What Explains the Canada-US ICT Investment Gap?

Andrew Sharpe

International Productivity Monitor, 2005, vol. 11, 21-38

Abstract: It is widely recognized that machinery and equipment investment intensity is less in Canada than in the United States. What is less well know is that it is information and communications technology (ICT) investment that largely accounts for this gap. The author documents trends in ICT investment in both Canada and the United States and attempts to explain why ICT investment per worker in the Canadian business sector in 2004 was only 45 per cent of that in the US business sector. While no definitive explanation emerges, among the factors he identifies as playing a role are industrial structure, firm size distribution of employment, the price of labour compared to ICT investment goods, and the underestimation of ICT investment in official statistics.

Keywords: Productivity Growth; Productivity; Labour Productivity; Industrial Organization; United States; Canada; ICT; Information Technology; Information Communications Technology; Investment; Investment Gap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C82 E22 O47 O51 O57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.csls.ca/ipm/11/IPM-11-sharpe-e.pdf (application/pdf)
http://www.csls.ca/ipm/11/IPM-11-sharpe-f.pdf version en français (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sls:ipmsls:v:11:y:2005:4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.csls.ca

Access Statistics for this article

International Productivity Monitor is currently edited by Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director

More articles in International Productivity Monitor from Centre for the Study of Living Standards 170 Laurier Ave. W, Suite 604, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CSLS ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).