Measuring the Knowledge Economy: A National and Organizational Perspective

Abstract

This article aims to analyze how the knowledge economy is measured and how different are the tools developed for this purpose. Since the research focuses on the “how” issues, a qualitative approach is employed. The analysis concentrates on three of the most frequently used tools for measuring a country’s progress towards consolidating itself as a knowledge economy, namely: Knowledge Assessment Methodology, developed by World Bank, Lisbon Scorecard, elaborated by World Economic Forum, and Innovation Union Scoreboard, created by the European Union. Nevertheless, Kensho New Economies Composite Index – the newest instrument developed by Kensho Technologies – is brought forward. The results prove that the three most frequently used tools for measuring countries’ progress towards consolidating themselves as knowledge economies have the same information capability while the newest tool emphasizes what is usually labelled as “intellectual capital”, although it uses the phrase “Knowledge Economy”. On the one hand, these results shed light on policy-makers’ psychological need of measuring the intangible assets, and transforming the intangible into tangible. On the other hand, they highlight the need for redefining the concept of “knowledge economy” and establishing its pillars.

Keywords

• knowledge economy