How does information technology really affect productivity?
Subtitle: plant-level comparisons of product innovation, process improvement and worker skills
By: Ann P. Bartel, Casey Ichniowski, Kathryn L. Shaw.
Contributors: Ichniowski, Casey.; Shaw, Kathryn.; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series ;; working paper 11773; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) ;; working paper no. 11773.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Subjects: Information technologyx Economic aspects.; Manufacturing industries -- Technological innovations.; Industrial productivity -- Effect of technological innovations on.
Description: "This study presents new empirical evidence on the relationship between investments in new computer-based information technology (IT) and productivity by investigating several plant-level mechanisms through which IT could promote productivity growth.  We have assembled a data set on plants with a common production technology in a narrowly defined industry - valve manufacturing - to study the effects of new IT on product innovation, production process improvements, employee skills and work practices.  The homogeneity of the plants' production processes within this narrowly defined industry together with the estimation of longitudinal models eliminate many sources of unmeasured heterogeneity that could confound productivity comparisons in more aggregate data and in broader samples.  The three main results of this study highlight how the adoption of new IT-enhanced machinery involves much more than just the installation of new equipment on the factory floor.  We find that adoption of new IT-enhanced equipment (1)alters business strategies, moving valve manufacturers away from commodity production based on long production runs to customized production in smaller batches; (2)improves the efficiency of all stages of the production process with reductions in setup times supporting the change in business strategy and (3)increases the skill requirements of workers while promoting the adoption of new human resource practices"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Title from PDF file as viewed on 12/7/2005.
Also available in print.
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.