This book considers why institutional forms of modern capitalist economies differ internationally, and proposes a typology of capitalism based on the theory of institutional complementarity Different economic models are not simply characterized by different institutional forms, but also by particular patterns of interaction between complementary institutions which are the core characteristics of these models Institutions are not just simply devices which would be chosen by 'social engineers' in order to perform a function as efficiently as possible; they are the outcome of a political economy process Therefore, institutional change should be envisaged not as a move towards a hypothetical 'one best way', but as a result of socio-political compromises Based on a theory of institutions and comparative capitalism, the book proposes an analysis of the diversity of modern economies - from America to Korea - and identifies five different models: the market-based Anglo-Saxon model; Asian capitalism; the Continental European model; the social democratic economies; and the Mediterranean model Each of these types of capitalism is characterized by specific institutional complementarities The question of the stability of the Continental European model of capitalism has been open since the beginning of the 1990s: inferior macroeconomic performance compared to Anglo-Saxon economies, alleged unsustainability of its welfare systems, too rigid markets, etc The book examines the institutional transformations that have taken place within Continental European economies and analyses the political project behind the attempts at transforming the Continental model It argues that Continental European economies will most likely stay very different from the market-based economies, and caat political strategies promoting institutional change aiming at convergence with the Anglo-Saxon model are bound to meet considerable opposition

The Diversity of Modern Capitalism

Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature and the resource-based theory, this paper develops an integrative research model for assessing the diffusion and consequence of e-business at the firm level. Unlike the typical focus on adoption as found in the literature, we focus on postadoption stages, that is, actual usage and value creation. The model thus moves beyond dichotomous "adoption versus nonadoption" and accounts for the "missing link"--actual usage--as a critical stage of value creation. The model links technological, organizational, and environmental factors to e-business use and value, based on which a series of hypotheses are developed. The theoretical model is tested by using structural equation modeling on a dataset of 624 firms across 10 countries in the retail industry. To probe deeper into whether e-business use and value are influenced by economic environments, two subsamples from developed and developing countries are compared. The study finds that technology competence, firm size, financial commitment, competitive pressure, and regulatory support are important antecedents of e-business use. In addition, the study finds that, while both front-end and back-end capabilities contribute to e-business value, back-end integration has a much stronger impact. While front-end functionalities are becoming commodities, e-businesses are more differentiated by back-end integration. This is consistent with the resource-based theory because back-end integration possesses the value-creating characteristics of resources (e.g., firm specific, difficult to imitate), which are strengthened by the Internet-enabled connectivity. Our study also adds an international dimension to the innovation diffusion literature, showing that careful attention must be paid to the economic and regulatory factors that may affect technology diffusion across different countries.

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Post-Adoption Variations in Usage and Value of E-Business by Organizations: Cross-Country Evidence from the Retail Industry

For many years, there has been considerable debate about whether the IT revolution was paying off in higher productivity. Studies in the 1980s found no connection between IT investment and productivity in the U.S. economy, a situation referred to as the productivity paradox. Since then, a decade of studies at the firm and country level has consistently shown that the impact of IT investment on labor productivity and economic growth is significant and positive. This article critically reviews the published research, more than 50 articles, on computers and productivity. It develops a general framework for classifying the research, which facilitates identifying what we know, how well we know it, and what we do not know. The framework enables us to systematically organize, synthesize, and evaluate the empirical evidence and to identify both limitations in existing research and data and substantive areas for future research.The review concludes that the productivity paradox as first formulated has been effectively refuted. At both the firm and the country level, greater investment in IT is associated with greater productivity growth. At the firm level, the review further concludes that the wide range of performance of IT investments among different organizations can be explained by complementary investments in organizational capital such as decentralized decision-making systems, job training, and business process redesign. IT is not simply a tool for automating existing processes, but is more importantly an enabler of organizational changes that can lead to additional productivity gains.In mid-2000, IT capital investment began to fall sharply due to slowing economic growth, the collapse of many Internet-related firms, and reductions in IT spending by other firms facing fewer competitive pressures from Internet firms. This reduction in IT investment has had devastating effects on the IT-producing sector, and may lead to slower economic and productivity growth in the U.S. economy. While the turmoil in the technology sector has been unsettling to investors and executives alike, this review shows that it should not overshadow the fundamental changes that have occurred as a result of firms' investments in IT. Notwithstanding the demise of many Internet-related companies, the returns to IT investment are real, and innovative companies continue to lead the way.

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Information technology and economic performance: A critical review of the empirical evidence

This article describes the contents and the construction of the EU KLEMS Growth and Productivity Accounts. This database contains industry-level measures of output, inputs and productivity for 25 European countries, Japan and the US for the period from 1970 onwards. The article considers the methodology employed in constructing the database and shows how it can be useful in comparing productivity trends. Although growth accounts are the organising principle, it is argued that the database is useful for a wider range of applications. We give some guidance to prudent use and indicate possible extensions.

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Output, Input and Productivity Measures at the Industry Level: The EU KLEMS Database*

From the Publisher:
"That The Global Information Technology Report 2001-2002 received such a notable positive response from a broad range of stakeholders underscores the growing relevance of information technology (IT) in national economies and the continuing need for an assessment of the readiness of countries to participate in the Networked World. Recognizing the relevance of an the rapid changes in information technology, this report is an update to the 2001-2002 Report, which is the first and most comprehensive international assessment of the readiness of countries to capture the benefits of participating in the Networked World. With regional analyses and specific country case studies, essays on a variety of IT-related subjects, detailed country profiles, and country rankings comparing the global IT experience of different nations, this report remains the most authoritative documentation to date of how Its are being used around the world."

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The Global Information Technology Report

Cross-country Diffusion of the Internet

The New Economy: facts, impacts and policies☆

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/53114/1/333230078.pdf

Economic growth in the New Economy: evidence from advanced economies

The benefits from the New Economy should accrue as improvements in productivity and economic growth. But while the use of information and communication technology seems to have had a substantial impact on the performance of the United States economy, the evidence for other countries is much weaker. This study does not find any significant correlation between ICT investment and economic growth in the period 1985-99 for a sample of 42 countries for which ICT spending data are available. Even more surprisingly and in contrast with some previous studies, the relationship is not statistically significant for the subsamples of industrial or high-income countries either. There are at least three possible explanations for this apparent ‘productivity paradox’. The most obvious one is the fact that not many countries, other than the US, have yet invested much in ICT. The second reason is that even if they have done so, they may not have invested enough in complementary infrastructure, like education and skills, in order to reap the benefits from ICT investment. Technology by itself is not a solution to any development problem; it only provides an opportunity. The third and the most controversial explanation is that the neoclassical method applied in assessing the

/pdf/new-economy-in-growth-and-development-1c7jef5obi.pdf

New economy in growth and development

This paper explores the impacts of informatin technology investment on economic groth in a cross-section of 39 countries in the period 1980-95 by applying an explicit model of economic growth, the augmented version of the neoclassical (Solow) growth model.

Matti Pohjola

Papers

Cross-country Diffusion of the Internet

The New Economy: facts, impacts and policies☆

Economic growth in the New Economy: evidence from advanced economies

New economy in growth and development

Information Technology and Economic Growth. A Cross-Country Analysis