This paper uses new micro-level US data to re-examine productivity leadership in cotton spinning c. 1900. We find that output aggregation problems make the Census unreliable in this industry, and that Lancashire, not New England was the productivity leader for almost every type of yarn. This is true both for the operation of a given machinery type, and when comparing machinery typical in each c...

We investigate whether the reengineering efforts of companies to leverage potential benefits of using Information Technology (IT) in their business processes improve their productivity and overall firm performance. We analyze firm-level data that covers the period between 1984 and 2004 using a panel data model. We employ standard variables for measuring firm productivity and performance, includ...

Labour productivity distribution (dispersion) is studied both theoretically and empirically. Superstatistics is presented as a natural theoretical framework for productivity. The demand index κ is proposed within this framework as a new business index. Japanese productivity data covering small-to-medium to large firms from 1996 to 2006 is analyzed and the power-law for both firms and workers is...

This study provides a test of the human capital interpretation of the experience-earnings profile. Does the upward sloping portion of the experience-earnings profile reflect on-the-job training which in turn causes the experienceproductivity profile to slope upwards, or do purely contractual factors determine the nature of life-cycle earnings? Devising tests that would distinguish between the h...