It's Not What You Make, It's How You Use IT: Measuring the Welfare Benefits of the IT Revolution Across Countries

Tamim A Bayoumi and Markus Haacker ()

No 3555, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This Paper analyses the welfare benefits from falling relative prices of IT (Information Technology) goods across a wide range of countries. Using two separate methodologies and datasets, we find that welfare benefits mainly accrue to users of IT, not their producers, because of falling relative prices. This is important, as IT production and use are highly differentiated across countries, and implies that earlier work on how IT production affects real GDP, while useful in calibrating the overall benefits of the IT revolution, are a less valuable way of assessing the distribution of benefits.

Keywords: information technology; technological change; terms of trade; welfare benefits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D60 F43 O47 O57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
Date: 2002-09
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Working Paper: It's Not What You Make, It's How You Use IT: Measuring the Welfare Benefits of the IT Revolution Across Countries (2002)
Working Paper: Its Not What You Make, Its How You Use IT: Measuring the Welfare Benefits of the IT Revolution Across Countries (2002)
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