Let's switch to the cloud: Cloud usage and its effect on labor productivity
利用2014和2016年德国企业数据，研究云使用对劳动生产率的影响，发现云使用显著提升大型企业（尤其是制造业）的劳动生产率，但对小企业无显著效果。
The advent of cloud computing promises to improve the way firms use IT solutions. Firms are expected to replace large and inflexible fixed-cost investments in IT with more targeted, variable spending on cloud solutions. This is also expected to increase firms' productivity by allowing them to quickly adapt their IT infrastructure to their specific needs. We assess this claim using firm-level data provided by the German statistical offices for the years 2014 and 2016, which allows us to observe who the cloud users are. Our analysis explicitly accounts for self-selection into cloud usage within an endogenous treatment regression framework. Municipal broadband availability is used as a plausible exogenous shifter for cloud usage. We show that cloud usage significantly improves labor productivity for large firms, particularly in manufacturing, but we find no effect for small firms. • Cloud computing enables firms to replace inflexible IT investments with flexible, usage-based spending, potentially boosting productivity. • The study uses data on a representative sample of German firms for 2014 and 2016. • Larger firms, those with IT staff, online sales, or in municipalities with good broadband, are more likely to use cloud solutions. • Results indicate that cloud use increases productivity, but predominantly for large firms, regardless of the sector. • OLS estimations that ignore the endogeneity of cloud usage are biased downward and provide only a lower bound on its potential benefits.