According to the main theories of the knowledge-based economy (KBE), the recent transformations of capitalism are the origins of a general societal change. Managerial theories consider KBE to be a series of win-win mechanisms that simultaneously favour firms, workers and consumers. The cognitive capitalism theory perceives in the development of cognitive capitalism signs of the formation of a post-capitalist economy. This article discusses the main features of these two theoretical orientations and identifies some core ambivalences in (...) KBE. The relationship between the market and society in KBE is marked by a dialectical process. The former incorporates mechanisms of potential economic valorization generated by informal social relationships. To this end, it must internalize actors, practices and cultures that are partially in conflict with it, given that it must make ever greater attempts to bring the overall process back within the ownership regime. One thus witnesses a reduction of the barriers between firms and society, that can simultaneously engender a more subtle dominance of the former over the latter, or the growth of autonomy, self-organization and peer cooperation among social actors. This second possibility relies entirely upon politics and collective action. (shrink)

Discourse about knowledge-based economies rarely moves beyond the commercialization of science and engineering, and is locked in the discursive limits of functionalism. We argue that these discourses limit the scope of what knowledge-based economies might achieve because they are uninformed by an adequate conception of knowledge. In particular, knowledge management and knowledge-based economy discourse has not included the axiological dimension of knowledge that leads to wisdom. Taking an axiological perspective, we (...) can discuss policy frameworks aimed at producing the social structures needed to bring fully formed and fully functioning knowledge societies into being. We argue that while the dominant discourse of industrial modernity remains rationalist, functionalist, utilitarian and technocratic, knowledge-based economies will resemble a savant rather than a sage. A wisdom-based renaissance of humanistic epistemology is needed to avoid increasing social dysfunction and a lack of wisdom in complex technological societies. (shrink)

This paper presents an empirical account of mediatization from a Bourdieuian perspective, based on the development of a number of new concepts, such as cross-field effects and the rescaling of such effects as linked to processes of globalization. Built on an Australian empirical case relating to educational policy and the knowledge based economy, this paper argues that mediatization can be understood in relation to the cross-field effects of different fields of journalism on subsequent fields, which have (...) their genesis in forms of practice that cross different social fields. Specifically, the case analysis details interactions between the field of print journalism and the field of policy over the course of an Australian science capability review, chaired by the then chief scientist, Dr Robin Batterham, which led to Australia adopting a national version of the knowledge economy. The empirical case also leads us to consider the impact of both global and national fields of journalism on fields of educational policy in relation to mediatization. (shrink)

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The rhetoric surrounding the creation of a 'knowledge-based economy/society' emphasizes the interrelationship between ICTs in knowledge and economic development and their continued trajectory throughout the next century. What, however, is really meant by the KBE/S agenda, and how are the important social issues surrounding KBE/S, including access, content, and citizenship being dealt with? Using Canada as an example, this discussion will focus on how Canadian federal policymakers are conceptualizing the issues surrounding KBE/S through recent and ongoing (...) policy explorations. (shrink)

The video game producers are currently in spotlight of market information services. Successes and huge budgets of such companies attract many readers. However, scientific studies related to this sector do not share the same popularity. A reflection on the source of value in this sector shows that what generates revenues is not disclosed in the report. Great examples are customers’ relationships or the value of employees creating the game code and story of the game. Video games producers sector presents a (...) good combination of business and culture that allows reflection on financial characteristics of knowledge based companies. Prior studies show that market’s valuation takes into account unrecognised assets but capital-intensive character of a production and intangibility of a product and its assets causes problems with exact valuation. In this paper the author asks about the impact of the characteristics on the assessment of a financial condition. The research question in this paper is whether it is possible to use and interpret correctly popular discriminant analysis model for knowledge based entities on the example of video game companies. Results are applicable by analysts and managers of this sector and help to determine the usefulness of this method, but it still depends on assumptions and accounting policies. The reflection presented also broadens the discussion on financialisation because analysed companies can oppose this trend in a specific way. (shrink)

This article deploys a cultural political economy framework to explore New Zealand's "embrace" of globally-sourced knowledge economy discourse. It argues that the diffusion of such knowledge in this locale has been mediated by electoral shifts and rising economic prosperity but in one of the few fields where some level of institutionalization has occurred--higher education--it has been used to increase state control of a highly marketized tertiary sector. The article then discusses the implications of this investigation for (...) researchers in non-metropolitan locales. (shrink)

The Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy has gained prominence as an agricultural R&D agenda of the European Union. Specific research policies are justified as necessary to create a KBBE for societal progress. Playing the role of a master narrative, the KBBE attracts rival visions; each favours a different diagnosis of unsustainable agriculture and its remedies in agro-food innovation. Each vision links a technoscientific paradigm with a quality paradigm: the dominant life sciences vision combines converging technologies with decomposability, while a marginal (...) one combines agro-ecology with integral product integrity. From these divergent visions, rival stakeholder networks contend for influence over research policies and priorities, especially within the Framework Programme 7 on Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology, which has aimed to promote a Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy. Although the FAFB programme has favoured a life sciences vision, agro-ecological approaches have gained a presence, thus overcoming their general lock-out from agricultural research agendas. In their own way, each rival paradigm emphasises the need for collective systems to gather information for linking producers with users, as a rationale for the public sector to fund distinctive research priorities. (shrink)

The wealthiest nations in the World have a knowledge-based economy that depends on continued innovation based on research and development sustained by a pool of problem-solvers able to tackle the most diverse challenges. The Research University is the current gold standard for higher education and the research professors working in such an environment are the key figures responsible of fostering the new generations of problem-solvers.

SSH should response to challenges of the integrating European societies. The EU Lisbon Strategy envisions their future as knowledge-based. Knowledge-based economies ought to be accompanied by knowledge-based societies. Timely task of SSH is to make it possible to achieve society of knowledge and wisdom together. This may save diversity and multicultural values, enabling synergy and universalism.

'Knowledge Capitalism' reveals how the emerging knowledge-based economy is redefining firms, empowering individuals and reshaping learning and work. It provides a practical tool-set for business managers to interpret and manage change.

Is the objective that the European Union set itself in 2000, that is, to be -the most competitive knowledge-based society and economy- by 2010 still realistic? The momentous year has arrived, but it is discouraging to note that very few steps have been made in the direction that was fixed. What has gone wrong? Were the philosophical, epistemological and economic conditions adequate to achieve the desired result? This book the result of a research project commissioned by the (...) European Commission critically investigates the society of knowledge and the way in which the European Union has proceeded towards it, examining first of all the premises and the contributions that the disciplines of Science and Technological Studies can provide. In this way, we have proposed innovative theoretical and epistemological bases for a multidisciplinary approach making use of the Modelling Approach to Science and therefore insisting on the function that human sciences can have for a society of knowledge that hinges not so much on an industrialist scenario, but a humanist one that eschews hyper-specialization and instead privileges creativity, flexibility, imagination and innovation economy.". (shrink)

Everything we do in life involves a connection with information, experience and know-how: together these represent the most valuable of intangible human assets encompassing our history, cultures and wisdom. However, the more easily new technologies gather information, the more we are confronted with our limited capacity to distinguish between what is essential, important or merely ‘nice-to-have’. This article presents the case study of a multilingual Knowledge Management System, the Business enabling e-Platform that gathers and protects tacit knowledge, as (...) the key to developing structured intellectual capital, while acknowledging the urgent need here to integrate Ethics-by-design alongside AI-by-design, in view of the far-reaching consequences involved, for good or ill. It also explains how a beneficial Circular Economy of Knowledge depends on evidence-based answers, and how harmonising taxonomies, terminology and standards promotes global trust as the basis for the unhindered transfer of tacit knowledge between generations in a way that benefits everyone. (shrink)

It is commonplace to say that the modern economy is knowledge based but a moment’s reflection points to the vacuity of this notion. For all economies are knowledge based and could not be otherwise. The question is rather how is one kind of knowledge based economy to be distinguished from another? This essay proposes that the answer may lie in three directions: (1) in terms of the variety of knowledge that is (...) engaged; (2) in terms of the processes by which the production of knowledge is organised, and its corollary the resources devoted to knowledge production and dissemination; and, (3) in terms of the purposes to which knowledge is put. In respect of each of these dimensions, the rise of the modern university as a custodian of knowledge in Western economy and society has been of central importance; but universities are not alone in this role, a wide range of other agencies, private firms, public research laboratories for instance play an important role in defining a knowledge economy and have done so increasingly since the turn of the nineteenth century—a first indication of the systemic dimensions of a modern knowledge economy. (shrink)

The promotion of knowledge economies and societies, equated with the mobile subject as bearer of technological, managerial and cosmopolitan competences, on the one hand, and insecurities about social order and national identities, on the other, have in the past few years led to increasing polarisation between skilled migrants and those deemed to lack useful skills. The former are considered to be bearers of human capital and have the capacity to assimilate seamlessly and are therefore worthy of citizenship; the latter (...) are likely to pose problems of assimilation and dependency due to their economic and cultural ‘otherness’ and offered a transient status and partial citizenship by receiving states. In the European context this trend has been reinforced by the redrawing of European geopolitical space creating new boundaries of exclusion and social justice. The emphasis on the knowledge economy also generates gender inequalities and stratifications based on skills and types of knowledge with implications for citizenship and social justice. (shrink)

