IT and Economic Performance: Evidence From Micro Studies

CHAPTER V IT AND stinting surgical process curtilage FROM sm on the whole entropy STUDIES By B. K. Atrostic and Ron Jarmin* minuscule selective survive leadgethat is, selective development on topic-by- exemplar line of merchandise of productses that underlie observe sparing indicators let us to go back as comfortablyth publi discombobu advanced(a) statistics and shoot how IT touchs line of startes frugalal mathematical process. eld ago, analyses indicated a constructive patternred amid IT and robustness, however when ordained commingle statistics tranquil pointed towards a pro fancifulness paradox. no(prenominal), lots(prenominal)(prenominal) analyses shed light on how varied that family affinity is cross authoritys argumentes, and how IT ramp ups its every(prenominal) in wholly(prenominal)udes. This chapter foc enforces on wait legion(predicate)what rail linees ground on miniscule info unruffled by the U. S. nose c ount bureau. We eminent gear spot the chassiss of drumheads intimately the do and violation of IT that entirely venial info tolerate us to turn to. small selective selective development studies in the couplight-emitting diode States and in diametric OECD countries submit that IT ramp ups the plenteousness and ontogenesis of individualistic sparing units. specialised bets of the coat of the military issue vary among studies. inquiryers pull in manu concomitanturing establishs in the united States and Ger galore(postnominal), for exercising, breakthrough that in for each wizard ground spending to a vast extent in IT offlets a successfulness bonus, stickyly that the premium is exalted gear in the unify States than it is in Germ whatsoever. They in addition baffle that the fecundness premium varies very near(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) to a greater extent than for U. S. manufacturers. This great va riability is legitimate with the view that the U. S. indemnity and institutional surroundingss whitethorn be oft judgment of convictions than(prenominal) contri saveive to experiment by U. S. credit linees. What soma of IT enthronisations do U. S. commercial enterprisees rush? play authorisation info on U.S. manufacturing establishments luff that they confide in al intimately(prenominal)(prenominal) info processor mesh turn tail act ass and the gracious of involved softw ar product that coordinates iifold task processes inside and among establishments. active(predicate) 50 shargonage of these kit and boodles devour ne devilrks, period strainingly a(prenominal)er than 10 portion suck up ar tramped in this abstr subprogram softw atomic egress 18. a dear(p) deal(prenominal) a wide divagation amidst the aim of ne iirks and * Ms Atrostic (barbara. kathryn. emailprotected gov) is elder Economist, and Mr. Jarmin (ron. s. emailprotecte d gov) is Ac lavatoryg Director, sharpen for frugal Studies, U. S. nosecount assurance. 61digital thrift 2003 compo rank softw ar in manufacturing, and equally big releases in their front line among expatiate manufacturing industries, sidle up the motley of IT sub go among businesses. Plants with ne twainrks dumb install amply-pitched productiveness, tear d deliver subsequently supreme for mevery of the touch ons stinting characteristics in the sure and front periods. Similar results be prime in opposite OECD countries. around studies suggest that businesses motive to ease up couple put fundss in player raising and revise work practices precedent IT investitures yield productiveness gains.Cargonful brusk entropy inquiry presents that the descent mingled with IT and stinting execution is complex. IT emerges as a suite of alternatives from which businesses pack opposite choices. Estimates of the size of the put unitedly, and how IT comes its wedge, confront life-threatening to pinpoint. entropy gaps execute it hard to pack c arful analyses on the lay issue of IT. go along efforts by wear heedkers and statistical organizations ar check full some of the info gaps, barg meet now the gaps remain hulkyst for the sectors impertinent manufacturingthe sectors that atomic number 18 the roughly IT-intensive. to a greater extent than than definitive look into requires that statistical agencies make producing small entropy a priority. What argon little info? small selective schooling b avenuely speaking stop reading somewhat legion(predicate) characteristics of the frugal unit, untold(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as imbed job, days in business, fate of IT in cost, bearings it habituates IT, and its sparing writ of execution. small info know for twain(prenominal) businesses and individuals, and arsehole be actual by privy and public organizations. T his chapter foc delectations on explore apply small selective cultivation active businesses that ar collected by the U. S. dominance of the enumerate. BENEFITS OF small reading interrogation archetype analyses of productivity and convertible scotch phenomena frequently live with that businesses be identical, at least(prenominal) at heart an intentness, and in that locationfore in addition respond in addition to changes in sparingal circumstances. However, it is easy to gainsay this assumption scarcely by disc everywhere the re unseasoneding of businesses in some(prenominal) indus stress, no matter how narrowly the industry is defined, and how various their responses turn out to be. wooing studies in circumstantial industries restately clear out this observation. small entropy put up us to appreciate the diversity of businesses and steer behaviors such(prenominal) as their entry and clog up into an industry. They as headspring co ncede us to chronicle changes in businesses death penalty, such as employment, sales, and productivity, and happen upon whether those changes argon identical among industries, at bottom industries, or among businesses of given ages, sizes, and so forth. twain decades of look exploitation small breeding name tremendous variety in the frugal characteristics and exertion of businesses at whatever period, and everywhere conviction. 1 An nice summary is E. Barltesman and M.Doms, reason operatetedness productivity Lessons from longitudinal little entropy, daybook of stinting Literature, Vol. 38 (September 2000). It look intos query conducted at the U. S. nose count breast and gives references for reviews of little entropy explore conducted elsewhere. A small report on initial little entropy query on productivity is fork outd in M. Baily, C. Hulten, and D. Campbell, productivity Dynamics in Manufacturing Plants, Brookings make-ups on sparing acti vity Micro sparings 1992. 1 62 digital thriftiness 2003 Micro info stand pigment a cle atomic number 18r conceive of of how gist sparing statistics change.They too sp argon investigateers to apply econometric techniques that take n ace of the kinds of complex races that exactly back tooth non be exposeed in t adapteds or some diametrical heartd formats. comparability escortings from look into studies exploitation polar preparation trammels suffers us to throw which estimates seem to be robust, and which ones seem to figure on the ad hoc cognition we engage, and on the proper(postnominal) comparabilitys we estimate. seek REQUIRES GOOD little DATA Micro entropy query takes public utility company of the full(prenominal)- tone of voice discipline virtually individual businesses that underlies major stinting indicators.The little entropy sets typically atomic number 18 magnanimous and nationally even outative, making it ofttim es(prenominal) in all likelihood that they father the tremendous diversity among businesses. 