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 congradulated 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
This is a very important and creative book, in which Foray makes a strong case that the economics of knowledge is an important discipline in microeconomics. He synthesizes several strains of research to create a clear vision of a general scientific program in that field, and identifies a core of hypotheses (that knowledge is a public good, that learning-by-doing is a joint product) as important to further progress. He also articulates a central objective for the discipline: To understand the functioning of socioeconomic institutions that can be relied upon to produce and use knowledge efficiently.
Eric von Hippel, Sloan School of Management, MIT
