Are GDP and Productivity Measures Up to the Challenges of the Digital Economy?
Cite this article as:
Ahmad, Nadim, and Paul Schreyer. 2016. “Are GDP and Productivity Measures Up to the Challenges of the Digital Economy?” International Productivity Monitor, No. 30 (Spring 2016): 4–27. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-30/are-gdp-and-productivity-measures-up-to-the-challenges-of-the-digital-economy/
Abstract
Résumé
Recent years have seen a rapid emergence of disruptive technologies with new forms of intermediation, service provision and consumption, with digitalization being a common characteristic. These include new platforms that facilitate peer-to-peer transactions, such as AirBnB and Uber, new activities such as crowd sourcing, a growing category of the ‘occasional self-employed’ and prevalence of ‘free’ media services, funded by advertising and ‘Big data’. Against a backdrop of slowing rates of measured productivity growth, this has raised questions about the conceptual basis of GDP, and whether current compilation methods are adequate. This article frames the discussion under an umbrella of the Digitalized Economy, covering also statistical challenges where digitalization is a complicating feature such as the measurement of international transactions and knowledgebased assets. It delineates between conceptual and compilation issues and highlights areas where further investigations are merited. The overall conclusion is that, on balance, the accounting framework for GDP looks to be up to the challenges posed by digitalization. Many practical measurement issues remain, however, in particular concerning price changes and where digitalization meets internationalization. “The digital economy now permeates countless aspects of the world economy, impacting sectors as varied as banking, retail, energy, transportation, education, publishing, media or health. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming the ways social interactions and personal relationships are conducted, with fixed, mobile and broadcast networks converging, and devices and objects increasingly connected to form the Internet of Things.” (OECD, 2015a:11) THE DIGITAL ECONOMY 2 is everywhere
Ces dernières années ont vu l’émergence rapide de technologies perturbatrices avec de nouvelles formes d’intermédiation, de prestation de services et de consommation, la numérisation étant une caractéristique commune. Celles-ci comprennent de nouvelles plateformes facilitant les transactions entre pairs, comme AirBnB et Uber, de nouvelles activités comme le financement participatif, une catégorie croissante de « travailleurs autonomes occasionnels » et la prévalence de services médiatiques « gratuits » financés par la publicité et les mégadonnées. Dans un contexte de ralentissement des taux de croissance mesurée de la productivité, cela a soulevé des questions sur les bases conceptuelles du PIB et sur l’adéquation des méthodes actuelles de compilation. Cet article cadre la discussion sous l’ombrelle de l’économie numérique, couvrant également les défis statistiques où la numérisation est un facteur compliquant, comme la mesure des transactions internationales et des actifs fondés sur le savoir.