The knowledge based information economy

The implications of the knowledge-based information economy are studied conceptually and statistically. Innovation, economic coordination, and diffusion of knowledge are found to be dominant resource-using activities which are reflected in the extent of service production in the economy. Substitution occurs between internal production and external acquisition of services related to manufacturing activities. This and the organization of industry may explain observed differences among countries in international trade in services. If properly measured, manufactured goods and related services are found to account for almost half of GNP. Analogously, the definition of capital should be expanded to include intangibles having at least the same order of magnitude as conventionally measured (hardware) capital. The study also includes an attempt to quantify the actual and the potential sizes of the telecommunications market for knowledge communication through electronic methods.