The impacts of country characteristics upon the value of information technology as measured by productive efficiency

Based on the theory of production, this paper investigates information technology (IT) contribution at a country level by linking it to the complementarity/substitutability phenomena created by the joint presence of IT and the five selected national characteristics. It negates the relationship between IT value and productivity based on a comprehensive panel data set from 25 countries over the period 1997-2006, when the individual analytical method is applied and productive efficiency is used as the performance criterion. The IT productivity paradox is re-examined under the one-equation stochastic frontier production model, while the influence of the five national characteristics is tested under the two-equation stochastic frontier production model. The findings include the following: (i) The IT productivity paradox occurs in not only middle-income (developing) countries but also high-income (developed) countries. (ii) Eastern European countries gain more productive efficiency than the G7 countries when IT is considered as a production factor. (iii) Different national characteristics have impacts on a country's output and productive efficiency. (iv) The chosen national characteristics present both complementarity and substitutability phenomena in association with IT investment, however, the joint presence of national savings and IT creates the substitutability phenomenon across different frontiers. (v) In linking cross-country differences in the IT investments to stages of economic development, our complimentary qualitative analysis tends to conclude that the investments in IT in the advanced developed countries (e.g., G7) and some of the newly developed or emerging economies are likely needed to keep the pace with other competitors and maintain their status of economic development; and the IT investments in the Eastern European countries are necessary to reach the competitive level as well as to raise their economic-development level. (vi) An important policy implication is that policy makers must carefully utilize national characteristics while formulating IT investment strategies.     

企业中的信息技术生产率悖论

信息技术 (IT)生产率悖论描述了从信息技术投资所获得的实际收益和期望收益的不匹配。本文综合国外最新研究进展 ,将关于企业层面的信息技术生产率悖论研究分为三个阶段 :2 0世纪 90年代中期之前为悖论的证实和解释阶段 ;2 0世纪 90年代中期悖论消失 ;2 0 0 0年以后新悖论出现。对新悖论的成因进行分析并探讨了新悖论存在的问题。最后 ,给出企业信息技术生产率悖论对我国企业信息技术投资的启示。     

Information technology and its changing roles to economic growth and productivity in Australia

In this paper we describe our investigation of the role of investment in information technology (IT) on economic output and productivity in Australia over a period of about four decades. The framework used in this paper is the aggregate production function, where IT capital is considered as a separate input of production along with non-IT capital and labour. The empirical results from the study indicate the evidence of robust technical progress in the Australian economy in the 1990s. IT capital had a significant impact on output, labour productivity and technical progress in the 1990s. In recent years, however, the contribution of IT capital on output and labour productivity has slowed down. Regaining the IT capital productivity therefore remains as a key challenge for Australia, especially in the context of greater IT investment in the future.     

Oligopolistic competition,IT use for product differentiation and the productivity paradox

Empirical studies suggest that the huge investment in information technologies (IT) of the past two decades has led to no significant increase in productivity; this phenomenon is known as the ‘productivity paradox’. It has been argued that the paradox might result from oligopolistic competition: because of strategic interaction, each individual firm might find it profitable to invest in cost-reducing IT, but total investment might then be excessive from the industry’s point of view. I confirm this view and strengthen it by allowing IT investment to be also devoted to product differentiation which makes the productivity paradox more likely. The emergence of Web-based electronic commerce provides an illustration of the forces identified in the model.     

Computer Use and Productivity Growth in US Federal Government Agencies, 1987–92

We examine the impact of information technology (IT) on productivity in the public sector econometrically, using data from the BLS Federal Productivity Measurement Program and from Computer Intelligence Infocorp, and by interviewing some government officials. We estimate a production function for government services that includes IT capital as an input, and find a strong positive relationship across federal agencies between productivity growth and computer-intensity growth during the period 1987–92, controlling for growth in compensation and other outlays per employee, and in the number of employees. Our estimates are consistent with the hypothesis that there are 'excess returns' to IT capital.     

亚洲一带一路国家科技研发效率及其影响因素研究——基于 DEA 和累积 TFP 指数

研究不同国家间的科技研发效率及其影响因素对于比较不同国家间的科技资源配资效率、制定科技研发效率提高的相关政策具有指导意义。本文利用亚洲 12 个一带一路国家科技研发的两投入、两产出指标测算这些国家的科技研发效率及其影响因素。结果表明：这些国家技术进步率的提高带动了科技研发效率的上升；发展中国家科技研发表现出明显的后发优势。经济规模与科技研发效率之间呈现“U”型关系，金融深化程度、人力资本水平、健康人力资本和产业结构与科技研发效率之间存在显著的正相关。最后本文提出对策建议。     

生产性服务业对经济增长贡献分析——以江苏为例

生产性服务业已经成为西方发达国家经济结构中增长最快的部门。生产性服务的发展不但改变了以往服务业的生产和经营方式,带动了传统服务业的升级改造,而且时国民经济的增长产生越来越大的影响,对经济增长的贡献也越来越大。文章从定性和定量两个角度分析江苏生产性服务业对GDP的影响,发现江苏生产性服务业有良好的发展趋势,其对GDP的拉动作用越来越明显,对产业结构的合理化发展有很大助推作用。因此,江苏生产性服务业在国民经济中的地位越来越重要,对江苏经济增长的贡献也是越来越大。     

北京市发展现代制造业的经济分析

北京市发展现代制造业，必须打破传统所有制观念的限制，即国有经济成分的多少代表一定的社会属性的观念，让行业的技术特点和生产组织形式决定行业的各种经济份额比例，使各种所有制资本在现代制造业的发展中各尽所能，发挥其最大作用；并且北京市的一般机械制造业生产技术传统，组织形式落后，只有用现代的光电技术进行改造，才能提升行业的层次，而信息行业和汽车制造业则需通过非国家资本提升行业的生产技术和集中度，至于医药行业则需通过国家资本开发新产品和提高行业集中度，这样才能提高这些行业的经济效益。     

ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS FOR INNOVISTIC NEW PRODUCTS

An economic evaluation criterion is synthesized for calculating the social benefit and cost of engineering projects in developing nations. The framework of this synthesized criterion is the concept of benefit-cost analysis. However, modifications are carried out so that national goals and important economic characteristics of developing countries are reflected in the decision-making criterion. These modifications are made possible by introducing concepts such as the social rate of discount, the social opportunity cost of capital, the reinvestment of some portion of benefits from the project, and the shadow prices for production factors and products.