Information Technology, Productivity, and Asset Ownership: Evidence from Taxicab Fleets
研究了出租车公司采用计算机调度系统后，如何导致车队自有车辆比例增加（约12%），表明生产率提升会推动纵向一体化，即使没有资产专用性。
We develop a simple model that links the adoption of a productivity-enhancing technology to increased vertical integration and a less skilled workforce. We test the model’s key prediction using novel microdata on vehicle ownership patterns from the Economic Census during a period when computerized dispatching systems were first adopted by taxicab firms. Controlling for time-invariant firm-specific effects, firms increase the proportion of taxicabs under fleet ownership by 12% when they adopt new computerized dispatching systems. An instrumental variables analysis suggests that the link between dispatching technology and vertical integration is causal. These findings suggest that increasing a firm’s productivity can lead to increased vertical integration, even in the absence of asset specificity.