It Investment and Firm Performance in U.S. Retail Trade

FRB of San Francisco Working Paper No. 2003-19

US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP- 02-14

25 Pages Posted: 27 May 2004

See all articles by Mark E. Doms

Mark E. Doms

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Shawn D. Klimek

U.S. Census Bureau - Center for Economic Studies

Ron S. Jarmin

U.S. Census Bureau

Date Written: November 2003

Abstract

We examine the relationship between investments in information technology (IT) and two measures of retail firm performance: labor productivity and productivity growth over the 1992 to 1997 period. We use untapped firm and establishment micro data from the Censuses of Retail Trade and the Assets and Expenditures Survey. We show that large firms account for most retail IT investment, employment and establishment growth. We find evidence of a significant relationship between IT investment intensity and productivity growth. We found no evidence of a similar link between IT and growth in the number of establishments operated by retail firms.

Keywords: Information technology, retail trade, establishment growth

JEL Classification: O31, L81

Suggested Citation

Doms, Mark E. and Klimek, Shawn D. and Jarmin, Ron S., It Investment and Firm Performance in U.S. Retail Trade (November 2003). FRB of San Francisco Working Paper No. 2003-19, US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP- 02-14, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=550442 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.550442

Mark E. Doms (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco ( email )

101 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Shawn D. Klimek

U.S. Census Bureau - Center for Economic Studies ( email )

4600 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
United States
(301) 763-2861 (Phone)
(301 763-5935 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ces.census.gov

Ron S. Jarmin

U.S. Census Bureau ( email )

4700 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
304
Abstract Views
2,793
Rank
182,307
PlumX Metrics