{"product_id":"2940149035946","title":"Main Street in the Digital Age: How Small and Medium-Sized Businesses Are Using the Tools of the New Economy","description":"Robust investment in information technology (IT) played a major role in the acceleration of output\u003cbr\u003eand productivity growth from 1996 to 2000. Until now, however, very little was known about the\u003cbr\u003eextent to which small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) were taking part in the digital economy.\u003cbr\u003eThis report examines new evidence of how small and medium-sized businesses are faring in the\u003cbr\u003enew economy—their IT investment, their online activities, and the computer experience of their\u003cbr\u003eemployees. \u003cbr\u003eSmall businesses are indeed investing in and using the tools of the new economy. Small and\u003cbr\u003emedium-sized firms invest about a quarter of their total capital expenditures on computers and\u003cbr\u003ecommunications equipment. A Federal Reserve Board study found that over 70 percent of small\u003cbr\u003eand medium-sized firms use computers in their businesses and our best evidence from a\u003cbr\u003ecombination of Census and private sector data suggests that a majority of SMEs are also Internet\u003cbr\u003esubscribers. \u003cbr\u003eYet, the evidence also shows that while SMEs and larger firms spend roughly the same proportion\u003cbr\u003eof their investment budget on IT, SMEs invest less on a per employee basis. In two IT categories,\u003cbr\u003ecomputers and communications, enterprises with more than 500 employees invested roughly\u003cbr\u003e$8,700 per employee in 1998, those with between 100 and 499 employees $3,700, and those with\u003cbr\u003efewer than 100 employees less than $2,500. As a result, firms with more than 500 employees\u003cbr\u003einvested twice as much per worker in IT as the 100 to 499 group and four times as much as the\u003cbr\u003ebelow 100 employee firm.","brand":"ReadCycle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47067939045616,"sku":"2940149035946","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940149035946_p0.jpg?v=1763711367","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940149035946","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}