INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTIVITY, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH by Matti Pohjola (Editor) ( 9780199243983 )

Item Details

Title:

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTIVITY, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
INTERNATIONAL EVIDENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

By:

Matti Pohjola (Editor)

Format:

Hardback

List price:	£142.50
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ISBN 10:

0199243980

ISBN 13:

9780199243983

Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

12 April, 2001

Series:

WIDER Studies in Development Economics

Pages:

302

Description:

The popular view is that information technology will change the world by boosting productivity and economic growth. But while IT has many visible effects on the modern economy, studies have found little correlation between IT investment and overall productivity.By presenting new micro- and macroeconomic evidence, this volume shows that in recent years IT investment has exerted a strong influence on productivity and economic growth in many industrial and newly industrialized countries. It also identifies national IT strategies to promote participation in the information economy.

Synopsis:

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.The use 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 the private 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.

Illustrations:

numerous tables and graphs

Publication:

Imprint:

Oxford University Press

Returns:

Returnable