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Information Technology and Productivity

其他書名	It Ain't what You Do, It's the Way that You Do I.T.
出版	Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2005
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=KnHjtwEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋What has been the impact of information technologies (I.T.) on productivity? This has been a burning question for policy makers and business leaders for many decades. But it is only in recent years that computer power itself has enabled researchers to statistically interrogate large-scale datasets on firms and providing some more definitive answers to this issue. In this article we report and synthesise some of the main messages emerging from this new line of research. Perhaps the most intriguing finding comes from the examination of the use of IT by global businesses. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) in general, and US multinationals in particular appear to have higher productivity and this appears to be linked to a distinct pattern in their use of IT. This fact may help unravel some of the puzzles in the macro-economic data such as why the productivity acceleration witnessed in the United States since the mid 1990s has not been reflected in Europe. It may be that US firms have organized their management structures in a way that makes better use of IT than their European counterparts. Within this paper we first set the historical scene within the last few decades by paying particular attention to the end of the 'Solow Paradox'. Then we discuss the firm-level evidence regarding the impact of IT on firm performance, focusing on the role of the organisational factors that make the difference between IT projects being a success and failure. Finally, we delve into some new research on the impact of IT in multinationals. The bottom line is that economists have confirmed what business leaders have long known: that the returns to IT are extremely variable and the key difference is the management and organisation of the firm into which the IT is placed.