This paper outlines and reviews three forms and associated discourses of the 'knowledge economy': the 'learning economy', based on the work of Bengt-Åke Lundvall; the 'creative economy' based on the work of Charles Landry, John Howkins and Richard Florida; and the 'open knowledge economy' based on the work of Yochai Benkler and others. Arguably, these three forms and discourses represent three recent related but different conceptions of the knowledge economy, (...) each with clear significance and implications for education and education policy. The last provides a model of radically non-propertarian form that incorporates both 'open education' and 'open science' economies. (shrink)

This five volume collection brings together a carefully selected array of contributions from a variety of disciplines. Featuring essays from philosophers who have investigated the foundations of knowledge, and addressing different forms of knowledge in society such as common sense and practical knowledge, this collection also discusses the role of knowledge in economic process and gives attention to the role of expert knowledge in political decision making. Including a collection of articles from the sociology of (...) knowledge and science, the set also provides a new introduction and full index by the editors, making it a unique and invaluable research resource for both student and scholar. Coverage includes: 1. Foundations of Knowledge - Knowledge, Experience and Mind - Knowledge and Reality - Knowledge and Skepticism - Knowledge and Ignorance - Knowledge and Uncertainty 2: Knowledge and Society: Forms of Knowledge - Everyday Knowledge - Practical knowledge - Tacit knowledge - Secret Knowledge - Scientific Knowledge - Hermeneutics - Knowledge Construction - Indigenous (traditional) knowledge 3: Knowledge and the Economy - The Economics of Knowledge - Knowledge and Organisations - Knowledge Acquisition - Knowledge Based Systems (firms) - Knowledge Management - Knowledge and Information - Knowledge and Law 4: Politics and Knowledge - Science and Policy-Making - The Power of Ideas and Discourse - The Politics of Knowledge 5: Sociology of Knowledge and Science - Classical Perspectives - Modern Views - Science Studies. (shrink)

Purpose of the article is to partially describe underpinning economics for the circular economy. A circular economy is an advancement from the linear economy which behaves according to the hierarchy of 6R, preferring reuse, remanufacture or recycle solutions insead of disposal. This new approach is a trigger of new business models seeking many times vor various kinds of support from the side of government. However, governmental support is not neither the only option nor the most functional one. (...) Underpinning economics for the circular economy can be based also at market-based tools. What we have in mind under this term for the purspose of this paper is the game in the market being played between buyers and sellers. Methodology: We have analyzed this interaction using game theory tool. The scietific goal of our paper was to suggest a quick market-based solution how to support circular economy business models whilst helping to the society to solve certain social problems. Our findings have led to a newly proposed way, how the current game in pricing could be changed. An emphasis shall be placed on strategies how to rise prices of linear economy products whilst offering wider social benefits to small sellers of such products. The price increase of linear economy products is considered in this paper as a market-based incentive to support recycled, remanufactured ones, whilst circular economy products are becoming more economically feasible in comparison with more expensive linear economy products. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to show in what sense the institutions of the welfare state are key to the struggles that are developing around the debt crisis and against the austerity policies carried out in its name. The first part is dedicated to isolating some elements which contribute to explaining the nature of the current crisis of capitalism and the strategic issues at stake in the policies of expropriation of welfare institutions. The second part emphasizes how, around the (...) question of welfare institutions, the crisis articulates two alternative models of society and regulation of a knowledge-based economy. Within this framework, we will put forward a few lines of analysis in order to think of a different model of development, one which is founded on the ‘Welfare of the Common’ as a new mode of production. (shrink)

The advent of the knowledge economy changes the ways in which firms organize their activities and how they strategize in the market place. This non-technical volume lays the foundations for an analysis of these phenomena. In particular, it shows how 'knowledge-based approaches' in management studies may be complemented by key ideas from the economics of organization. The discussion is both theoretical and empirical.

