From 1970 through 1991, the United States led other OECD countries in overall labor productivity, a key measure of national competitiveness. During this period, labor productivity in these countries converged, both towards the mean OECD labor productivity and the U.S. level of labor productivity.

Since 1984, the U.S. telecommunications services industry has experienced profound changes caused by deregulation and rapid technological change. Competition now exists in almost all segments of the domestic industry. Local services, the only sector of the industry that remains monopolistic, currently face the prospect of increased competition as changes in technology and law enable various...

Service Industries and Economic Performance addresses three questions that have troubled economists for more than a decade: whether service-oriented economies can sustain high rates of output growth; whether they can generate large numbers of good jobs; and whether they can compete effectively in global markets.

This study assesses the widely-held belief that manufacturing industries are uniquely important to the process of national economic growth. The study’s related purpose is to describe structural changes in the U.S. manufacturing sector and the organization of U.S. manufacturing firms that are helping to determine the pace of economic growth and the creation of economic opportunity. Taken together...

This paper evaluates several well-known empirical studies of the cost-effectiveness of the research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit. Studies of the credit's effect during 1981-1985 generally find weak evidence of cost-effectiveness. However, more recent studies focusing on a longer period conclude that the tax credit has induced an increase in R&E spending by an amount that is significantly...

This report on technology adoption patterns and performance characteristics in a sample of several thousand U.S. manufacturing plants sheds new light on the ways in which technology is associated with growth. The report summarizes a more detailed study to be released later that finds patterns of technology adoption to be enormously diverse. Nonetheless, dispersion of advanced technologies appears...

Previous research shows that both exporting and the use of advanced technologies independently enhance the performance of U.S. manufacturing plants in a variety of ways. The research presented below shows that plants that both export and use advanced technology outperform other plants in a number of important ways: they increase their employment more rapidly, they pay higher wages and they are...

Previous research shows that both exporting and the use of advanced technologies independently enhance the performance of U.S. manufacturing plants in a variety of ways. The research presented below shows that plants that both export and use advanced technology outperform other plants in a number of important ways: they increase their employment more rapidly, they pay higher wages and they are...