ?free? content used in production. We find that TFP would grow faster by 0.07 percentage point per year from 2005 to 2014 and faster by 0.07 percentage point from 1995 to 2005.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonard I. Nakamura & Jon Samuels & Rachel Soloveichik, 2017. "Measuring the “Free” Digital Economy Within the GDP and Productivity Accounts," Working Papers 17-37, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:17-37
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-papers/2017/wp17-37.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fisher, Jonathan D. & Houseworth, Christina A., 2013. "Occupation inflation in the Current Population Survey," Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, IOS Press, issue 3, pages 243-261.
    2. Charles Hulten & Leonard Nakamura, 2017. "Accounting for Growth in the Age of the Internet: The Importance of Output-Saving Technical Change," NBER Working Papers 23315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Greenstein, Shane & McDevitt, Ryan C., 2011. "The broadband bonus: Estimating broadband Internet's economic value," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 617-632, August.
    4. repec:bla:revinw:v:26:y:1980:i:2:p:151-74 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:bla:revinw:v:25:y:1979:i:4:p:349-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Austan Goolsbee & Peter J. Klenow, 2006. "Valuing Consumer Products by the Time Spent Using Them: An Application to the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 108-113, May.
    7. Erik Brynjolfsson & Avinash Collis & Felix Eggers, 2019. "Using massive online choice experiments to measure changes in well-being," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(15), pages 7250-7255, April.
    8. Leonard I. Nakamura, 2014. "Hidden value: how consumer learning boosts output," Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, issue Q3, pages 9-14.
    9. David Byrne & Carol Corrado & Daniel Sichel, 2020. "The Rise of Cloud Computing: Minding Your Ps, Qs and Ks," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 519-551, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Chad Syverson, 2017. "Challenges to Mismeasurement Explanations for the US Productivity Slowdown," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 165-186, Spring.
    11. Rachel Soloveichik, 2013. "Music Originals as Capital Assets," BEA Working Papers 0096, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    12. John W. Kendrick, 1979. "Expanding Imputed Values In The National Income And Product Accounts," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 25(4), pages 349-363, December.
    13. John E. Cremeans, 1980. "Consumer Services Provided By Business Through Advertising‐Supported Media In The United States," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 26(2), pages 151-174, June.
    14. Robert Eisner, 1978. "Total Incomes In The United States, 1959 And 1969," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 24(1), pages 41-70, March.
    15. Nancy D. Ruggles & Richard Ruggles, 1970. "The Design of Economic Accounts," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number rugg70-1.
    16. Dave Byrne & Carol Corrado, 2017. "ICT Prices and ICT Services: What Do They Tell Us About Productivity and Technology," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 33, pages 150-181, Fall.
    17. Leonard Nakamura & Jon Samuels & Rachel Soloveichik, 2016. "Valuing Free Media in GDP: An Experimental Approach," BEA Working Papers 0133, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    18. David M. Byrne & Carol Corrado, 2015. "Prices for Communications Equipment: Rewriting the Record," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-69, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    19. Yan Chen & Grace Jeon & Yong-Mi Kim, 2014. "A day without a search engine: an experimental study of online and offline searches," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 17(4), pages 512-536, December.
    20. Greenstein, Shane & McDevitt, Ryan, 2011. "Evidence of a modest price decline in US broadband services," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 200-211, June.
    21. Aviv Nevo & John L. Turner & Jonathan W. Williams, 2016. "Usage‐Based Pricing and Demand for Residential Broadband," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 411-443, March.
    22. Nancy D. Ruggles & Richard Ruggles, 1970. "Introduction to "The Design of Economic Accounts"," NBER Chapters, in: The Design of Economic Accounts, pages 1-7, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Rachel Soloveichik & David Wasshausen, 2013. "Copyright-Protected Assets in the National Accounts," BEA Working Papers 0102, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    24. Joel Waldfogel, 2017. "The Random Long Tail and the Golden Age of Television," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25.
    25. David M. Byrne & Eugénio Pinto, 2015. "The Recent Slowdown in High-Tech Equipment Price Declines and Some Implications for Business Investment and Labor Productivity," FEDS Notes 2015-03-26, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Inflation and Price Measurement: A Primer
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2018-10-08 12:27:12

