Contributions of IT Investment to Economic Performance

该计划将(1)评估资讯科技投资的效率和成效；(2)识别与通过IT实现更大价值相关的组织和IT管理实践；(3)在学术、商业和政策圈传播结果。这些问题将在公司、工业和国家一级加以解决，根据几个大型、详细的纵向数据库，这些数据库将结合在一起进行比以往更有力的分析。这项研究将包括1980- 1995年间50个国家5到15个行业部门的信息技术数据，以及1990- 1995年间200家美国大公司的数据。现有的数据库将每年更新，并将建立新的数据库。这项研究将揭示信息技术是否、如何以及为什么在全球范围内的使用中对有效性和效率产生影响，有助于澄清我们对众所周知的“生产力悖论”的理解。它将产生一个权威的研究体系，揭示It投资的潜在回报，并阐明利用这些回报的机制。

The project will (1) assess the efficiency and effectiveness of investments in information technology (IT); (2) identify the organizational and IT management practices associated with achieving greater value through IT, and (3) disseminate result in academic, business and policy circles. These issues will be addressed at firm, industry, and country levels, based on several large, detailed, longitudinal databases that will be coupled together for more robust analysis than was heretofore possible. The study will include data on IT in five to 15 industry sectors in 50 countries from 1980-95, and on 200 large US firms for the 1990-95 period. Existing databases will be updated annually, and new databases will be built. The study will shed new light on whether, how, and why IT makes a difference in effectiveness and efficiency across a global spectrum of use, helping to clarify our understanding of the well-known "productivity paradox". It will produce a definitive body of research that uncovers the potential payoffs from IT investment and illuminates the mechanisms by which they can be harnessed.