Throughout history, the generation, exercise, and dissemination of knowledge are fraught with dangers, the root causes of which are traceable to the definition of authority relations. The authors compare Greek myths and Chinese legends, setting the stage for a metarelational analysis of authority relations between teacher and students and between scholar-teachers and political rulers in Confucian-heritage cultures. These two relations are rooted in ideological conservatism. They are related in a higher-order relation or metarelation: Political control and the definition of (...) the teacher-student relationship reinforce each other in consolidating authoritarian values. Thus, ideological conservatism shapes educational philosophy and socialization. It conflicts with present demands for creativity in the service of knowledge-based economies. Hence, a major issue in cultural change to be addressed concerns the dilemma between maintaining authoritarian control and enhancing creativity. (shrink)

Knowledge is one of the most important factors determining the development of global economy and overcoming the present existing inequalities. Humankind needs a fair distribution of the potential of knowledge because its big social problems and difficulties today are due to the existence of deep‐going differences in its possession and use. This paper is an attempt to analyze and present certain philosophical arguments and conceptions justifying cooperative decision‐making in the searching for fair distribution of the benefits of (...) knowledge in the globalized world. Made individually or collectively, these decisions do not worsen the status of anyone ‐ rather they can lead to the use of benefits of knowledge in the interest of all people. A fair distribution of resources and achievements of a knowledge‐based economy is of key importance for the future of humankind. There exist three significant roads to justification of cooperative decisionmaking in a global aspect. The main problem here is that of how to ensure equal access of all members of the global society to benefits of knowledge.In this paper are considered communitarianism, J. Habermas` theory of communicative action and public choice theories. The right to participate in activities of the knowledge society and to share in its wealth is related to the use of social and economic benefits. A distributive justice, including such right, could be based on communitarian political and moral values and principles. Any violation of such principles means existence of social injustice, with lasting consequences, including loss of access to natural goods, such as food and water. (shrink)

Importance of the Small Medium Enterprises sector cannot be overemphasized in the industrial development of a country. 90% of all the enterprises in Pakistan are consisting of Small Medium Enterprises; 80% labor force is employed in non-agriculture sector, Small Medium Enterprises are sharing annually 40% to GDP of the country. However providing huge part in the development of the country Small Medium Enterprises are still encountering with some perilous pitfalls and the survival of the Small Medium Enterprises is getting harder. (...) Now the economy system of the country has been converted from the production based to knowledge-based economy. The review of the previous results pointed out that the twenty first century is the era of technological and intellectual capital and it has added the ultimate importance in the knowledge-based economy. Currently, the economy is based on knowledge-based economy and it is based on the intellectual capital. Therefore, it is difficult for Small Medium Enterprises in Pakistan to transfigure and acquire the concept and applications of intellectual capital in order to counter and mitigate the emerging economics problems. (shrink)

Regulating the Creative Economy Drastic changes have occurred throughout the past century and the world community is struggling to find the exact concepts to describe, understand and, possibly, govern them. One of the concepts used to describe these changes is the so-called "creative economy". Even though the concept is becoming more frequently used, it lacks a precise definition and its meaning remains elusive. Moreover, the proliferation of related concepts, such as the "experience economy", the "cultural economy", (...) the "knowledge-based economy" and the "creative and cultural industries", further obscures its precise scope and meaning. These concepts are, however, no less elusive, particularly because they are of a dual or oxymoronic character, which variably combines aspects of culture, creativity and intellectual creation on the one hand with those of the economy, business, trade and commerce on the other.In sum, the conceptual uncertainties also translate into major difficulties in finding appropriate regulatory responses in the sphere of law. The aim of the present article is therefore to cast light on the meaning of the concept of the creative economy with a view to paving the way for its better and more efficient regulation in the legal sphere. To this end, the first part offers a comprehensive interpretative analysis of the "creative economy" with a view to establishing its value to the present global governance debate. Based on the evidence that designates the creative economy as an evolving concept requiring a multidisciplinary model for the formulation of an adequate approach in law- and policymaking, the second part discusses some of the creative economy's major implications in the sphere of law. In this regard, several regulatory examples appear to advocate the abandonment of the conventional in favour of a more holistic method of regulation. The article concludes with some recommendations that are deemed useful for further debate and research in this area, which ultimately may contribute to the formulation of the kind of creative laws that are needed for the successful regulation of the creative economy in the future. (shrink)

In this paper it is argued that the modern economy, as it transforms itself into a knowledge-based economy, loses much of the immunity from societal influences it once enjoyed, at least in advanced societies. This implies that the boundaries of the economy as a social system become more porous and fluid. Among the traffic that increasingly moves across the system-specific boundaries of the economy, from the opposite direction as it were, are cultural practices and (...) beliefs that were heretofore perceived as alien to taken-for-granted conventions of economic conduct and the kinds of preferences immanent within the economic system. The enlargement of the economy is examined with reference to biotechnological products and processes. I will call these changes the "moralization" or "de-commercialization" of the production and consumption process. The moralization of the market and of production ultimately depends on the growing role of knowledge in economic affairs as well as the exceptional rise in affluence and, in its course, consumer sovereignty. (shrink)

