Cover IMF Working Papers
Buy Book in Print
You Say You Want A Revolution: Information Technology and Growth
Author:
Mr. James Morsink
Search for other papers by Mr. James Morsink in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
and
Mr. Markus Haacker
Search for other papers by Mr. Markus Haacker in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
Series:
IMF Working Papers
Volume/Issue:
Volume 2002: Issue 070
Language:
English
Publication Date:
01 Apr 2002
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451849165.001
ISBN:
9781451849165
ISSN:
1018-5941
Pages:
19
Keywords:
WP; TFP; production; percent; IT expenditure; Information technology; technological change; growth; EDP expenditure; IT capital deepening; coefficient estimate; EDP production; productivity gain; beginning-of-period IT variable; IT activity; Total factor productivity; Capital productivity; Labor productivity; Productivity; Data processing; Europe
Legal-disclaimer:
IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.
Download PDF (758.6 KB) Download Epub
The information technology (IT) revolution has arrived, but how much will it change the world? It has been established that IT is contributing to labor productivity growth through both increases in the levels of IT capital per worker and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the production of IT equipment. The main outstanding issue is whether IT is contributing to TFP growth more generally. Using data on IT expenditure and production for a broad sample of countries, we find a positive, large, and significant effect of IT expenditure on the acceleration in TFP in the late 1990s and a smaller-and significant-effect of IT production. We also find evidence that the impact of IT expenditure on TFP growth increases over time, suggesting that spillovers materialize gradually. Our results suggest that the increase in IT expenditure across industrial countries during 1995-2000 will eventually lead to an average increase in TFP growth of about one-third of 1 percent per year.
  • Collapse
  • Expand
Cover IMF Working Papers
IMF Working Papers
ISSN:
1018-5941
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund