Introduction

In this chapter we present a conceptual framework to analyse knowledge and learning from an economic perspective. The starting point is the assumption that we are in a knowledge-based economy, but we conclude by proposing that it is more adequate to characterize the current era as ‘a learning economy’. Crucial issues analysed here are distinctions between private/ public, local/ global and tacit/ codified knowledge. While appearing ‘academic’ at first sight, these distinctions have important implications both for innovation policy and for the management of innovation and knowledge at the level of the firm.

It has become commonplace among policymakers to refer to the current period as characterized by a knowledge-based economy, and increasingly it is emphasized that the most promising strategy for economic growth is one aiming at strengthening the knowledge base of the economy. This discourse raises a number of unresolved analytical issues. What constitutes the knowledge base? At what level can we locate and define a knowledge base? What are the specificities of local-and sector-specific knowledge bases? How stable is the knowledge base? In order to approach an answer to these questions, three different themes are introduced: first, basic concepts related to knowledge and learning; second, the contribution of economic analysis to the understanding of the production, mediation and use of knowledge; and third, new economic trends and the formation of a learning economy.

A Terminology of Knowledge

Is knowledge a public or a private good?

Sidney Winter concluded his seminal paper on knowledge and management strategy by pointing out that there is ‘a paucity of language’ and ‘a serious dearth of appropriate terminology and conceptual schemes’ for analysing the role of knowledge in the economy (1987). Since then, the number of relevant publications has grown immensely but little headway has been made in terms of a terminology acceptable to all. There is little agreement on questions such as: What is the meaning of knowledge and knowledge production? What separations and distinctions between different kinds of knowledge are most useful for understanding the interaction between learning, knowledge and economic development?