Introduction The paradigm shift to a knowledge‐based economy has incremented the use of personal information applied to health‐related activities, such as biomedical research, innovation, and commercial initiatives. The convergence of science, technology, communication and data technologies has given rise to the application of big data to health; for example through eHealth, human databases and biobanks. Methods In light of these changes, we enquire about the value of personal data and its appropriate use. In order to illustrate the (...) complex ground on which big data applied to health develops, we analyse the current situation of the European Union and two cases: the Catalan VISC+/PADRIS and the UK Biobank, as perspectives. Discussion and conclusions Personal health‐related data in the context of the European Union is being increasingly used for big data projects under diverse schemes. There, public and private sectors participate distinctively or jointly, pursuing very different goals which may conflict with individual rights, notably privacy. Given that, this paper advocates for stopping the unjustified accumulation and commercialisation of personal data, protecting the interests of citizens and building appropriate frameworks to govern big data projects for health. A core tool for achieving such goals is to develop consent mechanisms which allow truly informed but adaptable consent, conjugated with the engagement of donors, participants and society. (shrink)

Richard C. Atkinson’s eight-year tenure as president of the University of California reflected the major issues facing California itself: the state’s emergence as the world’s leading knowledge-based economy and the rapidly expanding size and diversity of its population. As this selection of President Atkinson’s speeches and papers reveals, his administration was marked by innovative approaches that deliberately shaped U.C.’s role in this changing California. These writings tell the story of the national controversy over the SAT and Atkinson’s (...) successful challenge to the dominance of the seventy-five-year-old college entrance examination. They also highlight other issues with national significance: U.C.’s experiments with race-neutral admissions programs; the challenges facing academic libraries and the University’s pioneering activities with the California Digital Library; and the University’s involvement in new paradigms of industry-university research. Together, these speeches and papers open a window on an eventful period in the history of the nation’s leading public research university and the history of American higher education. (shrink)

Knowledge Societies offers both a critical examination of existing social theory, and a new synthesis of social theory with the actual study of knowledge relations in advanced economies. Some of the elements explored are scientization: the penetration not only of production but of most social action by scientific knowledge; the transformation of access to knowledge through higher education; the growth of experts (managers, accountants, advisors, and counselors) and of corresponding institutions based on the deployment of (...) specialized knowledge; and a shift in the nature of societal conflict from struggles about income and property to claims and conflicts about generalized human needs. Nico Stehr's argument amply demonstrates not only that all social theories now need to take into account the changing nature of social relations around knowledge, but also the parameters within which this analysis should take place. This book is essential reading for all those interested in social theory, sociology of knowledge and science, and the general issue of knowledge in the late 20th century. (shrink)

More and more people in China are now realizing that the country has already become a globalizing economy, but some contend that China's economy is still far from being based on knowledge. However, as globalization necessarily brings with it a knowledge economy, China is of necessity involved in the new economy, and has in consequence encountered many new ethical issues. In the first part of the paper some of these issues are discussed – (...) issues of intellectual property protection, issues related to the exploitation of Chinese know‐how and knowledge products by foreign companies, and issues of cultural colonization. These issues are complicated, widespread and novel, and there is a need to develop ethical guidelines to deal with these issues. Although the perspective of the analysis is Chinese, these same problems are faced by countries the world over. (shrink)

Nicholas Vriend asked whether F.A. Hayek was an “ace,” and answered affirmatively. By “ace,” Vriend meant someone who worked with agent-based modeling. To be sure, Hayek could not have worked with agent-based models because that platform did not exist when Hayek was developing his ideas about the distribution and use of knowledge in society. All the same, Vriend explained convincingly that Hayek could have made good use of the agent-based platform had it been available in the (...) 1930s. To similar effect, we argue in this paper that James Buchanan could have made good use of agent-based modeling to carry forward his ideas about the value of taking an emergent approach to the explanation of economic processes. (shrink)

L'usage du monde numérique, et plus particulièrement de l'Internet, crée des traces qui constituent la source de services que les utilisateurs contribuent à personnaliser eux-mêmes. En échangeant leurs favoris, leurs photos, leurs informations de toutes sortes, les utilisateurs révèlent leurs préférences et renforcent l'utilité du service qu'ils sont en train d'utiliser. Une première génération de services s'appuie sur les mécanismes d'une rationalité exploratoire, tirant bénéfice du savoir collectif . Une seconde génération de services va plus loin en utilisant les préférences (...) déclarées pour connecter des individus « qui se ressemblent » . Ces évolutions suggèrent le passage d'une économie de stock à une économie de flux où le bien rare est moins l'information que l'attention nécessaire pour la traiter. Elles ont des conséquences sur la gestion de l'identité numérique des individus et rend de moins opérant la notion juridique de la privacy.Using the digital world, and especially the Internet, generates traces that become the basis for services which are customised by the contributions of users themselves. As they share their favourites, photos and information of all kinds, users not only disclose their preferences but also strengthen the utility of the service they are using. Some first-generation services rely on mechanisms based on exploratory rationality and drawing on collective knowledge . A second type of service goes a step further by using displayed preferences to connect people who are "alike" . These trends suggest a switch from a stock-based economy to a flow-based economy, where the most valuable asset is not information as such but the attention it attracts. These developments are creating issues relating to the management of individual digital identities, and bringing the relevance of the legal notion of privacy into question. (shrink)

