Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-96) and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. Deriving New Economy Data at the Industry Level -- 3. Industry Origins of the US Productivity Accelerations and Germany's Productivity Slump -- 4. ICT Intensity and Productivity Growth: An International Comparison -- 5. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Productivity: Software Investments as the Decisive Driver -- 6. Education and ICT Investment Complementarities -- 7. Industry Productivity, R&D Intensity, and ICT Investment

"Theo S. Eicher and Thomas Strobel present an industry-level account of the recent changes in German productivity growth and compare the trends to Europe and the US. The specific focus is on how differential investments in information and communication technologies (ICT) affected the economic performance of these economies. Not all industrialized countries shared the economic fortunes that ICT presented to the US economy. While the US experienced successive accelerations in its trend growth in 1995 and again in 2000, Germany experienced dual reductions in labor productivity growth. Some European economies fared better and others even worse than Germany. Since productivity is the ultimate determinant of living standards, the authors examine the sources of these productivity differentials. They also present a new German growth accounting database that utilizes unique ICT investment data, sourced directly from the industries, to place their findings into an international context."--Publisher's website.