We investigate the hypothesis that the combination of three related innovations—1) information technology (IT), 2) complementary workplace reorganization, and 3) new products and services — constitute a signi�cant skill-biased technical change affecting labor demand in the United States. Using detailed �rm-level data, we �nd evidence of complementarities among all three of these innovations in factor demand and productivity regressions. In addition, �rms that adopt these innovations tend to use more skilled labor. The effects of IT on labor demand are greater when IT is combined with the particular organizational investments we identify, highlighting the importance of IT-enabled organizational change. I.

Abstract—Recently there has been a surge in econometric work focusing on estimating average treatment effects under various sets of assumptions. One strand of this literature has developed methods for estimating average treatment effects for a binary treatment under assumptions variously described as exogeneity, unconfoundedness, or selection on observables. The implication of these assumptions is that systematic (for example, average or distributional) differences in outcomes between treated and control units with the same values for the covariates are attributable to the treatment. Recent analysis has considered estimation and inference for average treatment effects under weaker assumptions than typical of the earlier literature by avoiding distributional and functional-form assumptions. Various methods of semiparametric estimation have been proposed, including estimating the unknown regression functions, matching, methods using the propensity score such as weighting and blocking, and combinations of these approaches. In this paper I review the state of this

To understand the economic value of computers, one must broaden the traditional definition of both the technology and its effects. Case studies and firm-level econometric evidence suggest that: 1) organizational “investments ” have a large influence on the value of IT investments; and 2) the benefits of IT investment are often intangible and disproportionately difficult to measure. Our analysis suggests that the link between IT and increased productivity emerged well before the recent surge in the aggregate productivity statistics and that the current macroeconomic productivity revival may in part reflect the contributions of intangible capital accumulated in the past.

Abstract not found

This paper investigates the determination and consequences of organizational changes (OC) in a panel of British and French establishments. Organizational changes include the decentralization of authority, delayering of managerial functions and increased multi-tasking. We argue that OC and skills are complements. We offer support for the hypothesis of “skill biased ” organizational change with three empirical findings. First, organizational changes reduce the demand for unskilled workers in both countries. Second, OC is negatively associated with increases in regional skill price differentials (a measure of the relative supply of skill). Third, OC leads to greater productivity increases in establishments with larger initial skill endowments. Technical change is also complementary with human capital, but the effects of OC are not simply due to technological change but have an independent role. Key words, organizational change, skills, technology, panel data. JEL classification: L2, J3, O32

This paper analyzes the productivity of information technology in emergency response systems. "Enhanced 911" (E911) is information technology that links caller identification to a location database and so speeds up emergency response. We assess the impact of E911 on health outcomes using Pennsylvania ambulance and hospital records between 1994 and 1996, a period of substantial adoption. We find that, as a result of E911 adoption, patient health measured at the time of ambulance arrival improves, suggesting that E911 enhances the timeliness of emergency response. Further analysis using hospital discharge data shows that E911 reduces mortality and hospital costs.

suggestions. We are also deeply indebted to the many administrators, scientists, managers, and entrepreneurs who agreed to be interviewed. Martha Cobb and Melissa

Economists have written extensively on this question, often focusing on various types of incentive pay contracts aimed at eliciting greater effort from employees. This theoretical research identifies features of employment relationships that limit the effectiveness of simple piece-rate incentive pay plans and that force managers to consider other forms of incentive pay. In addition, managers introduce other human resource management practices, concerning employee training, hiring criteria, teamwork, job design, and employee hierarchies, that are aimed at eliciting optimal performance (see reviews in Gibbons, 1998; Gibbons and Waldman, 1999; Lazear, 1999; Murphy, 1999; and Prendergast, 1999). Still, without empirical evidence on businesses ’ human resource practices, it will remain an open question whether the theories proposed in “personnel economics [are] real or merely a series of clever models proposed by abstract thinkers who have little contact with reality ” (Lazear, 1999). In this study, we describe a new research approach – an approach we label “insider econometrics ” – that is aimed at producing empirical estimates of the value of alternative human resource management practices. This “insider ” approach goes deep

This paper focuses on the connection between product complexity and vertical integration using original empirical evidence from the auto industry. A rich literature has addressed the choice between internal production and external sourcing ofcomponents in the auto industry. More recent literature has developed the concept ofproduct architecture as another choice variable that may be one ofthe important contributors to product complexity. In this paper, we connect these two important decisions and study them jointly. We use the property rights approach to argue that complexity in product design and vertical integration of production are complements: that in-house production is more attractive when product complexity is high, as firms seek to capture the benefits oftheir investment in the skills needed to coordinate development ofcomplex designs. We test this hypothesis with a simultaneous equations model applied to data from the luxury-performance segment of the auto industry. We find a significant and positive relationship between product complexity and vertical integration. This has implications for optimal incentive structures within firms, as well as for interpreting firm performance.

We analyze empirically the system of allocation of rights and monetary incentives in a sample of automobile franchise contracts. We find that the contracts create an asymmetric assignment of decision rights: while they substantially restrict the decision rights of dealers, they grant manufacturers extensive implementation and enforcement powers, converting the manufacturers, de facto, in a sort of quasi-judiciary instance. We also find that the variation in the system of rights assignment and monetary incentives responds to efficiency considerations. In particular, when the cost of dealer moral hazard is higher and the risk of manufacturer opportunism is lower, manufacturers enjoy larger discretion in both determining the desired performance from the dealers in their network and in using mechanisms such as monitoring, termination and monetary incentives to ensure this performance is provided. We also explore the existence of interdependencies between the different elements of the system. We find that the evidence does not support the conclusion