This article is based on a study by Bart van Ark, Robert Inklaar and Robert H. McGuckin (2002a), "Changing Gear: Productivity, ICT and Service: Europe and the United States," Research Memorandum GD60, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (downloadable from http://www.eco.rug.nl/ggdc).

The contemporary framework for productivity measurement presented in this volume focuses on the impact of information technology on economic growth. The remarkable behavior of information technology prices provides the key to the resurgence of productivity growth in the USA and the world economy.

The outstanding economic performance of East Asian countries has been investigated in numerous studies. However, most comparative studies analyze macro-level productivity. In this book, the productivity performance of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States are compared at industry...