25
Tony Weir Australian Bureau of Statistics Measuring a Knowledge Based Economy and Society (email: [email protected])
Tony WeirAustralian Bureau of Statistics
Measuring a Knowledge Based Economy and Society
(email: [email protected])
A knowledge-based economy is an economy in which the production, distribution and use of knowledge is the main driver of growth, wealth creation and employment across all industries. (OECD 1996, APEC 2000)
Definition
“The ability to create, distribute and exploit knowledge is increasingly central to competitive advantage, wealth creation and better standards of living…While the overall trends are clear, large differences remain within the OECD area.” (OECD (2001)
Motivation
Approaches to KBE/S measurement
• Statistical indicators within the context of a descriptive framework
• A KBE/S index
• Direct measurement of knowledge
Why create a KBE/S framework?
• ABS thought it important to present measures of the knowledge based economy and society.
• A framework provides a structure and logic for statistical content.
• We call our framework a “descriptive framework”.
Basis of the KBE/S framework
• OECD New economy: beyond the hype (2001)
• Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Towards KBEs in APEC (2000)
• ABS work on social capital etc.
Structure of the KBE/S framework
• Three core dimensions– Innovation and entrepreneurship– Human capital– Information and communications technology.
• Two supporting dimensions– Context– Economic and social impacts.
Simplified framework structureContext
Innovation & entrepreneurship
Information and communications technology
Human capital
Economic and social impacts
Numerous context influences
Structure of the framework (ctd)
• Each dimension is described in terms of:– characteristics– indicators (quantitative measures of
characteristics)
Example
• Dimension: – Human capital
• One characteristic from the dimension: – Stock of skilled people
• One indicator of this characteristic: – Highest completed level of educational
attainment of the population, by age and sex.
Indicators of the framework
• Ideally an indicator should be:– relevant to the characteristic it is measuring– supported by relevant and timely data– sensitive to what it is measuring– intelligible– available for several periods, including recent
ones– available for other countries.
Status of the ABS framework
• Publication of a Discussion Paper in August 2002
• Parallel release of HTML version– with hot links to data sources for statistical
indicators
• Much data already published elsewhere.
Knowledge-intensive Industries, 1998% of total gross value added
0 10 20 30 40 50
Norway (1997)
AUSTRALIA
Canada (1997)
Korea
Finland
OECD (23)
France
United Kingdom
Germany
United States
% of GVA
Other Knowledge-intensive services
High and medium-high-technology manufactures
Health and Education
Knowledge Workers as % of employed people, 2000
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Japan
Ireland
United States
AUSTRALIA
United Kingdom
New Zealand
Canada
Germany
Sweden
Finland
25
28
31
34
37
40
1989 1993 1997 2001
% s
hare
of t
otal
em
ploy
men
t
High
Medium
Low
Proportion of skilled occupations, 1989-2001
Investment in Knowledge, 1998(Broader definition, as a percentage of GDP)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Ireland
AUSTRALIA
United Kingdom
Japan
Germany
OECD Total
Canada
Korea
United States
Sweden
% of GDP
R&D
Software
Higher education
Other levels of Education
“Workers will require the ability to create, analyse and transform information and to interact effectively with others…. Learning will increasingly be a lifelong activity.”
-Alan Greenspan (July 2000)
0 20 40 60 80
Japan
Korea
Ireland
US
AUSTRALIA
New Zealand
Malaysia
Mexico
Percent
Percentage who have NOT completed school 1999
Trends in multi-factor productivity growth*
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Ireland
Finland
AUSTRALIA
Canada
Sweden
United States
Norway
Germany
United Kingdom
Japan
New Zealand
% change p.a.
1990-95
1995-99
Contribution to labour productivity growth in Australia and the US over the late 1990's*
1.30.9a
0.1
0.4
2.0
1.6
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
US(1) AUSTRALIA(2)
% in
cre
ase
pe
r ye
ar
MFP grow th
Other Capital
ICT Total
Collaboration, by type of innovation, by country, 1999
0 1 2 3 4
AUSTRALIA
Austria
Denmark
Norway
Sweden (EastGothia)
Number of collaborators per innovative firm, by category
Suppliers
Customers
Other
Au
stra
lia
0 1 2
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
KBI (%GDP)
Services Exports (%GDP)
HT Export (% mfg exports)
FDI /GDP
Govt Transparency
Financial Transparency
Competition Policy
Openness
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Mobile Telephones p.c.
Phone lines p.c.
Computers p.c.
Internet Users p.c. (1999)
Internet Users p.c. (2001)*
e-commerce (%)
INNOVATION SYSTEM
Researchers p.c.
GERD /GDP
BERD / GDP
US Patents p.c.
Company co-op
Company-uni co-op
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Secondary Enrolments
NSE Graduates p.c.
% Knowledge Workers
HDI
0
1
2
0
1
2
0
1
2
0
1
2
0
1
2
0
1
2
Korea
Australia
Canada
S’pore
Bus Env ICT Innov Sys HRD
X
“If governments and their citizens are not to be swept away in the ‘gales of creative destruction’ marking the evolution of the knowledge economy, they will need to fill the vacuum in understanding which currently exists.”
- A. Burton-Jones, Knowledge Capitalism (1999)
Comments are sought on all aspects of the framework
• theoretical and empirical basis• structure and choice of dimensions &
characteristics• range of indicators proposed including priorities• dissemination possibilities
– comprehensive compendia
– thematic publications
– frequent summary releases in paper or via Web.
