•We assess the productivity effects of R&D and ICT in a sample of nineteen industries in fourteen OECD countries between 1973 and 2007.•We identify four channels of transmission: input accumulation, technological change, technical efficiency and spillovers.•ICT has reduced technical inefficiency and generated inter-industry spillovers.•R&D has raised technical change and generated spillovers within sectors.•Over the time frame of our analysis ICT and R&D explain the 95% of TFP growth in the OECD area. This study explores the channels through which technological investments affect productivity performance of industrialized economies. Using a Stochastic Frontier Model (SFM) we estimate the productivity effects of R&D and ICT for a large sample of OECD industries between 1973 and 2007, identifying four channels of transmission: input accumulation, technological change, technical efficiency and spillovers. Our results show that ICT has been particularly effective in reducing production inefficiency and in generating inter-industry spillovers, while R&D has raised the rate of technical change and favoured knowledge spillovers within sectors. We also quantify the contribution of technological investments to output and total factor productivity growth documenting that R&D and ICT accounted for almost 95% of productivity growth in the OECD area.