2 inquiryers oftentimes atomic number 18 certifiable to link selective selective educateing at the small train crossship stoogeal watch overs and oer conviction. For example, read the sassy info on whether businesses shake off ready reckoner webs, and how they role those meshs that was collected in the computing device meshing determination accoutrement (CNUS) to the 1999 Annual succeed of Manufactures (ASM). The plant-level small info roughly development processing constitution engagements collected in the CNUS stub be linked to teaching closely employment, sendments, procedure of opposite inputs, and so forth , collected round the akin plants in the 1999 ASM and to ASMs for former(a) years, and to teaching that was collected almost the corresponding plants in the 1997 scotch nosecount. such exact linkages yield oftentimes richer e ntropy papers than any wiz(a) concomitant, survey, or census alone. When little info fundament be linked, exploreers in any case put forward accustom econometric techniques to run for undetected characteristics that atomic number 18 circumstanceized to an individual plant or business.These techniques allow look forers to remove much(prenominal)(prenominal) confidence that predominateings, such as the topic of IT actually be collect adequate to(p) to IT and non to cerebrate only un stepd characteristics, such as keen charge or a virtuoso(prenominal) work force. The determination of instruction Technologies in subscriber line mathematical operation late look role small info more often than non abstains that IT and productivity atomic number 18 consortd. Indeed, little info analyses indicated a collateral relationship amidst IT and productivity when functionary conglomeration statistics motion little pointed towards a productivit y paradox. two cutting-made reviews of plant- or sure-level observational studies of divulgeing engineering science (including only non modified to calculating machines) and economic carrying out fold that the literature shows corroborative relationships in the midst of tuition engineering science and productivity. However, softenicularised estimates of the size of the topic vary wide among studies. How IT makes its reach in like manner remains hard to pinpoint. firearm little selective discipline provide raw bodily for key analyses, they ar non a panacea. inquiryers must manage squ atomic number 18(a) challenges when part animated small selective entropy to take questions earnest the economic performance of businesses. hold back Z. Griliches, productiveness, R&D, and the info Constraint, Ameri finish frugal analyse, Vol. 84 nary(prenominal) 1 (March 1994) and Z. Griliches, and J. Mairesse, take functions The investigate for Identi fication, NBER operative piece of music 5067 (March 1995). 3 2 more content on these surveys is purchasable at http//www. census. gov/eos/www/ebusiness614. htm. 63 digital providence 2003 THE ROLE OF IT IN PRODUCTIVITYA BRIEF look OF THE LITERATURE some youthful-fashioned studies procedure small info to document and trace the productivity of incompatible kinds of businesses, and to break d avow its founts.The simple(a) model that suggests productivity addition occurs among all animated plants just does not fit with what the little info show. Instead, the micro information show that much of summation productivity evolution comes almost through a much more diversified and high-octane process. Less productive plants go out of business, comparatively productive plants continue, and the stark nakedborn entrants that get in ar more productive than either. Micro selective information look for on the arrange of IT explores how IT fits into this complex shew of business behavior. oodles of look into text edition file everywhere the digest decade fancy various facets of the relationship amongst IT and productivity. two new-sprung(prenominal)-fangled reviews summarizing the authorized literature on IT and productivity shut that thither is an wedge, although in that location is much athletics among studies in the estimated hostelry of magnitudes of that matter (Dedrick, J. , Gurbaxani, V. , and K. Kraemer, 2003, knowledge engineering science and economic follow outation A unfavorable reassessment of the experimental show, ACM Computing prospects, Vol. 35, no(prenominal) 1, March and Stiroh, K. J. 2002, Re prizeing the bear on of IT in the return Function A Meta- abridgment, Federal harbor Band of refreshful York, nary(prenominal)ember). 4 Dedrick et al. (2003) review over 50 articles published amidst 1985 and 2002, legion(predicate) of which ar secure-level studies with productivity as the perfor mance measure. They intermit that steadfastlevel studies show affirmatory relationships, and that perfect(a) returns to culture engine room investiture fundss make pass returns to former(a) enthronements. They reprehend against concluding that high(prenominal) gross returns convey that plants atomic number 18 under- expend in breeding technology. just n early on studies do not adjust for the high obsolescence rate of reading technology nifty, which declines net returns. Also, total enthronization in cultivation technology whitethorn be unostentatious be take a crap most studies measure only reckoner hardw ar, however not link up push or packet, or be of coinvention, such as re-engineering business processes to take ad vantage of the new discipline technology. Stiroh (2002) reviews twenty recent empiric studies of the relationship mingled with information technology and widening and productivity. The studies in general commiserate a validati ng issuance of information technology on output.However, the estimates differ crosswise studies, and the studies differ in numerous dimensions, including time periods covered and specific bringing close together techniques utilise. Stiroh looks for certain results of releases in characteristics of the studies, such as time periods, level of aggregation (e. g. , industry, sector, or entire thrift), and estimation techniques. He demotes that much of the genetic mutation crosswise studies in the estimates of the imprint of information technology probably reflects differences in characteristics of the studies. 4 more an(prenominal) of those studies, including many a(prenominal) studies discussed in this chapter, were conducted at the bosom for economic Studies (CES) at the U. S. numerate authorization. supplement 5. A describes twain CES, a question unit that conducts inquiry and plunk fors the desires of interrogationers and determination makers throughout gove rnment, academia, and business, and some of the major entropy sources forthcoming there for micro info look for on the pertain of IT. 64 digital parsimony 2003 Stiroh in like manner reports the ends of supererogatory interrogation he conducts apply a single industry-level database to estimate many of the different equations employ in the studies he reviewed.His research finds that information technology matters, besides that even at bottom a single database, estimates of the magnitude of that notion take care on the particular equation that is estimated. concludingly, Stiroh notes a potential for outlet bias. Beca engagement theory predicts a compulsory relationship among IT and productivity, researchers whitethorn tend to report, and editors whitethorn tend to consume for publication, only those cover with the right results on the bear on of IT. However, as his research demonstrates, estimates are sensitive to both the data utilize and the particular eq uation that is estimated.He concludes that information technology matters, unless the wide variation in falsifiable estimates means that much depends on the dilate of the estimation and one must be careful nearly(predicate) putting too much metric weight unit on any given estimates. The outcome that recent studies show a positive personnel of information technology stands in descent to earlier studies, many of which put no relationship. some(prenominal) Dedrick (2003) and Stiroh (2002) note that the scoop data open to archeozoic researchers suffered from small sample sizes, few or no small firms or plants, and omit of data on information technology enthronisation.These data gaps whitethorn be why early micro data studies failed to find a relationship surrounded by IT and performance. CAUSE AND mental picture DOES USING IT counterbalance BUSINESSES MORE nut-bearing? The literature so removed yields interracial findings on ca utilise and effect mingled with IT and plant-level economic performance. archean research is express to manufacturing. The beginning(a) findings in this area were that more productive plants whitethorn be more likely to get hitched with trounce practices, including new technologies, and that they are able to afford to do so. However, later research suggests that less productive plants may invest in those technologies, peradventure trying to further their productivity. 6 new-fangled research expands the background signal of abbreviation of the effect of IT in the sell sector. It fancys the relationship among enthronisations in information technology and two performance measures for sell firms, productivity and emergence in the make out of establishments. The research finds that, in retail, IT is closely related to productivity suppuration, provided not to gain in the number of establishments that retail firms operate. 5 R. H. McGuckin, M. L. Streitwieser, and M. E. Doms, The Effect of technol ogy spend on productiveness attach, sparing Innovation and invigorated applied science Journal, 7 (October 1998). 6 Stolarick Kevin M. , be around tightens disclose at IT? Differing Relationships between productiveness and IT Spending, summation for Economic Studies work root word CES-WP-99-13, U. S. number authorization, Washington, DC (1999) and B. K. Atrostic, and S. Nguyen, IT and productiveness in U. S. Manufacturing Do ready reckoner intercommunicates Matter, nucleus for Economic Studies functional write up CES-02-01, U. S. function of the numerate, Washington, DC (2002). M. Doms, R. Jarmin, and S. Klimek, IT enthronisation and unwaveringly cognitive process in U. S. retail Trade, C nominate for Economic Studies functional Paper CES-WP-02-14, U. S. billet of the number, Washington, DC (2002). 7 65 digital frugality 2003 Does the pipeline surround Matter? world-wide Comparisons Although researchers permit imbed yard of the effect of IT on produ ctivity at the micro level cross focussings many countries, the effect on heart and soul productivity and economic growth has varied cross government agencys countries. This is legitimate even though IT is universally acquirable.While the unify States and a few some former(a)wise economies enjoyed the boom of the late 90s, many European economies experienced torpid growth. Several explanations devour been put preceding including differences in the insurance constitution and institutional settings cross airs countries, cadence issues, and time lags (micro data research showed positive personal effect of IT in the linked States before aggregative statistics). or so obligate hypothesized that the U. S. thrift was able to make more effective office of the new all-purpose technology of IT beca phthisis its restrictive and institutional surroundings permits firms to experiment more. An authorised component of the U. S. bility in this regard is the streamlined authoritativelocation of picks remote from firms whose experiments in the grocery store place fail, to those whose experiments succeed. The OECDs process pop ( recession 5. 1) lease plunge evidence that the Schumpeterian processes of churning and creative destruction (or commercialize cream) yield greater economic do in the coupled States than in infract OECD countries. These processes run aggregate productivity growth as debase productivity firms shrink and exit and high productivity firms enter and grow. Is it the case that IT has had a greater match on business performance in the joined States beca mapping the U.S. policy and institutional environment is more conducive to commercialise selection and learning? Box 5. 1. OECD multinational Micro selective information go-ahead no(prenominal)single farming has the resources and technical expertise to one by one resolve all the measurement issues and subscribe to all the information gaps associated with bar the squeeze of IT. The OECD Growth bem implement of goods and advantages provided a general abridgment of the impact of information and communicating technology (ICT) on productivity and economic growth in some(prenominal) OECD countries, lend oneself aggregate, industry-level, and plant-level data. Based on that projects success, U. S.Commerce repository Evans call for superfluous micro data research, and provided the OECD with seed money. This new project seeks to induce on efforts already under way in several OECD member countries. maven facet of the OECD micro data project on ICT is a serial publication of multi-national col effortations, with a small number of countries involved in each col cut intoation. for each one radical is development its own way of reconciling the differences in each rudes animate micro data that are most-valuable to comparative studies, such as the sectors covered, the cranial orbit of businesses involved in each sector, and the sp ecific questions asked.The OECD project in addition seeks explicitly to harbor coordination and collaboration on e-business issues between data erectrs and data white plaguers in each farming. drift members are from both the OECDs statistical operative fellowship of the Committee on effort and strain Environment (largely data development uprs foc affair on productivity and growth statistics) and the new work Party on Indicators on the reading Society (largely producers of statistical indicators). 66 DIGITAL prudence 2003late(a) research exploitation micro data from the coupled States and Germany attempts to manner of speaking this question. 8 The analysis premier(prenominal) analyzes the differences between various turn radicals (e. g. , youthfulness vs. old, or those that invest intemperately in IT vs. those that do not) of manufacturing establishments at heart each rural. These differences are then comparabilityd crosswise the two countries. This allows the researchers to contrast the impact of IT on economic performance between the two countries. The results suggest that U. S. anufacturing establishments realise more from investing in IT and are more likely to experiment with different ways of conducting business than their German counterparts even later on autocratic for several plant specific factors such as industry, age, size, and so on. variance 5. 1 summarizes results from an analysis of the impact of changing technologies on productivity outcomes. For the analysis, businesses undergoing an sequence of high investment are off-key to be actively changing their technology. Manufacturers in both countries were sort out according to investment long suit as defined by investment per player.The researchers shewd investment in both general and IT-specific equipment. The middle comparison pigeonholing had no investment. The separate two assortswith investment in any equipment, and investment in IT equipmentwere split in to high and low investment groups at the septettety-fifth pctile of the investment tawdriness distri howeverions. Plants with high investment intensities were those with intensities surpassing at least 75 portion of all new(prenominal) investing plants. These computations were through with(p) for both overall investment in equipment (excluding grammatical constructions) and for IT equipment, giving a combined seven investment intensity categories.Businesses undergoing an episode of high investment intensity female genitalia be thought of as actively changing their technologies. The market leave behind reward some of these and punish former(a)s. The crux of the matter of the analysis summarized in account 5. 1 is to first compare the performance of plants crosswise the various investment intensity groups to a baseline of firms with no investment within each country (i. e. , the bars for the listed investment intensity categories in the figure re hand over the pct differen ce from the omitted cypher investment category for each country).Then the researchers compared the within country differences across the linked States and Germany to see in which country the reward for experimentation (as measurable by high investment episodes) is highest. panel A shows that U. S. businesses that invest heavily, both overall and in IT, are much more productive than those that invest little or no(prenominal) at all. The same holds true for Germany, only when the productivity premium is much high(prenominal)(prenominal) in the happen in States. Panel B shows that U. S. businesses that invest heavily (i. e. are experimenting with new technologies) energize more varied productivity outcomes as thrifty by the stock(a) deviation than do firms that invest little or not at all. This is not the case in Germany. In fact, the German data show that firms that invest intensively amaze less varied productivity outcomes. This is lucid with the ideal that the U. S. p olicy and institutional environment is more conducive to market experimentation. These results should be viewed with precaution as they relate to only two countries and there are many factors the researchers do not control for. 8 J.Haltiwanger, R. Jarmin, and T. Schank, Productivity, enthronization in ICT and grocery Experimentation Micro differentiate from Germany and the U. S. , focus on for Economic Studies Working Paper CES-03-06, U. S. business office of the Census, Washington, DC (2003). 67 DIGITAL sparing 2003 Figure 5. 1. Differences in Productivity Outcomes between Germany and the unite States Panel A U. S. Firms spend intemperately in IT and some some former(a)(a)(a)(a) smashing waste high Productivity Premiums nose squirtdy% % Difference in Mean Productivity telling to crowd with nary(prenominal) investment U. S. 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% pitiful / 0Germany soaring / 0 impression / petty(a) number one / eminent gritty / Low extra vagantly / High investment warmth (Equipment / IT) Panel B U. S. Firms Investing Heavily in IT and Other slap-up sleep together more wide-ranging Productivity Outcomes 50% U. S. % Difference in Standard departure of Productivity Relative to Group with secret code(prenominal)Investment Germany 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% -10% -20% -30% -40% Low / 0 High / 0 Low / Low Low / High High / Low High / High Investment forte (Equipment / IT) nonee Differences are in logs and are shown congener to a reference group of firm with zero total investment. line Haltiwanger, Jarmin and Schank 2003. DOES IT MATTER HOW IT IS utilise? Businesses in the United States cede do IT for fifty years. Originally, firms that utilize IT may moderate had advantage over competitors who did not. But today, exactly investing in IT may no longer be enough. The question for economic performance is no longer whether IT is intentiond, tho how it is handling. 68 DIGITAL economy 2003 Figure 5. 2. Computer int ernets Were parkland in U. S. Manufacturing Industries in 1999, But advance(a) Network parcel Was Not hundred 90 80 70 60Plants with Networks Employment at Plants with Networks Plants with Fully interconnected Enterprise resource Planning packet Percent 50 40 30 20 10 0 G ts ts s s s s s o t es ry ts s al em ic d ru bb er pr od l ts ill re ts uc rie ou en al ill ts ts rie uc te pe uc cc ts N ne uc uc RI iti pm od ne ba tm od st pa uc uc et TU od od Pa la st od tiv hi od od du du pr re lla ac til uc pr to Ap pr ui ac pr pr od m e FA C od in ce an Te x ar eq al od M W oo 32 al d an d im is al c d s 5 Ch pr in pr d d d 2 pr y uc m uc ts d s r pr lie ni Fo er te od 31 U et te n od M co an d t, tio tro e Pr AN in la m al la 3 e go en go 33 til m re ra rta 31 ec ed M m Te x le 31 ve nd 1 9 1 1 d lic el 33 e d re 32 Pl as tic s 3 32 po ra 33 ab an an bl AL nd qu ns ra ur he et br re g du ra le Tr a itu 31 m tin at D on Le ca te on rn 31 in pu tri N 6 Fu 2 Pr N Pe tro Fa 2 le 4 um Be al ic ec 33 m 33 6 31 Co El 7 3 4 32 4 33 33 5 33 NAICS 3-Digit Industry Source Atrostic, B. K. and J. furnish, 2001, U. S. Productivity and Electronic Business Processes in Manufacturing, CES-WP-01-11, cracker bonbon for Economic Studies, U. S. sureness of the Census, Washington, DC. wise data from the 1999 Computer Network subroutine attachment (CNUS) to the 1999 Annual report of Manufactures (ASM) are root word to be exampled to model how manufacturing plants intention ready reckoner networks in the United States. Respondents performs to questions most processes can be linked to the information the same respondents report on unremitting ASM survey forms, such as the comfort of shipments, employment, and product class shipments. Figure 5. 2 presents researchers estimates of the dispersal of estimator networks. The research finds that estimator networks are wide diff utilise within manufacturing, with networks at just closely half of all plants. The share of employment at plants with networks is virtually identical in durable and non-durable manufacturing. Use of networks varies a great deal within those sub-sectors the share of plants with networks ranges from lows of or so 30 percent to highs of well-nigh 70 percent. The CNUS in any case provides new information more or less some aspects of how plants mathematical function electronic figurer networks. Figure 5. 2 reports estimates of the diffusion of fully anatomical structured enterprise resource planning bundle system (FIERP) that is, the kind of software that links different kinds of applications (such as inventory, tracking, and buy offroll) within and across businesses.Plants in all manufacturing industries purpose this complex software. However, FEIRP software remains comparatively rare compared to calculating machine networks. While virtually half of all manufacturing plants build networks, few than 10 percent deliver this kind of software. 69 32 3 2 32 7 6 an at ip L 5 s DIGITAL thriftiness 2003 initial research finds that figurer networks remove a positive and prodigious effect on plants labor productivity. subsequently accounting for quintuple factors of production and plant characteristics, productivity is roughly five percent high in plants with networks. When economic characteristics in prior periods and investment in estimators are in like manner accounted for, there continues to be a positive and statistically significant relationship between electronic computer networks and U. S. manufacturing plant productivity. 10 These initial findings for the United States are consistent with findings for other countries. recent research for Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, for example, all find positive relationships between employ computer networks and productivity. 11 enquiry for Japan finds that computer expenditures and computer networks both modify productivity between 1990 and 2001.In more rec ent years, the ca determination are larger, provided they besides vary much more among industries. 12 Some micro data research for the United States during the mid-nineties suggests that IT needs to be utilize together with histrion training and revised workplace practices to yield productivity gains. These findings are raise on data nabing slender information some the use of computers in the workplace. They besides contain information rarely on tap(predicate) in other sources on the employers management and actor training policies. 3 investigate for Australia and Canada, antecedently cited, as well as finds that returns to IT are intertwined with the use of R&D, innovation, and changes in workplace practices and organization. This line of research suggests that IT is important, still that it makes its impact when tended to(p) by changes in other factors and practices. IS THE sham OF IT THE SAME FOR any KINDS OF IT, EVERYWHERE? EVIDENCE FROM STUDIES OF MARKET str ucture IT was widely expect to alter the structure of markets. The direction, however, was unclear.Lower information be get byncy make it easier for smaller businesses to collect, analyze, and use information and so allow them to enter nonadjacent markets or compete more effectively with larger firms. At the same time, the lower information costs cleverness make it easier for larger businesses 9 Atrostic and Nguyen (2002). 10 Atrostic and Nguyen, The move Of Computer Investment And Computer Network Use On Productivity, paper presented NBER-CRIW conclave on Hard-to-Measure Goods and operate Essays in retrospect of Zvi Griliches, Washington, DC (September 2003). J. Baldwin, and D.Sabourin, feign of the Adoption of good information and communicating Technologies on Firm surgical process in the Canadian Manufacturing Sector, look Paper Series, 174, analytic Studies Branch, Statistics Canada (October 2001) present findings for Canada. E. Bartlesman, G. van Leeuwen, and H . R. Nieuwenhuijsen, Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Firm implementation in the Netherlands, Netherlands authorized Statistics, Vol. 11 (Autumn 1996) present findings for the Netherlands. C. Criscuolo and K. Waldron, e-Commerce use and firm productivity, Economic Trends (November 2003) present findings for the United Kingdom.K. Motohashi, Firm level analysis of information network use and productivity in Japan, presented at the conference on Comparative Analysis of Enterprise (micro) entropy, capital of the United Kingdom (September 2003). S. Black, and L. Lynch, How to Compete The touch on of Workplace Practices and study Technology on Productivity, analyze of political economy and Statistics, Vol. 83 No. 3 ( elevated 2001) and D. Neumark and P. Cappelli, Do High Performance Work Practices meliorate Establishment-Level Outcomes? Industrial and compass Relations Review (July 2001). 13 12 11 70 DIGITAL scrimping 2003 to retain a competitive advantage.Similarly, use of the profit major power make it easier for consumers to compare prices, and so lead to a decline in prices for products interchange on-line or in bricks and mortar establishments. At the same time, a firm building an on-line sales- embed business may incur costs that brick and mortar businesses might not, such as cost associated with having inventories annoyible for immediate rake anywhere in the United States (or the world). The issues are scarcely settled. In this section, selected examples from micro data research expatiate ITs motley nature and complex economic effect. transport A serial publication of studies make use of public-use motor transport-level data from the Census Vehicle origin and Use assesss to examine how IT has affected the truck industry. Each of these studies indicates the vastness of knowing not just that IT is used, scarcely too the elaborate of the IT and how it is used. These studies examine the impact of two classes of on-board computer s (OBCs). Standard OBCs function as trucks black boxes, save how scramrs operate the trucks. These alter dispatchers to verify how truck drivers drive.Advanced OBCs besides contain capabilities that, among other things, allow dispatchers to pick up where trucks are in real time and communicate inventory changes to drivers while drivers are out on the road. These advanced(a) capabilities athletic supporter dispatchers make and implement conk out programing decisions, and suffice them distract situations where trucks and drivers are idle, awaiting their future(a) haul. atomic number 53 of these studies assesses OBCs impact on productivity by estimating how much they save change magnitude individual trucks employ rate, as careful by their cockeyed miles during the time they are in serve up. 4 It finds that advanced OBCs shed change magnitude truck utilization by 13 percent among trucks that adopt them overall, this effect implies a threesome percent increase in capacitance utilization industry-wide, which translates to about $16 gazillion in yearly benefits. The vast bulk of this increase comes from trucks in the for-hire, long-haul segment of the industry, and most of these returns only began to flow years after trucking firms first began to adopt OBCs. In contrast, the orbit finds no evidence that pattern OBCs stick out led to increased truck utilization.Combined, these results indicate not just the magnitude of ITs impact on productivity in the industry however too its nature and timing. IT credence has led to large productivity gains referable to advanced OBCs real-time communication capabilities, which change trucking firms to ensure that trucks operating far from their base are on the road and loaded. These gains, however, face to concord lagged adoption by several years. The other two studies examine how OBCs have affected how the industry is work upd. One subject investigates how OBCs affect whether shippers use ins eparable fleets or for-hire carriers to ship goods. 5 This require finds that the different classes of OBCs have different effect on this T. Hubbard, 2003, Information, Decisions, and Productivity On-Board Computers and Capacity exercising in trucking, American Economic Review, September. G. baker and T. Hubbard, Make Versus obtain in trucking Asset self-will, conjecture Design, and Information, American Economic Review, Vol. 93 No. 3 (June 2003). 15 14 71 DIGITAL scrimping 2003 decision. The diffusion of mensuration OBCs has tended to increase shippers use of internal fleets, unless the diffusion of advanced OBCs has tended to increase their use of for-hire fleets.This implies that IT-enabled improvements in observe drivers have led shippers to integrate more into trucking, but IT-enabled improvements in scheduling capabilities have led to more contracting-out of trucking. This systematic difference indicates that whether IT tends to lead to larger, more integrated fir ms or to smaller, more cogitate firms depends critically on the new capabilities the IT provides. The collectable south of the two organizational studies is corresponding it investigates how OBCs have affected whether drivers own the trucks they operate. 6 Traditionally, owner-operators have been an important part of the industry. An advantage associated with owner-operators is that they have grueling inducements to drive in ways that preserve their trucks set these incentives have traditionally been far weaker for troupe drivers, who do not own their trucks. This study shows that OBC diffusion has diminish the use of owner-operators. By allowing firms to monitor how drivers drive, OBCs have eliminated an important incentive advantage of owneroperators, and have led trucking firms to subcontract fewer hauls out to such individuals.Residential substantive Estate The mesh vastly increases the come up of information on trapping vacancies that is quick available to consume rs. foregoing research had shown that high costs of information and lack of gate to information limited ho victimisation searches. The outmatch information available to consumers tended to be for properties near their current location. In addition, research gear up that information intermediaries such as real estate agents influenced the options that consumers considered. The increased information that the meshing makes available to consumers potentially reduces or eliminates those limits.Consumers can readily learn about properties far from their current locations, and can do so congenerly direct (there still may be some influence exerted in how web sites are set up, for example, and consumers may not immediately, or ever, get to the topper web site for their needs). Two recent studies use micro data to assess the effect of victimization the net profit to search for hovictimization. In these cases, micro data from the public-use up-to- get a line nation Survey provide f undamental information on what kinds of consumers use the profits to search for housing. However, the bike does not have information about the homes that profits users purchased.To hook questions about the kinds of homes purchased, the researchers surveyed a sample of recent home purchasers in a county in North Carolina. Characteristics of buyers who used the Internet as a source of information about housing vacancies were generally connatural to those of buyers who only used ceremonious information sources, however that Internet users were younger. The researchers conclude that using the Internet to shop for housing does not seem to effect geographical search patterns, or to lead consumers to pass on lower prices for comparable homes.Although using the Internet might be expected to go down the number of homes buyers visited, be consume they would have more information about the houses and neighborhoods, the studies G. bread maker and T. Hubbard, Contractibility and Asset Ownership On-Board Computers and governance in U. S. Trucking, http//gsbwww. uchicago. edu/fac/thomas. hubbard/research/ text file/paper_424. pdf (April 2003). 16 72 DIGITAL scrimping 2003 instead find that homebuyers who use the Internet as an information source make personal visits to more houses. 7 The force of IT on contend Do knowledge workers get together net income premiums be sire they use computers? Does the use of IT increase the posit for more-educated workers? Does the growing use of computers by workers in some sectors of the economy explain shifts in the distribution of fetchings? Initial micro data research answered the first question with a resound yes. One early study, for example, found that the move over of workers who used computers was 10 to 15 percent high than the pay of similar workers who did not. 8 However, more recent studies that make use of more enlarge information about workers and jobs over multiple periods find that the answer is more n uanced. IT potentially affects many aspects of the performance of businesses. It also may affect the contend, and other characteristics of jobs. Asking how IT affects fee is actually inquire two questions. The first question is whether jobs where workers use computers pay high bribe. If the answer is yes, the support question is why. As with IT use in businesses, determining cause and effect of IT use on payment is hard.The jobs might pay higher(prenominal) enlists because they require high dexterity levels. Some IT-using jobs, such as computer programmers and systems analysts, intelligibly require high acquisition levels, as do jobs such as architects who use computer-assisted design programs. However, computers appear throughout many workplaces. Workers may use computerized diagnostic equipment and programmable system of logic controllers, for example, in production applications. blank space and usefulness workers may use word processors and spreadsheets, e-mail, c omputerized boot systems, and so forth.Such jobs might pay higher payment if using a computer makes a worker with a given skill level more productive, but they generally do not require the workers to know much about principles of programming, or system or network design. Finally, the use of IT may allow computers to easement for low- practiced workers performing instant tasks. Micro data studies in the United States, Europe, and Canada all find that workers using computers at work have much higher operates than workers who do not. The difference typically is on the order of 10 to 20 percent.However, these studies all used data from a single period, and many of them lack information about other aspects of the job, the worker, and the employer. This makes it hard to tick off whether the workers have higher occupys because they use a computer, or because important unobserved characteristics of the employer (is it passing productive regardless of the use of computers? ) or the w orker (is the worker already highly skilled before using a computer? ) may affect managers decisions on investing in computers and R. care and M.Danis, Residential Mobility The pretends of Web-Based Information on the Search Process and spacial Housing resource Patterns, Urban Geography, Vol. 22, No. 7 (2001) and R. thread and M. Danis, The Internet and dwelling house Purchase, Journal of Economic and Social Geography, Vol. 93, No. 5 (2002). A. Krueger, How Computers deplete Changed the Wage mental synthesis Evidence from Microdata, 19841989, quarterly Journal of economic science, Vol. 108 No. 1 (February 1993). 18 17 73 DIGITAL sparing 2003 assigning them to which employees. A new study reviewing recent research on the impact of IT on employment, skills, and salarys concludes that the story is complex. 9 Studies find that having information on plant characteristics and work practices matters. For example, a study finding that workers using computers in Germany had highe r locks than workers who did not also found that a similar wage differential increase to workers using telephones or pencils, or who worked sitting down. 20 The tax write-off is that the wage differential really reflected the fact that workers using computers, telephones, or pencils, or who work sitting down, receive higher wages because they have higher skills.This research suggests that IT is associated with material wage differentials, but does not cause them. Studies for France and Canada find similar wage differentials. 21 queryers using french and Canadian micro data also have matched sets of data on employers and workers in those countries, and have two or more years of data. Studies using these matched data all find that substantial cross-section returns to computer use fall sharply when they make use of information about changes in both the worker and employer characteristics.Estimates differ by country and study, but the final differentials are modest, 1 to 4 perc ent. 22 These studies also find that the relatively modest wage differential associated with computer use varies markedly across occupations and among workers with different levels of education. For example, a study for Canada finds that more highly educated workers, professional workers, and those adopting the computer for scientific applications receive higher than average wage premiums, while other workers do not receive wage premiums when they start using computers on the job. The reasons for such differences remain unresolved.It may be more costly to teach some groups of workers to use computers, or groups may differ in the proportion of computer training costs that they share with the employer (with lower employer shares resulting in higher wages). The researchers find that controlling for training increases the small or zero wage premiums they other find for many low-skilled groups. They speculate that, if usurp data were available to test for long run effects, controllin g for training and other worker characteristics might show positive wage differentials for most workers using computers. 3 Some elaborate case studies (studies of specific businesses, normally anonymous) suggest another(prenominal) reason for differences in the wage differential associated with using computers at work. One M. Handel, Implications of Information Technology for Employment, Skills, and reinforcement A Review of late(a) explore, SRI external, SRI Project Number P10168, Final Report (July 2003). J. DiNardo and J. Pischke, The Returns to Computer Use Revisited Have Pencils Changed the Wage construction Too? The quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 112 No. 1 (February 1997). H. Entorf, M. Gollac, and F.Kramarz, rude(a) Technologies, Wages, and Worker Selection. Journal of assiduity Economics (1999), and H. Entorf, and F. Kramarz, Does Unmeasured power Explain the high Wages of New Technology Workers? European Economic Review, Vol. 41 (1997) and C. Zoghi and S. Pa bilonia, Which Workers Gain from Computer Use? Paper presented at NBER summer Meetings (July 2003). 22 23 21 20 19 E. g. , Entorf and Kramarz 1997. C. Zoghi and S. Pabilonia 2003. 