Assessing the Productivity of Information Technology Equipment in U.S. Manufacturing Industries / Catherine J. Morrison, Ernst R. Berndt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morrison, Catherine J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Berndt, Ernst R.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w3582.

NBER working paper series no. w3582

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1991.

Summary:

In this paper we report results of an empirical assessment of the cost reducing impacts of recent dramatic increases in stocks of "high-tech" office and information technology equipment (0) using annual data from various two digit US manufacturing industries over the 1952-1986 time period. While there are exceptions, on balance we find that in 1986, estimated marginal benefits of investments in this 0 equipment are less than marginal costs, implying over investment in 0 capital in 1986. The sign of the estimated elasticity of demand for labor with respect to changes in the stock of 0 capital is evenly divided in the fourteen industries, but whether positive or negative, in all industries this elasticity increases in absolute magnitude over time, indicating ever greater impacts of 0 capital on the demand for aggregate labor. Finally, our estimates of the elasticity of technical progress with respect to 0-capital are very small in magnitude implying that increases in o capital have only a small impact on technical progress.

Notes:

Print version record

January 1991.