Measuring Economic Externalities of IT and R&D

We measure and compare externalities of IT and R&D capital stocks in different Korean industry sectors using inter-industry input-output tables of 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000. We also compute the multiplier effects that relate to the directions of future economic effects. The key findings are as follows. First, we observed continuous capital deepening in all nine industries over the period of 1985 to 2000. Second, the backward multipliers of IT capital were the highest in the manufacturing industry. As for inter-industry externalities, the indirect backward multipliers, which exclude intra-industry backward multiplier effects within the industry, were also the highest in the manufacturing industry. Third, the forward multiplier effects of IT capital stock were the most substantial in the construction industry during the 1980s and in the manufacturing industry thereafter. Finally, using the transition multiplier matrix reflecting the backward effects of the two capitals in the past, the economic backward effects, especially the external economic effects, are predicted to increase through 2010 among all industries. The above findings suggest that, in order to maximize the forward and backward effects of the ever-increasing IT capital, we need to formulate an industry policy reducing the cost of capital accumulation in the manufacturing industry through improvement in productivity of the IT industry.