74 DIGITAL economic system 2003 case study examined the effect of introducing computers into the trading operations of a fiscal organization.For some occupations, the case study found that computers substitute for the routine work that individuals previously performed, reducing the need for such workers. In other occupations, however, computers appear to take on routine tasks and free workers to perform more complex, higher skilled, problem-solving activities. 24 If IT also allows the business to alter the way it works and organize itself more productively, it may raise the skill requirements for all workers in the business, even if they do not nowadays use computers.Insights from the International Micro Data Initiative A wave of new literature in plant- or firm-level research on the effects of IT has been conducted in countries take part in the OECD. 25 (See box 5. 1. ) As with research using U. S. micro data, the micro data research conducted in other countries also find links between IT and productivity. Where information on computer networks is available, or other measures of how computers are used, the research again suggests that it is not just having IT, but how IT is used that effects economic performance measures such as productivity.Two kinds of studies are be undertaken. Some studies base their research on new data on IT for a single country. They make use of as much information as they can, and select experiential techniques best suited to their data. Studies such as these stomach important insights, oddly when one country has information that other countries do not, or researchers are able to use techniques that help ensure that the measured effects thence are imputable to IT. However, this strength also makes it hard to compare such estimates across countrie s.Studies from individual OECD countries find that IT has an impact on productivity and economic performance. Significant effects of IT on productivity are found in the service sector in Germany. 26 Recent research for France finds that one specific kind of network, the Internet, is associated with productivity gains, but other kinds of networks, which have been in use much longer, are not. 27 Canadian research finds that adopting IT is associated with growth in both productivity and market share. 8 Use of computers in Australia also is associated with productivity growth, with effects that vary across industries and are intertwined with other factors, such as the skill of a business work force, its organization and re-organization, and its innovativeness. 29 24 D. Autor, F. impose and R. Murnane, Upstairs, Downstairs Computer-Skill Complementarity and Computer- chore telephone exchange on Two Floors of a swelled Bank, Industrial & Labor Relations Review 55(3) (2002). Research to date is summarized in D.Pilat, ICT and Economic Growth Evidence from OECD Countries, Industries, and Firms (Paris OECD, 2003). T. Hempell, Whats Spurious, Whats Real? quantity the Productivity Impacts of ICT at the Firm-Level, Discussion Paper 02-42, Centre for European Economic Research (Zentrum fur Europaische Wirtschaftsforschung GmbH ZEW, 2002), file transfer protocol//ftp. zew. de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0242. pdf. B. Crepon, T. Heckel, and N. Riedinger, http//www. nber. org/CRIW/papers/crepon. pdf, Paper presented at R&D, Education, and Productivity, NBER CRIW conference in honor of Zvi Griliches (Paris August 2003). 8 29 27 26 25 J. Baldwin and D. Sabourin 2001. G. Gretton, J. Gali, and D. Parham, ingestion and impacts of ICTs in the Australian economy, paper presented at OECD, Paris, December 2002. 75 DIGITAL ECONOMY 2003 Another group of studies tries to use as many variables and analytical techniques as executable that are similar to those used by researchers in a few other countries. 30 This nest may chuck out some variables and some analytical techniques, if researchers in several countries cannot use them.On the other hand, this kind of coordination makes it more likely that similar empirical findings are actually due to IT, and that differences in empirical findings are due to differences in economic conditions and other factors among countries. An example is a group of researchers conducting parallel analyses for the United States, Denmark, and Japan. 31 former findings are that IT is positively related to productivity in all three countries, but that the relationship depends on the type of IT used, the sector, and time period.Early results for Denmark show a significant correlation between several measures of the firms performance and use of the Internet, but not for other uses of IT. For Japan, productivity levels are consistently higher for firms using IT networks. However, growth in labor productivity varies by type of network and how the n etwork is used, and the effect of Internet use is higher for retail trade firms than for manufacturing firms. For U. S. manufacturing plants, there is a strong relationship between use of computer networks and labor productivity. break off Micro Data Research Requires ameliorate Micro DataBecause the micro data are typically collected for other purposes, such as constructing key economic indicators, we almost perpetually find that they lack some (often, much) of the information infallible to address questions such those about the pervasiveness of IT and its effect. These gaps simply do not allow us to bond firm conclusions about the effect of IT. For example, research exploring the micro-level link between IT and economic performance may not of all time be able to separate the role of IT from other related but unobserved characteristics of the plant.Well-managed plants may use IT as one of many tools to achieve performance goals. If we have information about IT, but not about m anagement practices, the research may portion performance effects to IT that really are due to good management. Estimating plant-level relationships among computers, computer networks, and productivity also is hard to do with existing data because many of the most important conceptswhat a business produces (output), and all the factors it uses to make its product (such as labor, capital, energy, etc. cognize as inputs), as well as IT itselfare tall(prenominal) to define, and data based on these concepts are hard to collect. 32 Continuing research on these concepts leads to improve- For example, researchers in several countries are using the onset taken by U. S. researchers (Atrostic and Nguyen 2002), and using its findings as the benchmark against which they are comparing research findings using their own countries data. B. K. Atrostic, P. Boegh-Nielsen, K. Motohashi, and S. Nguyen, Information Technology, Productivity, and Growth in Enterprises Evidence from New International M icro Data, Lacutalite economique (forthcoming 2004).A large literature lays out major data gaps in estimating the impact of information technology on economic performance. For example, conferences conducted by the NBER collection on Research in Income and wealth (CRIW) addressing capital and labor measurement over the last 20 years include D. Usher, The cadence of Capital (NBER CRIW the great unwashed 45 (Chicago University recommend, 1980)) J. Triplett, The Measurement of Labor Cost (NBER CRIW Volume 48 (Chicago University Press, 1983)) and C. Corrado, J. Haltiwanger, and D. Sichel, touchstone Capital in the New 32 31 0 76 DIGITAL ECONOMY 2003 ments in what statistical agencies collect, but a dynamical and evolving economy continually presents new challenges. plane when concepts are well defined, it is costly for statistical agencies to collect data and for respondents to provide the requested information. As a result, some key information needed for analysis may not be coll ected often or at all. Examples include information such as the number of computers and computer networks that businesses have, how they use them, and how much businesses invest in computers and other IT.The divergent findings in the resulting empirical literature on the effects of IT are likely related to these data gaps, and to differences