Abstract: The development of information technology has become an important factor to enhance regional total factor productivity. Based on Romer′s (2001) “Growth Drag” hypothesis, the paper constructs a new method for measuring regional information poverty, calculates the degree of regional information poverty by using provincial panel data from 2001 to 2013,and analyzes the influence and mechanism of information poverty on regional total factor productivity. The results show that the degree of information poverty will increase with elasticity of labor or capital output and decrease with elasticity of information resources. Under technological neutral conditions, information poverty led to a decrease of 0.1246 percentage points in regional economic growth in 2001-2013. Information poverty significantly reduces regional total factor productivity, which is mainly achieved by reducing regional technological efficiency. Therefore, in order to achieve high-quality economic growth, it is urgent to make up for the shortcomings of regional informatization development to effectively enhance the role of information resources in resource allocation, and then enhance regional total factor productivity.

Key words: growth drag, information poverty, allocation efficiency;total factor productivity(TFP)