Impact of IT Investment in Japan: An empirical analysis based on micro-level data (Japanese)

Using firm-level data of the Basic Survey on Business Structure and Activities and ICT Workplace Survey for 1995 and 2007, we examine the trends and the effects of IT investment in Japan. We also investigate the cause for the lack of advancement in the adoption of IT in Japan. Our main findings are summarized as follows. (1) The elasticity of IT ranges from 17% to 18%. (2) Even though IT intensity decreases, IT returns increase. (3) IT investment by Japanese firms has decreased since 2004. This phenomenon is due to IT investment not being linked with complementary assets such as organizational change and training. We find that IT intensity is higher in firms with complementary assets.