This series is meant to bring selected studies of the Ifo Institute and work emerging from our numerous research co-operations to the attention of an international audience. The books included in this series are either international in their themes, dealing with important aspects of economic development and institutional design that are often looked at in a comparative fashion. Or, alternatively, even if the contributions are to some extent focused on the economic situation and economic policy in Germany or Europe, they are considered to be of broader interest for academics, business people and policy-makers elsewhere. In any case, or aim is to contribute to establishing a joint, international forum for the discussion of results of applied research on economic policy issues that are topical around the world.
Theo S. Eicher and Thomas Strobel present an industry-level account of the recent changes in German productivity growth and compare the trends to Europe and the US. The specific focus is on how differential investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) affected the economic performance of these economies.
Not all industrialized countries shared the economic fortunes that ICT presented to the US economy. While the US experienced successive accelerations in its trend growth in 1995 and again in 2000, Germany experienced dual reductions in labor productivity growth. Some European economies fared better and others even worse than Germany. Since productivity is the ultimate determinant of living standards, the authors examine the sources of these productivity differentials. They also present a new German growth accounting database that utilizes unique ICT investment data, sourced directly from the industries, to place their findings into an international context.
This book is targeted at economists and policymakers alike, and is designed to provide clear guidance for those interested in industrial policy and statistical account methods.
Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Deriving New Economy Data at the Industry Level 3. Industry Origins of the US Productivity Accelerations and Germany’s Productivity Slump 4. ICT Intensity and Productivity Growth – An International Comparison 5. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Productivity: Software Investments as the Decisive Driver 6. Education and ICT Investment Complementarities 7. Industry Productivity, R&D Intensity, and ICT Investment References
September 2009, 112 pp, Hardback ISBN 9781848440913 £49.95 online discount £44.96 Order this book from Edward Elgar.
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