Enterprise E-commerce

Measurement of e-commerce in the United Kingdom, which started in 2001, has moved from assessment of usage by firms to analysis of its economic effects on firm performance. The programme of work at ONS has so far focused on analysis aspects of the technology adoption process which affect ability to identify performance effects, and the productivity and market efficiencies which can be detected from large scale surveys. This chapter brings together evidence from three UK sources, the enterprise e-commerce survey, the annual business inquiry and monthly producer price inquiries over the period 2000-2001. Despite the high levels of turbulence and change in electronic markets over this period, productivity modelling shows significant gains (and some losses) associated with electronic network use. The evidence suggests that some of these are related to the impact which e-procurement has on market prices...