ICT and workplace reorganisation

ICT and workplace reorganisation

Period: 01.05.2001 – 30.11.2002

In the literature, there is a controverse discussion on the productivity effects of information- and communication technologies (ICT). Some recent studies hint at the relationship between ICT and workplace reorganization. Together, they can have positive impacts on labor productivity. The project deals with the effects of organizational changes such as enhanced team work or flattened hierarchies on firms labor productivity allowing for a simultaneous relationship between these two variables. Empirical evidence is given for the business-related services sector. The results show that workplace reorganization in the form of enhanced group-work and flattening of hierarchies neither leads to significant changes in the partial output elasticities of ICT-investment, non-ICT-investment and labor nor in the returns to scale.Kernel density estimates of the log-labor productivitydistribution, conditional on the choice whether or not toreorganize workplaces, show that workplace organizational changeinduces a positive and significant shift in the distribution oflabor productivity for firms that reorganize workplaces. Thispoints at strategic complementarities between the various inputfactors and workplace reorganization. The Kernel density estimatesalso do not show gains in labor productivity for those firmswithout organizational change compared to the hypothetical casethat they reorganized workplaces, indicating that firms on averagetake the ´´right decision´´ regarding workplace reorganization.

Project members

Ulrich Kaiser

Ulrich Kaiser

Research Associate

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