In this paper we discuss two propositions: the supply and demand of knowledge, and network externalities. We outline the characteristics that distinguish knowledge-intensive industries from the general run of manufacturing and service businesses. Knowledge intensity and knowledge specialisation...

This chapter is concerned with the ‘new’ world of information technology and knowledge intensity. This is a world marked by big investments in R&D, different cost structures and significantly changed demand conditions. You should read this chapter in conjunction with Chapter 19, which deals...

Taking a largely empirical approach this paper addresses the global spread of new technologies by defining two diffusion margins – the extensive, referring to the spreading of first use across economies and the intensive, referring to the intensity of use within economies. Using data relating...

We have witnessed a large increase in the number of publications on sustainability challenges over the past decade. One important characteristic of the research is with the wide variety of actors that can make use of the results. Sustainability knowledge is often not only relevant for those in...

In terms of the number of its patent applications, in 2012 China has emerged as the country with the largest IP office in the world. The performance of the Chinese IP system is thus increasingly in the spotlight. While significant economic studies have been devoted to the rise of domestic...

This paper discusses the state of innovation in the Egyptian information technology sector (IT) and the corresponding role of intellectual property (IP). The Egyptian ICT sector is an important contributor to economic growth and employment. Having established itself as a leading supplier of ICT...

We report the short-term results from a randomized evaluation of a mobile phone literacy and numeracy program (Project ABC) in Niger, in which adult literacy students learned how to use mobile phones as part of a literacy and numeracy class.  Students in ABC villages showed substantial gains in...

Indian economic development in the recent period has attracted both favourable and unfavourable attention abroad. The development community including academics and activists regards the record of the Indian economy during the last twenty years as being extremely good by international standards....

While we have been preoccupied with the latest i-gadget from Apple and with Google's ongoing expansion, we may have missed something: the fundamental transformation of whole firms and industries into giant information-processing machines. Today, more than eighty percent of workers collect and...

We live in an “Information Age” of overabundant data and lightning-fast transmission. Yet although information and knowledge represent key factors in most economic decisions, we often forget that data, information, and knowledge are products created and traded within the knowledge economy....