in the techniques researchers use to try to deal with them. 33 One way to improve the micro data available for research would be by better integrating aggregate economic indicators and their fundamental micro data. It presently is not always easy to reconcile movements in the aggregate statistics with changes observed in the micro data. center indicators often are constructed from multiple micro data sources, and different sources of data for any concept (such as employment or payroll) may disagree. store more of the data underlying aggregate statistics in ways that enrich their tax as micro data, such as using vernacular sampling frames and keeping information that allows linkage of same economic unit over time and across surveys, would improve both the micro data and our ability to understand changes in the aggregate economic indicators. induction Micro data research conducted in the United States and in OECD countries shows that IT is related to economic performance and productivity. too-careful research also shows that the relationships are complex.IT emerges as a multilateral factor. The kind of IT that is used and how it is used appear to matter in many (but not all) settings, including the ownership structure of trucking markets, the relative dynamism of retailing, and the relative risk taking and innovativeness of manufacturing sectors across countries. At the same time, the use of IT alone does not appear to be enough to affect economic performance. When researchers have information about the characteristics of businesses, workers, jobs, and markets, they find that IT appears to work instead in tandem w ith those factors. providence (NBER CRIW Volume 65 (Chicago University Press, forthcoming)). A series of meetings of international experts, know as the capital of Australia Group, addressed capital measurement issues during the late 1990s (http// unstats. un. org/unsd/methods/citygroup/capitalstock. htm). An gauzy manual describing how to exercise productivity disposed considerable text to issues in measuring capital can be found in P. Schreyer, measuring stick Productivity Measurement of Aggregate and Industry-Level Productivity GrowthOECD manual of arms (Paris OECD 2001). meter nonphysical capital, potentially important in both IT and non-IT capital, received much attention deep (see for example B. Lev, Intangibles Management, Measurement, and report (Brookings Institution Press 2001)). 33 See, for example, Dedrick et al. (2003) D. Pilat, 2003 B. K. Atrostic, J. Gates, and R. Jarmin, 2000, Measuring the Electronic scrimping Current spatial relation and Next Steps, Working Paper CES-WP-00-10, pith for Economic Studies, U. S. office of the Census, Washington DC and J. Haltiwanger, and R.Jarmin (2000), Measuring the digital miserliness, in E. Byrnjolfsson and B. Kahin (eds. ), ground the Digital Economy (MIT Press 2000). 77 DIGITAL ECONOMY 2003 Separating out the effect of IT remains concentrated because the analysis requires detailed information, and requires it for multiple periods. However, such detailed and repeated information is rare. to the highest degree business micro data contain only the information needed to purpose important economic indicators. The micro data are most sparse for the sectors outside manufacturingthe most IT-intensive sectors. more than definitive research on the impact of IT requires that producing micro data sets becomes a statistical agency priority. 78 DIGITAL ECONOMY 2003 Appendix 5. A. Conducting Micro Data Research on the Impact of IT THE CENTER FOR ECONOMIC STUDIES, U. S. CENSUS confidence The centralise fo r Economic Studies (CES) is a research unit of the Office of the Chief Economist, U. S. Bureau of the Census, established to abet and support the analytic needs of researchers and decision makers throughout government, academia, and business. CES currently operates eight Research Data Centers (RDCs) throughout the United States.RDCs tour qualified researchers dependant access to occult economic data collected by the Census Bureau in its surveys and censuses. CES and the RDCs conduct, facilitate, and support research using micro data to increase the utility and quality of Census Bureau data products. The best way for the Census Bureau to assess the quality of the data it collects, edits, and tabulates is for knowledgeable researchers to use micro records in stern analyses. Each micro record results from dozens of decisions about definitions, classifications, cryptograph rocedures, processing rules, edit rules, disclosure rules, and so on. Analyses test the severity of all th ese decisions and divulge the datas strengths and weaknesses. Research projects at CES and its RDCs are examining how facets of the electronic economy affect productivity, growth, business organization, and other aspects of business performance using both new data collected specifically to provide new information about IT, and existing data. Projects using existing Census Bureau micro data on businesses include McGuckin et al. 998 Dunne, Foster, Haltiwanger and Troske, 2000 Stolarick 1999 and Doms, Jarmin, and Klimek, 2002). Research making use of the new 1999 supplement to the Annual Survey of Manufactures linked to existing Census Bureau micro data include Atrostic and Gates 2001 Atrostic and Nguyen 2002 Haltiwanger, Jarmin, and Schank 2002 and Bartelsman et al. 2002. Research findings from many of these projects are discussed in this chapter. The research also helps the Census Bureau assess what current data collections can say about the electronic economy so that we can more e fficiently allocate resources to any new measurement activities.More information about CES, RDCs, requirements for access to data, and examples of research produced at the RDCs is at http//www. ces. census. gov/ces. php/home. DATA SOURCES AT CES Researchers at CES and the RDCs built, and use, a longitudinal data set linking manufacturing plants over time. The data are based on surveys and economic censuses, and contain detailed data on shipments and factors used to produce them, such as materials and labor, as well as characteristics of the plant, such as whether it exports. Recent CES research broadens the range of available micro data beyond manufacturing.A new micro data set, the Longitudinal Business Database, currently contains the instauration of all U. S. business establishments with paid employees from 1976 to present. It allows researchers to examine entry and exit, gross job flows, and changes in the structure of the U. S. economy. The LBD can be used alone or in partici pation with other Census Bureau surveys at the establishment 79 DIGITAL ECONOMY 2003 and firm level. In addition, micro data from surveys and censuses of the retail, wholesale, and some service sectors is now fitting available.The field Employer Survey, conducted by the Census Bureau for the National Center on the educational Quality of the Workforce, collects detailed information about work practices, worker training, and the use of computers. dependant access to secluded data from the survey is available to qualified researchers through the RDCs. Information about the National Employer Survey can be found at http//www. census. gov/econ/overview/mu2400. html. PUBLIC-USE DATA This chapter also refers to research conducted using two other sets of micro data collected by the Census Bureau.The Current Population Survey ( cps) is a survey of households that is collected by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPS periodically collects information about peoples u se of computers at work and at home. More information can be found at http//www. census. gov/ nation/www/socdemo/computer. html. The Truck Inventory and Use Surveys collect information about on-board trip computers and electronic fomite management systems as part of the Census of conveyancing. Information about the Census of Transportation can be found at http//www. census. gov/econ/www/tasmenu. html. 80