Machlup, FritzMachlup (1962) recognized the emergence of a knowledge sector and
estimated their participation in the economy. He identified five types
of knowledge industries – education, research and development,
communication media, information machines, and information services –
and collected economic data about them.
From
the beginning, 'The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the
United States' was hailed as a work of ambitious parameters and
outstanding originality.
Drawback: does not distinguish knowledge from information.
Two approaches:
- Industry approach, refering to the share of the putative knowledge industries in the gross national product
- Occupations approach,describing the kind of work is actually done by knowledge workers
Proposes five knowledge industries:- Education
- School education
- Non-school education
- Research and development
- Basic research
- Applied research and development
- Communication media
- Information machines
- Information services
According to Duff (2000), the second approach is sketchy, full of flaws.
The
work of Machlup is pioneering in measuring the economic value of
knowledge. He asserted that the important role of knowledge and
information to economic growth. He includes not only production, but
also dissemination. However, his methodology is subject to criticism.
First, he does not properly distinguish information from knowledge
(Duff, 2000). Second, the inclusion of some sectors is questionable, as
are the methods to measure their economic value.
BibliographyMachlup, F. 1962. The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Duff, A. S. 2000. Information Society Studies. Series Routledge Research in Information Technology and Society. London: Routledge.
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