Productivity of ICT and non-ICT capital: The role of rates of return and capital prices

We investigate the role rates of return and rates of asset price decline play in explaining sources of productivity growth in the context of a growth accounting approach. Our analysis is based on data from the EU KLEMS database for seven countries in the period of 1990 - 2007. We introduce a constant rate of return to capital and a constant rate of ICT price decline across sectors, countries and time. The main result of this sensitivity analysis is that both alternative measurements somewhat downplay the role investment played relative to growth in multi-factor productivity in the UK and the US during 1995 - 2000. Moreover, we show that more than half of the ICT contribution to labor productivity growth results from growth in capital quality and composition rather than quantity. --ICT capital,asset prices,rates of return,growth accounting

ICT and economic growth : comparing developing, emerging and developed countries

This paper analyzes the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on economic growth in developing, emerging and developed countries. It is based on a sample of 59 countries for the period 1995 to 2010. Various panel data regressions confirm the positive relationship between ICT capital and GDP growth. The regressions for the subsamples of developing, emerging and developed countries do not reveal statistically significant differences of the output elasticity of ICT between these three country groups

Mobile and more productive? : firm-level evidence on the productivity effects of mobile internet use at the early stage of diffusion

Mobile internet access allows for flexibility with respect to working time and working place. We analyse whether employees’ use of mobile internet access improves firms’ labour productivity. Our data set comprises 2460 German firms and refers to the year 2010, when mobile internet started its diffusion process to firms on a large scale. The econometric analysis shows that firms’ labour productivity significantly increases with the share of employees with mobile internet access. However, an instrumental variable approach reveals that mobile internet use does not cause higher labour productivity

Vergleich der Ausgaben für Digitalisierungsprojekte im Mittelstand mit den gesamtwirtschaftlichen IKT-Investitionen

Vor dem Hintergrund der Debatte über die Höhe gesamtwirtschaftlicher Investitionen vergleicht der vorliegende Bericht den Befund der Studie "Digitalisierung im Mittelstand: Status Quo, aktuelle Entwicklungen und Herausforderungen" von Saam, Viete und Schiel (2016) mit der Höhe der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Investitionen in Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) in Deutschland gemäß der Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung (VGR). Ergebnis ist, dass die gesamtwirtschaftlichen IKT-Investitionen in mittelständischen Unternehmen mit einem Jahresumsatz von höchstens 500 Mio. Euro jährlich etwa 16 bis 23. Mrd. Euro betragen. Diese Investitionen überschneiden sich zu etwa 5 Mrd. Euro mit den Ausgaben für Digitalisierungsprojekte gemäß der Studie. Die restlichen IKT-Investitionen fließen in Routine- und Ersatzinvestitionen. Die andere Hälfe der Digitalisierungsausgaben, die sich nicht mit den Investitionen gemäß VGR überschneiden, wird in immaterielle Komponenten der Projekte investiert, welche bisher nicht in der VGR erfasst werden. Hierzu gehören Investitionen in firmenspezifisches Wissen, Organisation und Marketing. Der Bericht verdeutlicht darüber hinaus, dass IKT-Investitionen in einer exakten Abgrenzung in der amtlichen deutschen Statistik gegenwärtig nicht veröffentlicht werden, sondern nur abgeschätzt werden können. Sie liegen in den letzten Jahren schätzungsweise bei gut 1,5 Prozent des Bruttoinlandsproduktes und bei etwa 12 Prozent der Bruttoanlageninvestitionen (ohne F&E und Wohnbauten)

Productivity of ICT and non-ICT capital : the role of rates of return and capital prices

We investigate the role rates of return and rates of asset price decline play in explaining sources of productivity growth in the context of a growth accounting approach. Our analysis is based on data from the EU KLEMS database for seven countries in the period of 1990 − 2007. We introduce a constant rate of return to capital and a constant rate of ICT price decline across sectors, countries and time. The main result of this sensitivity analysis is that both alternative measurements somewhat downplay the role investment played relative to growth in multi-factor productivity in the UK and the US during 1995 − 2000. Moreover, we show that more than half of the ICT contribution to labor productivity growth results from growth in capital quality and composition rather than quantity

Mobile and more productive? : firm-level evidence on the productivity effects of mobile internet use

Mobile internet access allows for flexibility with respect to working time and working place. We analyse whether employees’ use of mobile internet access improves firms’ labour productivity. Our data set contains 2143 German firms and refers to the year 2014, when high-speed mobile internet was still at a relatively early stage of diffusion within firms. The econometric analysis shows that firms’ labour productivity significantly increases with the share of employees with mobile internet access. Our instrumental variables approach reveals that mobile internet use does cause higher labour productivity

The contribution of intangible assets to sectoral productivity growth in the EU

In this paper we report on new data on intangible investment at the level of 1-digit NACE industries of 10 EU countries. The data are constructed as a sectoral breakdown of the INTANInvest database, which contains measures of intangible investment at the level of the aggregate business sector. With the sectoral data we assess the contribution of intangibles to productivity growth based on growth accounting and econometric estimation of production functions. The growth accounting contribution of intangibles to labor productivity growth is generally highest in manufacturing and finance. The estimated output elasticity of intangibles lies between 0.1 and 0.2, considerably below values found in previous research using aggregate data

BIG data - BIG gains? : empirical evidence on the link between big data analytics and innovation

This paper analyzes the relationship between firms’ use of big data analytics and their innovative performance in terms of product innovations. Since big data technologies provide new data information practices, they create novel decision-making possibilities, which are widely believed to support firms’ innovation process. Applying German firm-level data within a knowledge production function framework we find suggestive evidence that big data analytics is a relevant determinant for the likelihood of a firm becoming a product innovator as well as for the market success of product innovations. These results hold for the manufacturing as well as for the service sector but are contingent on firms’ investment in IT-specific skills. Subsequent analyses suggest that firms in the manufacturing and service sector rely on different data sources and data-related firm practices in order to reap the benefits of big data. Overall, the results support the view that big data analytics have the potential to enable innovation

BIG data - BIG gains? : empirical evidence on the link between big data analytics and innovation

This paper analyzes the relationship between firms’ use of big data analytics and their innovative performance in terms of product innovations. Since big data technologies provide new data information practices, they create novel decision-making possibilities, which are widely believed to support firms’ innovation process. Applying German firm-level data within a knowledge production function framework we find suggestive evidence that big data analytics is a relevant determinant for the likelihood of a firm becoming a product innovator as well as for the market success of product innovations. These results hold for the manufacturing as well as for the service sector but are contingent on firms’ investment in IT-specific skills. Subsequent analyses suggest that firms in the manufacturing and service sector rely on different data sources and data-related firm practices in order to reap the benefits of big data. Overall, the results support the view that big data analytics have the potential to enable innovation