Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance

Erik Brynjolfsson and Lorin Hitt

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2000, vol. 14, issue 4, 23-48

Abstract: To understand the economic value of computers, one must broaden the traditional definition of both the technology and its effects. Case studies and firm-level econometric evidence suggest that: 1) organizational "investments" have a large influence on the value of IT investments; and 2) the benefits of IT investment are often intangible and disproportionately difficult to measure. Our analysis suggests that the link between IT and increased productivity emerged well before the recent surge in the aggregate productivity statistics and that the current macroeconomic productivity revival may in part reflect the contributions of intangible capital accumulated in the past.

JEL-codes: D24 L22 L63 L86 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.14.4.23
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (935)

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