Advancements in productivity in the digital economy constitute an important engine for economic growth. What drives productivity dynamics in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector? This study examines the productivity dynamics of ICT firms across countries from the perspective of corporate balance sheets. We study the effects of intangible assets and leverage on productivity growth using firm-level panel data from five industrialized countries. We find that intangible assets positively affect the total factor productivity in the ICT sector. The positive effect of intangible assets on total factor productivity growth is larger for ICT manufacturing firms than for ICT service firms. We also find that leverage has a positive relationship with total factor productivity development in the ICT sector. In addition, our empirical results substantiated that productivity is catching up to the technological frontier. Furthermore, larger firms and/or younger firms generally show higher total factor productivity growth than their peers. Economies of scale are more prominent in the ICT service sector than in the ICT manufacturing sector. Our findings contribute to the understanding of cross-country productivity dynamics in the ICT sector at the firm level in the digital economy.

数字经济中生产力的提高是经济增长的重要引擎。是什么推动信息和通信技术（ICT）部门的生产率动态变化？这项研究从公司资产负债表的角度考察了各国信息通信技术企业的生产率动态。我们使用来自五个工业化国家的公司级面板数据研究了无形资产的影响和对生产率增长的影响。我们发现无形资产对ICT行业的全要素生产率产生了积极影响。信息通信技术制造公司的无形资产对全要素生产率增长的积极影响要大于信息通信技术服务公司。我们还发现，杠杆作用与ICT部门的全要素生产率发展具有正相关关系。此外，我们的经验结果证实了生产力正在赶上技术前沿。此外，大型公司和/或较年轻的公司通常显示出比同业更高的全要素生产率增长。信息通信技术服务部门的规模经济比信息通信技术制造部门更为突出。我们的发现有助于在数字经济的企业层面上了解ICT行业的跨国生产率动态。