A firm level study of information technology productivity using financial and market based measures

The benefits gained from information technology expenditures have been the subject of scholarly debate for nearly two decades. Varying results have been obtained in a variety of studies and no firm conclusion has been drawn on the benefits or lack thereof, to the economy as a whole, from this spending. The objective of this study was to investigate information technology productivity in a more comprehensive fashion. This included setting a longer time perspective, reviewing more current information, and measuring productivity using both market and financial based measures. The study reviewed a longer time frame than most, utilizing data from 1989-1999 and separately analyzed the same data set using two different groups of productivity measures - financial and market based. The major contribution of the study is that it provides a broad comprehensive analysis of the impact of information technology on firm and economic productivity.