Abstract
The impacts of the evolving information technology (IT) on organisations, markets, industries, and economies have been researched intensively. Aspects studied have included productivity, employment, business value, markets, organisation, and industry structure, to name a few. With the increasing availability of panel data spanning longer periods, it is now possible to study the relatively longerterm effects of IT and its role in industry coalescence and the reshaping of industry boundaries. This exploratory study develops the novel and less understood concept of industry coalescence by examining the effects of IT on industry profiles and the shifting industry boundaries over the 22-year period from 1980-2002 covering three economic cycles, using both econometric and clustering techniques. Our results point to a strong tendency for several industries such as finance, communications, culture, hospitality, and wholesale and retail to coalesce into a common “service” profile while traditional industries such as agriculture, mining, and manufacturing reflect no such movement.
Recommended Citation
Poon, Simon; Davis, Joseph; and Peters, Georg, "Convergence or coalescence?Information technology and the reshaping of industry boundaries" (2006). ECIS 2006 Proceedings. 170.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2006/170