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Ian Goldin & Pantelis Koutroumpis & François Lafond & Julian Winkler, 2024. "Why Is Productivity Slowing Down?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 196-268, March.
    2. Daniel Sichel & Eric von Hippel, 2019. "Household Innovation, R&D, and New Measures of Intangible Capital," NBER Working Papers 25599, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Byrne, David M. & Corrado, Carol A., 2020. "The increasing deflationary influence of consumer digital access services," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Bridgman, Benjamin, 2022. "Is Productivity On Vacation? The Impact Of The Digital Economy On The Value Of Leisure," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 127-148, January.
    5. Maurin, Laurent & Wolski, Marcin, 2021. "Aggregate productivity slowdown in Europe: New evidence from corporate balance sheets," EIB Working Papers 2021/04, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    6. J Bayoán Santiago Calderón & Carol Robbins & Ledia Guci & Gizem Korkmaz & Brandon L. Kramer, 2022. "Measuring the Cost of Open Source Software Innovation on GitHub," BEA Working Papers 0200, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    7. Philip Flegler & Hagen Krämer, 2021. "Das Produktivitätsparadoxon der unternehmensbezogenen Dienstleistungen," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 74(03), pages 38-45, March.

    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. Leonard Nakamura & Jon Samuels & Rachel Soloveichik, 2016. "Valuing Free Media in GDP: An Experimental Approach," BEA Working Papers 0133, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    2. Charles Hulten & Leonard I. Nakamura, 2020. "Expanded GDP for Welfare Measurement in the 21st Century," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 19-59, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Ian Goldin & Pantelis Koutroumpis & François Lafond & Julian Winkler, 2024. "Why Is Productivity Slowing Down?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 196-268, March.
    4. Charles R. Hulten & Leonard I. Nakamura, 2017. "Accounting for Growth in the Age of the Internet The Importance of Output-Saving Technical Change," Working Papers 17-24, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. Leonard I. Nakamura & Rachel Soloveichik, 2015. "Valuing “free” media across countries in GDP," Working Papers 15-25, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    6. Kim, Yongwon & Kim, Yongkyu, 2020. "The Value of Wi-Fi as Entertainment: An Application to Free Wi-Fi in City Buses of Korea," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224863, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    7. Alejandra Bellatin & Stephanie Houle, 2021. "Overlooking the online world: Does mismeasurement of the digital economy explain the productivity slowdown?," Staff Analytical Notes 2021-10, Bank of Canada.
    8. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Pantelis Koutroumpis & Tommaso Valletti, 2017. "Speed 2.0: Evaluating Access to Universal Digital Highways," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 586-625.
    9. Alexander Murray, 2017. "What Explains the Post-2004 U.S.Productivity Slowdown?," CSLS Research Reports 2017-05, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    10. Brynjolfsson, Erik & Collis, Avinash & Diewert, W. Erwin & Eggers, Felix & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "GDP-B: Accounting for the Value of New and Free Goods in the Digital Economy," OSF Preprints sptfu, Center for Open Science.
    11. Rachel Soloveichik, 2019. "Accounting for Improved Brick and Mortar Shopping Experiences," BEA Working Papers 0165, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    12. Goodridge, Peter & Haskel, Jonathan & Edquist, Harald, 2019. "The economic contribution of the “C” in ICT: Evidence from OECD countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 867-880.
    13. Diane Coyle & Leonard Nakamura, 2019. "Towards a Framework for Time Use, Welfare and Household-centric Economic Measurement," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2019-01, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    14. Erik Brynjolfsson & Avinash Collis & Felix Eggers, 2019. "Using massive online choice experiments to measure changes in well-being," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(15), pages 7250-7255, April.
    15. Bart Los & Marcel P. Timmer, 2020. "Measuring Bilateral Exports of Value Added: A Unified Framework," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges of Globalization in the Measurement of National Accounts, pages 389-421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Jiri Skolka, 1985. "Wende in der Arbeitsteilung," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 11(4), pages 445-469.
    17. Diane Coyle & Leonard Nakamura, 2022. "Time Use, Productivity, and Household-centric Measurement of Welfare in the Digital Economy," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 42, pages 165-186, Spring.
    18. J. Steven Landefeld & Barbara M. Fraumeni & Cindy M. Vojtech, 2005. "Accounting for Nonmarket Production: A Prototype Satellite Account Using the American Time Use Survey," BEA Papers 0056, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    19. Shane Greenstein, 2020. "Digital Infrastructure," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment, pages 409-447, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Bridgman, Benjamin, 2022. "Is Productivity On Vacation? The Impact Of The Digital Economy On The Value Of Leisure," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 127-148, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internet; productivity; advertising; marketing; measurement; GDP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C82 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data; Data Access
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • M37 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Advertising
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:fip:fedpwp:17-37. 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: Beth Paul (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbphus.html .

    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.