Contribution of ICT diffusion to labour productivity growth: the United States, Canada, the Eurozone, and the United Kingdom, 1970-2013

This study measures and compares the trends in ICT diffusion and the contribution of ICT to labour productivity growth in the United States, Canada, the Eurozone, and the United Kingdom from 1970 to 2013. There are three main results: i) after a long period of sustained growth, ICT diffusion, as measured by the share of ICT capital stock to GDP expressed in current prices, has stabilized since 2000 in all four areas; ii) this stabilization happened at different levels, significantly higher in the United States than elsewhere; and iii) in all four jurisdictions, the contribution of ICT to labour productivity growth rose significantly in 1994-2004 compared to 1974-1994. Since 2004, the contribution of ICT to labour productivity growth has fallen off considerably. It only remains positive as a result of the continued advances in ICT performance as proxied by the continued fall in ICT prices. Unfortunately, the pace of improvement also appears to be rapidly decreasing.