The Economics of Knowledge

September 2006
6 x 9, 287 pp., 12 illus.
$19.00/£14.95 (PAPER)
Short

ISBN-10:
0-262-56223-5
ISBN-13:
978-0-262-56223-2

Cloth (2004)

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The Economics of Knowledge
Dominique Foray

Table of Contents and Sample Chapters

The economics of knowledge is a rapidly emerging subdiscipline of economics that has never before been given the comprehensive and cohesive treatment found in this book. Dominique Foray analyzes the deep conceptual and structural transformation of our economic activities that has led to a gradual shift to knowledge-intensive activities. This transformation is the result of the collision of a longstanding trend—the expansion of knowledge-based investments and activities—with a technological revolution that radically altered the production and transmission of knowledge and information. The book focuses on the dual nature of the economics of knowledge: its emergence as a discipline (which Foray calls "the economics of knowledge") and the historical development of a particular period in the growth and organization of economic activities ("the knowledge-based economy").

The book, which alternates between analysis of the economic transformation and examination of the tools and concepts of the discipline, begins by discussing "knowledge" as an economic good and the historical development of the knowledge-based economies. It then develops a conceptual framework for considering the issues raised. Topics considered in the remaining chapters include forms of knowledge production, codification and infusion, incentives and institutions for the efficient production of knowledge (including discussions of private markets and "open" sources), and knowledge management as a new organizational capability. Finally, the book addresses policy concerns suggested by the uneven development of knowledge across different sectors and by the need to find ways of reclaiming the public dimension of knowledge from an essentially privatized knowledge revolution.

About the Author

Dominique Foray holds the Chair in Economics and Management of Innovation and is Director of the College of Management of Technology at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He is the author of The Economics of Knowledge (MIT Press, 2004).

"Despite frequent reference to the knowledge-based economy, there is little common understanding about what makes it work and how knowledge differs from conventional economic resources. In The Economics of Knowledge, Dominique Foray gives us a rich, pioneering account of the special economic characteristics of knowledge, how they challenge business management and strategy, and, especially important, implications for public policies toward education, research, and intellectual property."
—Brian Kahin, Visiting Professor, University of Michigan, former Senior Policy Analyst, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

"Dominique Foray is to be congratulated for producing the first full-blown text on the economics of knowledge. This wide ranging, interesting, and valuable book will surely be the touchstone by which other studies are judged. Foray focuses hard on knowledge itself, not information or data, and by doing so has produced an original and much needed study."
—Larry Prusak, Distinguished Scholar, Babson College

"Foray has put together a masterly and much-needed book on the economics of knowledge that brings in ideas from law, management, and sociology. The result is a definitive and overarching statement of what we know and where we next need to go."
—Danny Quah, Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science

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