The increasing knowledge intensity of jobs, typical of a knowledge economy, highlights the role of firms as integrators of know-how and skills. As economic activity becomes mainly intellectual and requires the integration of specific and idiosyncratic skills, firms need to allocate skills to tasks and traditional hierarchical control results increasingly ineffective. In this work, we explore under what circumstances networks of agents, which bear specific skills, may self-organize in order to complete tasks. We use a computer simulation (...) approach and investigate how local interaction of agents, endowed with skills and individual decision-making rules, may produce aggregate network structure able to perform tasks. To design algorithms that mimic individual decision-making, we borrow from computer science literature and, in particular, from studies addressing protocols that produce cooperation in Peer-to-Peer networks. We found that self-organization depends on the structural features of, formal or informal, organizational networks embedding both professionals, holding skills, and project managers, holding access to jobs. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence researchers interested in knowledge and in designing and implementing digitized artifacts for representing or sharing knowledge play a crucial role in the development of a knowledge-based economy. They help answer the question of how the computer devices they develop can be appropriated by the collectives that manage the flow of knowledge and the know-how underlying human organizations. A dialogical, constructivist view of interaction processes permits theorizing the role of digital tools, seen as (...) sociotechnical devices that serve both as resources and as sources of communication within our organizations. (shrink)

To what extent organized employers and trade unions support social policies is contested. This article examines the case of work-family policies, which have surged to become a central part of the welfare state. In that expansion, the joint role of employers and unions has largely been disregarded in the comparative political economy literature. The article posits that the shift from Fordist to knowledge economies is the impetus for the social partners’ support for WFPs. If women make up an (...) increasing share of high-skilled employees, employers start favoring WFPs to increase their labor supply. Similarly, unions favor WFPs if women constitute a significant part of their membership base. Yet the extent to which changes in preferences translate into policy depends on the presence of corporatist institutions. These claims are supported with statistical analyses of WFPs in eighteen advanced democracies across five decades and an in-depth case study of Norway. The article thus demonstrates that the trajectory of the new welfare state is decisively affected by the preferences and power of unions and employers. (shrink)

Economies - and the government institutions that support them - reflect a moral and political choice, a choice we can make and remake. Since the dawn of industrialization and democratization in the late eighteenth century, there has been a succession of political economic frameworks, reflecting changes in technology, knowledge, trade, global connections, political power, and the expansion of citizenship. The challenges of today reveal the need for a new moral political economy that recognizes the politics in political (...) class='Hi'>economy. It also requires the redesign of our social, economic, and governing institutions based on assumptions about humans as social beings rather than narrow self-serving individualists. This Element makes some progress toward building a new moral political economy by offering both a theory of change and some principles for institutional design. (shrink)

Graphic pattern (e.g. geometric design) and number-based code (e.g. digital sequencing) can store and transmit complex information more efficiently than referential modes of representation. The analysis of the two genres and their relation to one another has not advanced significantly beyond a general classification based on motion-centred geometries of symmetry. This article examines an intriguing example of patchwork coverlets from the maritime societies of Oceania, where information referencing a complex genealogical system is lodged in geometric designs. By drawing (...) attention to the interplay of graphic pattern and number-based code and its role in the knowledge economies of maritime societies, the article offers new insight into possible ways of designing a digital informational surface that captures the behaviour of an operational system, allowing both for differentiation and integration. (shrink)

In a knowledge-based economy, the role of regions is regarded as very significant for creating and dispersing knowledge. Particularly, geographical clusters of firms in a single sub-national region and cross-border regions may contribute to transmitting certain kinds of knowledge between and among firms. In addition, markets prefer to favor specialized firms with a coherent body of knowledge when knowledge creation and the use of new knowledge become increasingly important for maintaining and improving (...) a firm’s competitiveness. This means that regional policy makers may not interfere directly with markets and firms when the process of globalization pushes national economies into a world of learning and innovation because the institutional framework for market exchange favors knowledge exchange in a globalizing economic system. This paper argues how a cross-border cluster in the Öresund region between Denmark and Sweden has been created, and which strategies it focuses on in order to strengthen its competitiveness and to generate a further development that aims to become a global innovative cluster. Moreover, it discuses whether the Nordic cross-border cluster, the Medicon Valley is a unique approach in the EU context or not. Finally, it argues how it has created technology innovation as well as contributed to the regional economic growth. (shrink)

This article explores the management and organisational context for capturing and retaining knowledge transferred through the design process. It is widely acknowledged that our ability to successfully organise and transfer design knowledge is dependant upon the context in which it is situated. However the knowledge generated through the creative process is often viewed from the perspective of the artefact rather the process itself. An understanding of the socially complex knowledge-based resources operating within design groups could (...) enhance competitiveness and organisational development. Yet, a systematic literature review of leading design and educational management journals found limited empirical evidence that shed light on the influence of knowledge management on design group performance. The article addresses this gap in the literature. Based on two in-depth case studies with interior design companies implementing new digital asset management systems over a 2-year period, the paper explores the findings in relation to design practice and policy, alongside implications for the contribution of the creative industries to the knowledge economy. (shrink)

The current study investigates the influence of variety among online providers and customers' access to knowledge on consumer networks, consumer engagement, and sustainable purchasing. Emphasis is on the underlying relationships among these constructs in the digital economy, which has evolved into a complex structure of multifarious nodes and linkages unfolding in the online environment. The underlying theoretical approaches are knowledge-attitude-behavior (KAB) and customer sovereignty. Against this backdrop, a questionnaire-based survey was given to 200 Millennials (i.e., generation (...) Y) and gen Z Italians—approached as empowered stakeholders requiring accurate information and sustainable solutions from online providers—in January 2023. The data was processed via the structural equation modeling technique PLS-SEM, based on SmartPLS 4. The findings indicated that sustainable purchasing is influenced to some extent by access to knowledge, consumer engagement, and consumer networks. The study endeavors to fill a research gap, as the relationships between variety among online providers and sustainable purchasing, as well as consumer engagement from the empowerment perspective are underexplored. The study provides new evidence of the relationships between consumer networks, consumers' access to knowledge, sustainable purchasing, and consumer engagement in the framework of online retail by inquiring respondents. (shrink)

This article conceptualizes the evolution of the German political economy as the codevelopment of technological and institutional change. The notion of skill-biased liberalization is introduced to capture this process and contrasted with the two dominant theoretical frameworks employed in contemporary comparative political economy scholarship—dualization and liberalization. Integrating theories from labor economics, the article argues that the increasing centrality of high skills complementary in production to information and communications technology has weakened the traditional complementarity among specific skills, regulated industrial (...) relations, and generous social protection in core sectors. The liberalization of industrial relations and social protection is shown in fact to be instrumental for high-end exporting firms to concentrate wages and benefits on increasingly important high-skilled workers. Strong evidence based on descriptive statistics, union and industry documents, and twenty-one elite interviews is found in support of the article’s alternative perspective. (shrink)

The collection and dissemination of data on human and nonhuman organisms has become a central feature of 21st-century biology and has been endorsed by funding agencies in the United States and Europe as crucial to translating biological research into therapeutic and agricultural innovation. Large molecular data sets, often referred to as “big data,” are increasingly incorporated into digital databases, many of which are freely accessible online. These data have come to be seen as resources that play a key role in (...) mediating global market exchange, thus achieving a prominent social and economic status well beyond science itself. At the same time, calls to make all such data publicly and freely available have garnered strength and visibility, most prominently in the form of the Open Data movement. I discuss these developments by considering the conditions under which data journey across the communities and institutions implicated in globalized biology and biomedicine, and what this indicates about how Internet-based communication and the use of online databases affect scientific research and its role within contemporary society. (shrink)

The existence of conflicting messages on the role and status of the university is linked to a wider paradox of values about science in society. Value is attributed to science and assumed by the university in the context of the move to knowledge-based economies and societies, yet this has not been accompanied by a systematic and balanced debate about the values that should underpin socio-economic change. Questions are then raised about both the effectiveness of public policy and the (...) role of universities in society. A reconnection between the application and production of knowledge is needed, as well as the reinsertion of a normative framework for guiding and shaping change within universities. Only under such conditions can a meaningful debate on the roles of universities as places of expectation and spaces for reflection be realized. (shrink)

The existence of conflicting messages on the role and status of the university is linked to a wider paradox of values about science in society. Value is attributed to science and assumed by the university in the context of the move to knowledge‐based economies and societies, yet this has not been accompanied by a systematic and balanced debate about the values that should underpin socio‐economic change. Questions are then raised about both the effectiveness of public policy and the (...) role of universities in society. A reconnection between the application and production of knowledge is needed, as well as the reinsertion of a normative framework for guiding and shaping change within universities. Only under such conditions can a meaningful debate on the roles of universities as places of expectation and spaces for reflection be realized. (shrink)

