PRODUCTIVITY IS THE KEY TO A HEALTHY ECONOMY. AND A HEALTHY POCKETBOOK.

Did accelerated IT investments create the US labor productivity boom of the late 1990s?

New research from the McKinsey Global Institute shows that IT was only one of several factors at work—and that, in a handful of competitive industries, the most important cause was managerial innovation, that was sometimes (but not always) aided by technology.

Many of the innovations underlying the acceleration will continue to generate productivity growth above the long-term trend for the next several years.

Managerial innovations, increased competition (sometimes sparked by regulatory change), and cyclical demand factors were the most important direct causes.