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Research on the Effects of Fiscal Stimulus

The Spring 2008 CSIP Symposium focused on the effects of fiscal stimulus, with presentations by experts in the subject.

Recent Trends in Economic Volatility: Sources and Implications

The 2007 CSIP Conference, which focused on recent trends in economic volatility, was held on November 2-3.
Program and papers

The Economics of Private Equity Investments


CSIP Symposium looking at Private Equity Acquisitions, with presentations by key academic and industry experts.


Prospects for Productivity Growth

John Fernald, David Thipphavong and Bharat Trehan begin to answer the question of whether the slowdown in productivity growth since mid-2004 is just a "pause" in the boom that started in the mid-1990s or a shift back to the growth rates seen in the 1970s and 1980s.Will Fast Productivity Growth Persist?

New Regional Data Resources

State data on output and productivity are available on the CSIP Data and Charting page for 1977-2005. State-industry breakdowns by NAICS (1998-2005) and SIC (1977-1997) also are available.

Prospects for Productivity

Although productivity growth has slowed of late, FRBSF President, Janet Yellen says she is reasonably optimistic about its future. Learn more in The U.S. Economic Outlook, remarks presented at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Stopgap Measure or Lasting Change?

Have the extraordinary gains in productivity in recent years been temporary or more permanent? Mary Daly and Fred Furlong argue that the gains have been lasting and are unlikely to be unwound as the economy adds jobs,

Prospects for IT investment

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Mark Doms argues that while continued advances in IT should help push up investment in IT goods and services, we are unlikely to see a return to the double digit growth rates of IT investment witnessed in the late 1990s. Learn more in IT Investment: Will the Glory Days Ever Return?

The Computer Evolution

The labor market advantage that computer use confers on skilled workers is often cited as a source of rising wage gaps in the United States. Rob Valletta finds otherwise, in The Computer Evolution: Diffusion and the U.S. Wage Distribution, 1984-2003.

Shaping the Economy

The remarkable strength of productivity growth has been a hallmark of the U.S. economy in recent years. The prospects for continued innovation and heightened productivity growth are important to all of us. Together they set the path for improvements in our economic well-being. Learn more in "Shaping the Economy" by Fred Furlong.

R&D Productivity: The case of pharmaceuticals

Do knowledge spillovers really matter for productivity? Yes, according to Margaret Kyle and her colleagues. They find that pharmaceutical firms benefit from local scientific expertise.

Economic Review 2004

The 2004 issue of the Economic Review features articles on CSIP topics: IT boom and bust and IT productivity growth.


City or Country: Where Do Businesses Use the Internet

Are there big differences in Internet use among urban and rural firms? Not really, according to Chris Forman, who finds that basic internet technology is widely dispersed among both urban and rural businesses.

The Productivity-Jobs Connection

If higher productivity growth allows firms to shed workers, how can it raise wages and living standards? The answer is in the timing. Carl Walsh discusses the long and short run in the productivity-jobs connection.

CSIP November Conference

CSIP held its inaugural conference on "Technology, Productivity, and Public Policy" in November 2003. Martin Baily, Institute for International Economics gave the keynote address.

IT Sector Gains Momentum

CSIP Tech Digest shows demand for computers and communications equipment strengthened in recent months. The pickup rippled through the IT supply chain, boosting sales of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Are We Running Out of New Ideas? A Look at Patents and R&D

The decline in the number of patents produced per R&D dollar has raised concerns about our ability to support ongoing technological change. CSIP economist, Dan Wilson, however, finds that we are not running out of new ideas.