Information Technology, Productivity, and Economic Growth International Evidence and Implications for Economic Development

by Pohjola, Matti

• ISBN13: 9780199243983
• ISBN10: 0199243980
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The often-advocated view that the information technology revolution will change the world must stem from the basic premiss that investment in IT has a visible impact on productivity and economic growth. But how can we measure this impact and how large is it? By surveying previous studies and by presenting new micro- and macroeconomic evidence, this collection shows that in recent years the use of IT in the production of goods and services has had a strong influence on productivity and economic growth in industrial and in newly industrialized countries.Yet developing countries seem neither to have invested in IT nor benefited from such investments to the same extent as industrial countries. There is concern that information is becoming a commodity, like income and wealth, by which countries are classified as rich and poor. The contributors to this volume argue that investment in infrastructure, physical capital, and education is the key to economic development. This is an old policy prescription in the economics of development. What is new is the suggestion that the IT content of these investments should be high. Theuse of IT is so widely spread throughout the world economy that no single country can avoid investing in this technology if it wants to improve the standard of living of its citizens. Besides providing citizens with access to IT and to IT education and training, governments should promote participation in the information society, thus generating a sufficiently strong demand base for information products. By developing advanced applications of IT, and by becoming a model for theprivate sector, governments can alter worker, firm, and consumer attitudes, and lower their costs of adopting IT. The use of IT, not necessarily its production, is what matters for economic development.

Author Biography

Matti Pohjola is Principal Academic Officer at the World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), United Nations University, and Professor of Economics at Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
List of Figures	x
List of Tables	xii
List of Contributors	xv
Information Technology and Economic Growth: Introduction and Conclusions	1	(32)
Matti Pohjola
Part I. Technology and Economic Growth
The Role of Knowledge and Capital in Economic Growth	33	(17)
Sergio Rebelo
International R&D Spillovers and Economic Growth	50	(22)
Pierre Mohnen
The Weightless Economy in Economic Development	72	(27)
Danny Quah
Part II. Microeconomic Evidence
Computers and Labour Markets: International Evidence	99	(20)
Francis Kramarz
Information Technology and Research and Development Impacts on Productivity and Skills: Looking for Correlations on French Firm-Level Data	119	(30)
Nathalie Greenan
Jacques Mairesse
Agnes Topiol-Bensaid
The Determinants of the Adoption of Information Technology: A Case Study of the Indian Garments Industry	149	(26)
Kaushalesh Lal
Part III. Macroeconomic Evidence
Computers and Economic Growth in Finland	175	(21)
Petri Niininen
The Economic Impact of Information and Communication Technology in Korea	196	(25)
Kuk-Hwan Jeong
Jeong Hun Oh
Ilsoon Shin
The Contribution of Information Technology to the Rapid Economic Growth of Singapore	221	(21)
Poh Kam Wong
Information Technology and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis	242	(15)
Matti Pohjola
Information Technology and Economic Development: Results and Policy Implications of Cross-Country Studies	257	(24)
Kenneth L. Kraemer
Jason Dedrick
Index	281