With the rise of the knowledge economy, the knowledge content of goods and services is going up just as their material content is declining. Economic value is increasingly seen to reside in the former - that is, in intangible assets - rather than in the latter. Yet we keep wanting to turn knowledge back into something tangible, something with definite boundaries which can be measured, manipulated, appropriated, and traded. In short, we want to reify knowledge. (...) Scholars have been debating the nature of knowledge since the time of Plato. Many new insights have been gained from these debates, but little theoretical consensus has been achieved. Through six thematically linked chapters, the book articulates the theoretical approach to the production and distribution of knowledge that underpins Max Boisot's conceptual framework, the Information Space or I-Space. In this way the book looks to provide theoretical and practical underpinnings to Boisot's book Knowledge Assets.Following an introductory chapter, how knowledge relates to data and information is first examined in chapter 1, and how different economic actors - entrepreneurs, managers, etc - use knowledge as a basis for action is explored in chapter 2. Chapter 3 looks at how the heterogeneity of economic actors arises naturally from their respective data processing strategies in spite of any similarities in the data that they might share. Chapter 4 argues, contra much transaction-based economics, that an organizational order must have preceded a market order, something that should be reflected in any knowledge-based theory of the firm. Chapter 5 discusses the cultural and institutional significance of different kinds of knowledge flows. Finally, chapter 6 presents an agent-based simulation model, SimISpace, that illustrates how the I-Space might be applied to concrete problems such those of intellectual property rights. A concluding chapter proposes a research agenda based on the theorizing developed in the book.The approach the book sets out is used by a whole range of organizations to issues of knowledge management, policy, economics, and organizational and cultural change. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to analyse and evaluate the situation in the field of creative economy in the Slovak Republic on the level NUTS 3. The analysis is based on the Euro-creative index calculation for year 2009. Based on the discussion of the research results, the weaknesses of the calculation and current state of the Slovak creative economy were identified. Conclusions include the proposal of activities how to attract and maintain the talented, creative people, (...) so-called creative class in the regions. In the theoretical part of the paper, we characterise the creative economy and its importance in the current global world based on knowledge of the most famous experts dealing with the issue of creative economy and its measurement. In the research part of the paper, based on the analysis results (Euro-creative index calculation), we characterise the current position of creative economy in Slovak regions, the regional disparities among Slovak regions in context of creative economy and the possibilities for increasing the exploitation of creative potential in the Slovak regions. (shrink)

Local and global dependencies and interactions between individuals, groups and institutions are becoming increasingly opaque and risky. This is due to increased importance of highly complex abstract systems created and supported in order to maintain of transport, communications, finance, energy, media, security infrastructure, as well as social and cultural institutions. These systems require the knowledge and skills of experts. Professionals that not only satisfy identified needs, but also create new thereby contribute the development of cultural narcissism phenomenon. The aim (...) of the book is to discuss relations of experts and mass narcissism, on the background of shaping the knowledge societies and knowledge-based economies, and moreover their transformations towards the societies and economies based on creativity and wisdom. Undertaken analysis is contribute to sociology of expertise and intervention by indicating four selected contemporary issues: dilemmas of the knowledge society development; selection between trust substitutes and its reconstruction methods; transformations of social stratification; and the choice of pathways to socio-economic development. (shrink)

The article critically covers the current issues of "value-driven management" and the creative economy. Analyzing the concept of a "fragile and incomprehensible" (BANI) world, the author conclude that the widely proclaimed era of the knowledge economy is nothing more than utopia. A value-based transformation is possible if it is approached in a comprehensive and systemic way, which requires large-scale transformations initiated and supported by the power structures. The author believe that the creative economy is more (...) extensive than the traditional one, and its development potential is rather limited. The paradigm of "commercial creativity", in fact, is aimed at providing employment and meeting the needs of the population of the "golden billion" countries. Статья в критическом ключе освещает актуальные вопросы «ценностного менеджмента» и креативной экономики. Анализируя концепцию «хрупкого и непостижимого» (BANI) мира, автор приходит к выводу, что широко провозглашенная эра экономики знаний — не более чем утопия. Ценностная трансформация возможна, если подход к ней будет комплексным и системным, для чего требуются масштабные преобразования, инициируемые и поддерживаемые властными структурами. Креативная экономика, как полагает автор, в большей степени экстенсивна, чем традиционная, а потенциал ее развития весьма ограничен. Парадигма «коммерческого креатива», по сути, нацелена на обеспечение занятости и удовлетворение потребностей населения стран «золотого миллиарда». (shrink)